Nothing in me could even fathom the pain these individuals had encountered in their lives - sold and exploited, robbed of their own physical bodies and free will. Even with no personal reference for their horrific stories, I felt betrayed by humanity, heartbroken, and terrified to learn more. What must they be feeling and What could I possibly do?
Slowly, over the course of the next year, God showed me that it is not my job to save the world. He's already taken care of that. It is my job to love others and live in His will. A large part of Love for me is awareness, it's knowing your story and your circumstances, feeling your pain and sharing your burden. If I'm going to love the victims of modern day slavery, I first have to learn about them, shine the light on their stories and their situations.
The first things I learned:
- Definition of Slavery: forced to work without pay under threat of violence and unable to walk away
- Definition of Human Trafficking: the act of enslaving another person, slave trade
- There are over 27 MILLION people enslaved in the world today.
- approximately 43% in the Commercial Sex Industry
- approximately 32% in Economic Areas (fields, mines, homes, etc)
- Half the trafficking victims in the world are under the age of 18
- At least 100,000 American children are sold in the US each year in the commercial sex industry
- Slavery exists in every country; Slavery is illegal in every country
Just a few of the the first websites I learned from (I'll share more over the next month):
We don't have to be overwhelmed or paralyzed in the face of great social injustice. Just take a few minutes today to click through to one of the sites above. Learn one new thing about Modern Day Slavery / Human Trafficking and share it with one person. We are all called to be abolitionists and even the smallest act can make a huge difference.
Day Three: Understanding Their Stories
Day Four: Understanding More
Day Five: mtvU's Against Our Will Campaign
No comments:
Post a Comment