Ugly Answers....

     This month I've taken some time, having been inspired by the Asbury University initiative to spread awareness of the current human trafficking epidemic, to dig up some statistics and facts on my own.  My personal goal was to highlight the American acceptance of pornography and show the links to the casual degradation of the human dignity of others and of ourselves.  In short, I was looking for statistics that involved adults, as I personally didn't want to dip my hands in the stories of child exploitation.

     I searched.  I ran another search.  But alas,  'Child exploitation.'  'The exploitation of children in the sex trade.'....these were the stats that kept cropping up.  It wasn't until I accidentally began to  read one of the personal stories that I understood why the statistics didn't deal with adults.  At first I thought it was because minors and legal adults were two different scenarios in the realm of human trade, but I was so wrong.
And now I'm pissed.

This is the story I unearthed:

Read the article here.  (It is harsh but not graphic. Worth a read).

I knew children were used because they were weaker and fearful.
I didn't realize that many of the women and men you see in the trade had been trained by people they trusted from their earlier years.  That's why the statistics only mentioned children!!

Exploited children grow up to be exploited adults.  Prostitutes, phone escorts and participants of home/professional porn are often supplying funds to people who own them or claim to protect them.

     It seems so 'common sense' when I write it here however I was among the crowd that accepted that whores were junkies and sluts but this trade is huge!!!  Booming in frequency and numbers worldwide, human trade snatches up the defenseless and pays big money to the monsters that manipulate them.

     But I'll tell you something else I know.  There is no trade without demand.
You can label the pimps, traders and kidnappers as the monsters but they are just the ones that supply the products to the customers.

     There are articles written on the links to pornography, phone sex, massage parlors and escort services and the perpetuation of the growing demand to 'create the supply for the need', which is really the simple bottom line to this atrocity.   That was my original focus when I started my 'facts search' at the beginning of this month.
They are easy to find in a google search and I urge you to learn the facts for yourselves.

     But what I really want to emphasize as this month comes rolling to an end is the power of individual perspective.

* Human dignity has no place in exploitation.

*  A 'subhuman workforce' describes modern trafficking in the exact same way it was
    used to describe America's shameful past of slave-trading/owning.

* Participants within the sex industry, whether voluntary or not, are not nameless.
    Once they are seen as just a body with a stage name or a voice with a false identity
    another log is thrown onto the fire of an already unchecked inferno.

*The tools you are using to read this post can more easily be used to fuel the
   trafficking epidemic with porn searches and phone sex  (I had an ad pop up for a
   phone line as I was researching for this post) than they can to fight against it.
   Change this.  The sites and searches you frequent will thrive.  Period.

It's the age old truth; if you aren't part of the solution you're part of the problem.
The reality is before you.  Act!

20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking

The Polaris Project

Humantrafficking.org

In The Night....Manna

I slunk into it

from under their eyes

from out of their grip.

That shady hiding place

holds the frightened

like a friend keeping a secret.

I should have trusted it

before trusting them.

The dark kept me alone

without anyone who cared

but without anyone who didn't.

Running from pain

led me to pain.

I couldn't speak it.

None of us could.

Some of us don't.

Is this the world?

Are the weakest 

always the pawns of the strong?

Will no one act on behalf

of those who's only hope

is to hide in the night?

To read Manna's story visit  http://ijm.org/resources and view the 'Sex Trafficking Factsheet' pdf.

27 Hr. Roadtrip

This month I'll be posting here on the 27 hr. car ride 'Miles' will making on behalf of the 27 million oppressed by the human slave trade in the world today.  This is a very raw and ugly subject so I have a few comforts to throw your way before we trek through this bog together:

1) I will not intentionally try to make you cry or cringe.  I hate emotional manipulation and whenever someone tries to pull my heart strings or frighten me in order to get me to do what they desire, I switch off.  I would expect the same from you.  I will present facts, statistics and links that will lead to other sites including videos which I assure you will shock you but I will warn you beforehand if I think the material is extra extreme.  After all we are talking about a reality most of us are willing to admit exists, but haven't really dug deeper until now.  It's going to be uncomfortable.

2) Change occurs everyday.  Our individual actions can change these statistics everyday.  Your involvement in simply learning the facts will change your perspective of certain areas of life and change will occur through you.  I find that extremely encouraging.

3) You may find, after some digging or assessment of your own actions, that you or someone close to you is part of the problem.  This can be remedied.  Being part of a problem means you are capable of being a more powerful vehicle of change.  Don't wallow in guilt; change your actions, perspectives and attitudes and spread awareness.

Thank you to everyone brave enough to admit that our world has its horrors.
Thank you to everyone honest enough to see their part in the problem.
Thank you to the students of Asbury University for taking a stand for change!!!

27 Hour Stand for FRDM 2013