In doing a little research today, I came across articles like this BBC story referencing 2012 UK government reports on the growing number of victims of human trafficking.  This problem is not limited to one country, and it continues to be a global plague rather than that of any one nation.

Rising figures beg the question, does this mean the problem is increasing or have we instead perhaps grown in our ability to recognize and record any one victim of this modern slavery pandemic?

Accurate statistics for human trafficking are always difficult to obtain for several reasons.  Countless cases go unreported as victims are too scared to press charges or publicly accuse their perpetrator.  Many countries battle corrupt law enforcement teams that help to cover crimes or even help to facilitate them.  While our numbers are certainly far from accurate, it is likely that the rising awareness, programs, laws, and accountability structures have helped to improve our ability or incentive to recognize the crime and account for violations.

I was recently asked when I thought we would solve the problem of human trafficking.  It was a full auditorium, and I knew the questioner behind the microphone expected me to have a conclusive answer that mirrored the hopeful assumption in the question- not if, but when.  Human trafficking is ultimately a reflection of the darkness and even the horrors found within the human heart.  Until that issue is addressed, I think we will be at battle with its tragic symptoms including various forms of modern slavery.

And so we come back to the original question:  is the problem of human trafficking increasing or have we grown in our ability to recognize its victims?  It seems likely the answer is both.  On a national and global scale we can and do seek to improve systems, leading to information that is more reliable even if still only a small snapshot of the magnitude of the crime.  And yet with our advocacy and programs and interventions, this tragic violation of human rights is still on the rise.  It is not a hopeless situation, and frankly is one that necessitates we continue to combat it whether the statistical data indicates the number of victims is on the rise or on the decline.  Yet treating the symptom will not eliminate the heart of the crime. That is an issue that goes beyond government programs and straight to the heart of each one us as human beings.

It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas…

Wellspring International is delivering special gifts this Christmas.  We invite you to join us if you can- it’s an incredible privilege and a small amount goes such a long way.  Give directly to provide Christmas dinner and gifts we carefully selected for someone in need.

This time of year grants us an opportunity we treasure- come join us in making Christmas particularly meaningful…for another, and for you.

Give the Gift of Warmth

3 dollars will buy a sweater for an elderly resident at Little Drops in Chennai, India

3 dollars will buy a sari for a staff member

Give the Gift of Wonder
70 dollars will buy 1 of 3 bicycles for children at Valley Light Home in Kenya

5 dollars will buy a groceries gift box for staff ( 2kgs Corn meal, 2 kgs flour, 2 kgs sugar, 1 kg rice, 1 liter oil)

Give the gift of Joy

90 cents will buy a toy or geometry box for children at Zamar Academy in Chennai, India.

Give the gift of Celebration

Christmas dinner for the children, families and teachers of Zamar Academy: $2/person (400 people)

Christmas lunch for the children and staff of Valley Light Home: $6/person (80 people)

Christmas dinner for the elderly residents and staff of Little Drops: $2/person (700 people)

We at Wellspring International join with the nation in grieving this tragedy.  We would like to share the thoughts penned by our founder, Ravi Zacharias, as he expresses both our grief and our prayer as individuals and an organization.

by Sarah

This past weekend, my husband and I saw Skyfall, the newest James Bond movie. As I sat in the theater snacking on overpriced candies, a startling story unfolded on the large screen. In this version of the Bond franchise, Daniel Craig’s character meets Severine, a victim of sex trafficking. She was sold at a young age to a brothel then purchased by the villain of Skyfall, played by Jarvier Bardem, to be his captive. The movie tells her story and Bond’s attempt to free her from captivity.

Skyfall was not the first major motion picture to attempt to engage an audience on the big screen. Several films have been produced that focus on the victims of trafficking. Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Academy Awards for its’ depiction of Jamal, a young man who grew up in the slums of India. Born Into Brothels, Taken, The Whistleblower and Half the Sky are also among a shortlist of movies that address the sensitive issue of human trafficking.

With an estimated 27 million men, women and children enslaved around the world, how do we meaningfully address the issue and raise awareness?   How do you think the visual impact and mass reach of movies effectively brings the issue to the public square, and what are the potential negative effects?

She remembers a home that looked fancy on the outside but ominous on the inside, a dark maze of bare chambers. She remembers the parade of men, one after the other, day by day, forcing her to have sex. She remembers contemplating death. She wasn’t yet 10 years old.

Her name is Sreypich Loch, and she was a slave in a Cambodian brothel. If she refused sex, she says, she would be beaten, shocked with an electric cord, denied food and water. “What else could I do?” she asks.

Loch, now around 20 years old, managed to escape that world and works today to rescue other girls. She helps grab them out of brothels, and she hosts a radio show in Phnom Penh, giving the girls a forum for their stories. It’s a groundbreaking effort for a young woman and former sex slave in this male-dominated society.

Loch’s story may sound extreme, but it is not some isolated incident. An estimated 27 million people are victims of slavery around the world, according to the U.S. State Department. The buying and selling of humans is a multi-billion dollar global business, ensnaring vulnerable people who are often kidnapped or tricked into the trade.

Loch’s nightmare began when she was a child in Phnom Penh. Her stepfather raped her, she says, when she was just a girl; she thinks she was around 7 years old. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone. She would be raped again that year, by a stranger who snatched her from the street. He made the same threat, she says: tell anyone and die.

She stayed silent. “I was young. I was scared,” she says, speaking softly. “In Cambodia, many fathers rape their daughters; brothers rape their sisters.” Consistently ranked as one of the poorest and most corrupt nations in the world, Cambodia is still reeling from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, which massacred as many as 2 million people in the 1970s. Intellectuals and city dwellers were targeted and tortured in an attempt to create a completely agrarian society. Families were ripped apart.

One day Loch worked up the nerve to tell her mother about the rapes. She’s not sure how much time had passed since the assaults, she says, as she was just a child and memories fade. But she has a vivid memory of her mother’s response. “She hit me,” Loch says. “She didn’t believe me. I think: she does not love me.”

Loch ran away from home, having lost faith in her family, she says. She remembers a heavy rainfall and the feeling of not knowing where to go. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I cried and cried,” she says. And then she was found by a gang of men. “Five men raped me on the street,” she says. “I wanted to die.”

That might have indeed been her fate if a woman hadn’t come along, offering to help. The woman took Loch to her home—or so Loch thought. The house turned out to be a brothel. She was locked in a basement room and forced to “sleep with many, many men every day,” she says. “I couldn’t see light, just dark.”

Her eyes fill with water at the thought of it. Then she pauses, closes her eyes for a moment, and continues. “If I said no, pimp hit me,” she says. “I tell pimp, please kill me.” Then she adds, “I am people. I am not an animal. How could they do me that way?”

Loch’s story mirrors that of many rescued Cambodian girls, who report being drugged, locked in coffins, whipped, even covered with biting insects in order to make them submit to sex. While their stories can be difficult to verify independently, the U.S. State Department confirms that the enslavement of girls in Cambodia is pervasive. “The sale of virgin girls continues to be a serious problem in Cambodia,” the State Department said in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report released this summer. “Cambodian men form the largest source of demand for child prostitution, though a significant number of men from the United States and Europe, as well as other Asian countries, travel to Cambodia to engage in child sex tourism.”

Read the rest of the Daily Beast article by Abigail Pesta here.

Learn more about human trafficking in Cambodia or New Song Centre, Wellspring International’s project for trafficking victims in Cambodia.

Somaly Mam grew up as an orphan living in extreme poverty in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri province. A man posing as her grandfather sold Somaly as a young girl into sexual slavery.

Forced to work in a brothel, Somaly was repeatedly tortured and raped. One night, she was made to watch as her best friend was murdered. Fearing she would also be killed, Somaly escaped her captors and set about building a new life for herself. She vowed never to forget those left behind and has since dedicated her life to saving victims and empowering survivors.

Every day, women and girls across the globe face grave threats of trafficking, prostitution, violence, and discrimination. Yet hope endures. And men and women across the globe have committed to help those living in some of the most challenging circumstances of life.

Today, a girl in India is on the brink of being sold into the commercial sex trade. A young mother in Somaliland will die giving birth. In Sierra Leone, a girl has been raped and must face the criticism of her community.

Inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide is a four-hour television series for PBS.  Shot in 10 countries: Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the U.S., the documentary series introduces us to women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable — and fighting bravely to overcome them.  Half the Sky tells the stories of individuals who represent millions of women and girls around the world who are victimized and abused, denied access to education, medicine or property, and prevented from reaching their full potential. They are stories of dehumanizing violence and discrimination. But they are also stories of personal victories, large and small.

Each story puts a face to heartache. Each story illuminates the spirit of perseverance that is embodied by the women and girls who face these violations each day, as well as those who have made it their life’s mission to believe in them.

Purchase Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide here.

In an article released yesterday in The African Bulletin, human rights specialist Caroline Achieng Otieno discusses the reaction in Kenya to the July 2012 UN proposal to globally legalize prostitution.

In its proposal, the UN urged the rest of the world to follow suit in the name of safety and regulations that could reduce the transmission of HIV/AIDS. The report was released by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, a commission of 15 members who are considered leaders in their field and in public life to provide leadership on HIV related issues and the law. After 18 months, this report is their conclusion and public recommendation issued to the rest of the world. The preface concludes that “this report presents persuasive evidence and recommendations that can save lives, save money and help end the AIDS epidemic. The recommendations appeal to what is common to all our cultures and communities—the innate humanity of recognising and respecting the inherent worth and dignity of all individuals.” Among their initiatives to achieve a response they believe to be consistent with human rights, the commission “forcefully calls for governments, civil societies, and international bodies” to embrace twelve conclusions. Among them, the decriminalization of private and adult consensual sexual behaviors including voluntary sex work (Executive Summary, page 9-10).  To review the UN Executive Summary, click here.

In her response, Otieno takes a closer look at Amsterdam, a city known around the world for its legalized prostitution. It is often cited as “successful,” but the journalist details the ramifications of their monumental decision, for many have admittedly been destructive.

In 2008, the city council of Amsterdam announced that it was cracking down on the red light district and would be closing 30% of brothels, believed to have connections to organized crime.  Their goal was to ultimately close down 50% and reduce the number of windows from over 400 to over 200 to aid in combatting the “decay” of the city center. “Money laundering, extortion and human trafficking are things you do not see on the surface but they are hurting people and the city. We want to fight this,” said Deputy Mayor Lodewijk Asscher. ”We can still have sex and drugs but in a way that shows the city is in control,” he concluded.  Internal annual reports have consistently produced data that up to 80% of the sex workers are from foreign countries and trafficking is rampant, and in addition to closing brothels the city has passed controversial legislation raising both the age and introducing a language fluency in an effort to cut down on trafficking.

Otieno examines the documented results of the legalization of prostitution in 2000 in her article, citing organizations like the Scarlet Cord, a program supported by Wellspring International since 2004. Otieno also quotes Wellspring friend, Toos Heemskerk, currently directing an initiative with Not for Sale, in her response to what she believes are the critical efforts needed to create future opportunities for women trapped in prostitution.

A new report released by the United Nations-backed Global Commission on HIV and the Law recommends that nations around the world should legalize prostitution and intravenous drugs in order to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. The panel “forcefully calls for governments, civil society and international bodies” to, among other things, repeal all laws against what it calls consensual sex work in the hopes that doing so will ensure an effective, sustainable response to HIV/AIDS.

This clip from Fox News explains the issue and offers discussion on the ramifications, and possible motives, behind the report.

How would legalizing prostitution impact womens rights?

A group of Bangladeshi women who were illegally taken into India three years ago have been describing their ordeal at the hands of human traffickers.

Most of these women were forced into prostitution in the Indian cities of Mumbai and Pune.

Around 48 women and a child were rescued by an Indian non-governmental organisation which handed them over to Bangladeshi authorities at the weekend.

It was one of the largest groups of Bangladeshi women ever to be returned.

The women said they were tricked into being taken across the border.

“A girl in the village gave us something to eat and said we could go for a picnic to neighbouring India. Later on we realised we were drugged. We crossed the border by walking through paddy fields in the night,” Monica, 22, told the BBC.

“When we came to our senses, we realised that we had been sold to an Indian agent.”

After spending a few days in Calcutta, Monica and other girls were taken to Pune.

“We were kept in small rooms. There were hundreds of girls in the shanty town. We were forced into the sex trade,” Monica, from a remote village in southern Bangladesh, said.

Read Anbarasan Ethirajan’s complete BBC News article on sex trafficking here.