2011
Compassion and Child Trafficking
CATEGORY: 17 & Under
The New Face of Slavery
Slavery did not die with freedom. Various emancipation proclamations were written and wars were waged to abolish the practice, but it was never completely eradicated. As much as the world would like to forget the horrific trade of human flesh, it is still alive and growing today. The previous practice of buying and selling humans like commodities simply evolved to become more organized and ruthless in the 21st century. This horrible industry has cheapened human rights and caused irreparable damage: orphaned children, broken families, destroyed dreams, and the loss of numerous lives. Many are still ignorant of its effect on humanity, but trafficking of persons should be a major concern for all of society. The terrifying truth is that it has not appeared overnight — it has advanced globally with increased strength in plain sight.
Some attribute the steady climb in the number of trafficked victims to the state of national infrastructure. The declines in economic power affecting the world often lead to an increase in crime and desperation. Another contributor is the business prospect found in tourism. Many pimps, or trafficking crime bosses, make a large percentage of their profits from foreign visitors (“Finding Hope Amid the Horrors of Human Trafficking” Westmont Magazine). Trafficking, as reported by the United Nations, is quickly approaching the danger level of gun and drug industries. It is now considered the second-largest grouping in organized crime by way of monetary gain. To even think that human beings are compared to the dealing of easily acquired products is sickening.
The numbers involved in the trade of human beings are even more astounding. Although these statistics are hard to confirm because of the underground nature of trafficking, some analysts, cited in the UN Chronicle, report that over 2.4 million people have been subjected to labor against their will. In an article advocating “prevention, prosecution, and protection” of trafficking, Ruth Dearnley and Steve Chalke remark that “what matters is that every number represents a human life destroyed.” Trafficking is not about meaningless facts and figures. It is about the destroyed lives that deserve a chance.
Victims of trafficking are often left without hope because of the structure and function of many crime groups. Trafficking can be divided into two main types: source and destination. Source countries are the point where victims are forced into labor by illegal or deceptive means. As reported in an article by David Hodge titled “Sexual Trafficking in the United States: A Domestic Problem with Transnational Dimensions,” traffickers often trap people through false-front agencies; these agencies are illegitimate and mislead the victims into thinking they have a chance at a better future through the appeal of modeling, marriage, or employment. Recruiters sometimes purchase girls from impoverished families that are desperate enough to sell a daughter for money, and in other cases, the unwilling targets may be kidnapped. The traffickers use illegal trade routes to move the new victims to destination countries where they sell them to buyers or start a new brothel. Precious human life is reduced to the level of a business transaction.
Combative measure are being taken by aware governments and nonprofit organizations, but the wave of trafficking seems larger than their dam. The International Justice Mission, one such group, conducts raids on brothels and reports trafficking to authorities in India, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand. These raids are highly controversial because they abruptly remove victims from emotionally unstable environments, but the IJM team works to reintroduce them back into society through aftercare programs. The extraordinary efforts that IJM has taken to fight injustice on the offensive have freed thousands of “slaves.” A passion to fight against this heinous crime was ignited within me as I read about the horrors of human trafficking in Gary Haugen’s book, “Terrify No More.” I don’t cry easily, but I wept as I read about the 4-year- old girls who were imprisoned in brothels. Determined to leave the ranks of apathetic bystanders, I organized a film festival to raise money and awareness of human trafficking. I was shocked to hear that the majority of the audience was ignorant of trafficking, but was blessed to have interested people from a 60-mile radius attend. I was able to present a donation to IJM in support of their efforts to combat human trafficking; this amount spared one girl from the horrors of forced prostitution, but for me, one girl isn’t enough. I hope to continue this fight for justice in my future career and endeavors.
It is hard to believe that a human life ranks lower on a hierarchy of concern than illegal goods in a nation that considers equality to be a hallmark. The proof of this heartbreaking truth is found in an article by Benjamin Skinner in Time Magazine: “the U.S. currently spends more in a single day fighting drug trafficking than it does in an entire year fighting human trafficking.” As a world model for the benefits of democracy and human rights, America cannot afford to ignore the obvious injustice taking place inside its borders. If the U.S. takes a stand and makes headway in curbing trafficking, other nations will take the issue more seriously. This problem needs to be addressed at the source and destination points for the sake of countless women, men, and children in regions like Asia and Europe who have suffered incomprehensible treatment. We must stop trafficking before millions more are victimized. The modern slaves are crying out for emancipation from exploitation.
CATEGORY: 18-22
A Passion for Compassion
A rusty bed frame barely supports a yellow-stained mattress with springs poking through rips in the cover. A pair of dirty blue jean pants is thrown to the side, lying next to crumpled, faded, flowered-print sheets. A heavy, rusted, metal chain hangs over the bed, its dangling ends leaving shadows on the floor. Red lights cast an eerie glow on the scene, accompanied by quiet, ominous music. The scene is contained within a temporary four-sided room, with peeling white paint bordering the windows. Black bold letters in the windows read: “Every 10 minutes a woman or child is trafficked into the U.S. for forced labor.” Each onlooker responds the same way. A shiver runs up their spines. Tears well in the corners of their eyes, ready to tumble over the edge and trickle down their cold cheeks. Their stomachs churn until they feel like running out of the room and never coming back—to never again face the bare facts that are so unnerving.
Even if it was just the huge black sign that read: “Human trafficking makes more per year than Google, Starbucks, and Nike combined,” that drew you into the room, this scene still makes you wish you had never entered. It makes you want to run back to your house and hug your mother and go back to the wonderful, blessed, life you were living you knew of these horrors. Yet at the same time, it is captivating. You find yourself circling the scene and proceeding to walk towards a table with heartbreaking stories and pictures of shattered victims. You find in yourself a desire to stop this madness. Your conscience will not let you leave the room without contributing something tangible. So you stop at the last table in the room—a table filled with information about an organization called Women at Risk. Available for purchase are bracelets made by trafficked women all over the world (Threads of Hope). The money earned from selling these bracelets goes directly back to the women to help them fight the vicious cycle in which they are trapped. After picking up information and purchasing a bracelet for you and your roommate, you leave the room feel deeply disturbed, not completely satisfied with the small contribution you have made.
The aforementioned scene became a reality to all the students who attended the “Human Trafficking Awareness Night” at Hope College, in Holland, Michigan. My two group members and I arranged this event in an effort to raise awareness for victims of human trafficking. These people cannot speak for themselves; they do not have the resources nor the power to bring attention to the destructive lifestyle they suffer. We aimed to provide a venue for the students of Hope College to contribute something back to this cause. The display we brought in, mentioned before, was created by a local group called Hope for the Voiceless. Next to the table on which the victim’s stories and pictures were displayed, we placed a large piece of paper for visitors to write their prayers. And then we asked Women at Risk International for help.
Women at Risk International’s goal is to save women and children at risk for human trafficking and/or sexual slavery. They are a non-profit organization with a passion for compassion. By setting up safe houses all over the world, this organization provides a refuge for women and children to escape from the human trafficking industry. Their specific goal is to “wrap arms of love around women and children, whispering the message that they were created for purpose and dignity.” Based out of Grand Rapid, MI, and represented in all fifty states and over 14 different countries worldwide, Women at Risk International has spread it wings across the globe, uniting those who are determined to fight against trafficking.
Women at Risk International offers many opportunities to get involved utilizing your time, treasure, and talent. They own stores where you can purchase jewelry and other products made by women across the world; you can even sell these items yourself by hosting a War Chest Party. You can volunteer, donate money, raise awareness, or simply pray. Prayer can move mountains; prayer can reverse the cycle of destruction; prayer can change things (http://www.warinternational.org/).
The word compassion means “to suffer with” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compassion). I feel that we, as members of the human race, are called to suffer with those around us who are suffering. We cannot sit by while horrors occur in our backyard. The violence of human trafficking is closer than you may think. When we hear about the prevalence of human trafficking in India or Thailand, we are content to feel disturbed and suffer one sleepless night. Yet when we hear the statistics about the United States, we are alarmed and suddenly want to take immediate action. That fact that 141 young girls were victims of commercial exploitation in May 2010 in the state of Michigan alone (up from 117 in February 2010, a 20.5 percent increase) causes us to widen our eyes in surprise. This still happens, here, in America, in the land of the free? It is an unspoken yet common view that human trafficking is a distant issue, a problem for those poor, undeveloped countries far away. In reality, it is everyone’s issue, our issue. If we are so quick to suffer with those across the state, is it not still our duty to suffer with those across the oceans? Standing by while these tragedies take place so near to us is consenting to letting these atrocities happen. Silence is consent.
Women at Risk International embodies compassion in its truest form. They project an image of providing hope, heart, and healing to women and children who are in need. They fight for the freedom of all the enslaved women and children in the world. They fight not only for the freedoms to vote and own property, but also the simple freedom to walk down the street without fear, to go to school or to the grocery store without glancing anxiously behind your back; the simple freedom to live. Everybody deserves this kind of life—how is it fair that we take it for granted? We complain when we open the freezer and find our favorite ice-cream is empty, when women and children all over the world cannot even imagine this kind of privilege. There are people in our own country, our own state, our own city, our own neighborhood, who do not live free of suffering and bondage. Women at Risk International refuses to let this horror continue, which is why I teamed up with this powerful organization. I want to use my life to put a stop to this madness.
