Recently, Ashton Kutcher appeared on the “Regis and Kelly” morning show and mentioned a foundation he began with his wife, Demi Moore, to help fight human trafficking called DNA. Its mission statement is to eliminate child sex-slavery worldwide.
The issue with human trafficking is often seen as “their” problem, those people “over there” who don’t care about selling children for profit. The truth is, human trafficking affects all countries, all nations, all cultures and all ethnicities. It even affects your neighborhood.
Even though I live in a relatively small city (and was raised in a much, much smaller one), the prostitution of women was, and still is, overwhelmingly present. This is method by which human trafficking most commonly known. Human trafficking also involves forced labor to repay debt, usually an overwhelming debt that can never be repaid with one lifetime. Generations of families are born into working to repay this often unforgivable debt.
Most startling are parents that willingly sell their young girls into the sex-trade industry. Even though we, as North Americans, cannot fathom such an act, these transactions happen daily. It has become a cultural norm for those parents who cannot afford to feed their children, especially Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia.
Here’s the good news: You can make a difference. The first step is awareness. By reading this short article, you hopefully know a little more than you did five minutes ago.
Now that you know something about human trafficking, you cannot pretend it isn’t there.
I encourage you to read up on the DNA Foundation or virtually drop by my neighborhood and read about how my church is giving away $50,000 in order to raise awareness and funds for five keys partners in fighting human trafficking around the world.
What can you do to stop human trafficking? You’re doing it.
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