News Archives - Page 19 of 26 - Women At Risk, International

No one came looking because I never went missing

“No one came looking because I never went missing” – Jen Spry

Human trafficking is real and ever-present, right here in our own backyards. Across the country, little girls just like Jen Spry, whose story is featured in the video below, are trafficked by predatory adults. We want to thank Jen for telling her story, and for being willing to unveil the secrets of her past to save even just one child from this injustice. Just like Jen says in this video, it’s time for the church to stand against this issue. Shared Hope International has developed a Faith-In-Action kit, educating church leaders and members to identify the signs of human trafficking, while understanding the necessary steps that need to be taken if a child is being abused. You can join this effort by clicking here.

The Faith-In-Action kit includes the Chosen PLUS educational DVD, targeted, practical discussion and study tools for men, women and children, a “Resource Guide for Men” to break the chains of addiction, sermon notes for pastoral staff, facts about trafficking, a how-to-respond guide, and a 30-day prayer guide.

As you listen to Jen’s story, we pray you’ll be encouraged to fight for the children within your circle of influence, and begin thinking about what you can do to be a voice for the voiceless. She was trafficked by a neighbor – not even a mile from her home. It is our job as neighbors, friends, guardians, parents, family members, coaches and teachers to know the signs of abuse so we can create circles of protection around those we come in contact with.

Our desire at WAR, Int’l is to step into risk issues just like human trafficking – to lift women to lives of dignity and worth after abuse and exploitation. If you are not sure where to begin when it comes to joining the fight against this injustice, consider attending one of our Civilian First Responder conferences. At these training days, we cover the basics of human trafficking, how to identify a victim, how to get involved, and how to report what you see. Join us as we seek to educate the public on why becoming a safe haven for the vulnerable is the key to combatting this issue right here at home.

Touchdowns and Trafficking

February is known for many things: Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, the beginning of Mardi Gras, and even Groundhog Day. But, maybe one of the most iconic “holidays” in February has become Super Bowl Sunday. Football fans everywhere look forward to this celebration of a true American game, finger foods, and the best commercials we see all year.

There are many misconceptions around the increase of human trafficking with this particular event in our nation. Regardless of whether or not human trafficking actually increases around the Super Bowl, this event is a rare opportunity for abolitionists everywhere to take a stand against sexual exploitation.

This year, the Super Bowl will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The state as a whole received a D on their Shared Hope Protected Innocence Report Card in 2015. However, California has also begun implementing significant laws to combat trafficking and will continue to do so this year.

In San Diego County alone, there are up to 11,700 women and girls trafficked each year, with fewer than 25 beds available for survivors. WAR, Int’l is pleased to partner with a safehouse in San Diego which is making a difference through long-term housing and a holistic restoration program for women coming out of a trafficking situation. This safehouse will be expanding its capacity over the next few years to be able to provide hope and healing to even more survivors.

As Super Bowl 50 nears, we encourage you to speak out against trafficking in your own community. The S.O.A.P. Project, a partner of WAR, Int’l, will be at the Super Bowl, monitoring an online website where sex is sold and reaching out to hotels with bars of soap labeled with the human trafficking hotline. Please pray for the team. This kind of outreach is not easy, and we would love to see our country rally around them in prayer during this time.

As we look to the Super Bowl in anticipation, hoping our favorite team shows up to play well, we hope you’ll take the time to pray for those who may be in trafficking situations. There’s no doubt that traffickers loom at large events – there are plenty of statistics, news stories and personal testimonies to prove that. Whether the number of trafficking victims increases drastically or minimally during the Super Bowl is almost completely irrelevant. The point is that many different events, especially large events like the Super Bowl, attract predatory men and women seeking financial gain from the coercion and enslavement of another human being.

While the Super Bowl is a fun event, it also serves as a reminder of the grim reality of human trafficking. With knowledge comes responsibility and a duty to educate both ourselves and others. We hope you’ll use this event and this month to shine a light on trafficking.

If you would like information on how to help survivors and fight trafficking through WAR, Int’l, click here.

National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

For the last few years, January has been named National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. In fact, the President released a statement earlier this month, calling upon, “Businesses, national and community organizations, families, and all Americans to recognize the vital role we can play in ending all forms of slavery and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities.”

Here at WAR, Int’l, we observe National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month every month. You see, trafficking doesn’t sleep. Oppression reigns around the world, where the innocence of another is stolen every 30 seconds. For 10 years, we’ve been asking ourselves this question: How many is too many? We believe that answer is one.

This month, more than ever, we deeply desire our communities to rise up against injustice. We’re asking you to come out of your comfort zone to bring hope to the hopeless; to be a voice to the voiceless.

We want to give you a few suggestions on how to join the movement this January:

Give up your weekly Starbucks. Many of us absolutely love our coffee. But, have you ever considered giving what you would have spent on coffee to an organization fighting human trafficking? The reality is that children as young as five years old are harvesting coffee beans on plantations all around the world for little to no pay. This is what we call labor trafficking. We invite you to give up coffee for the rest of January and donate your savings to Women At Risk, Int’l. If you’re interested in this opportunity, please click here.
Pledge to tell five of your friends about the dangers of human trafficking. In any of its forms, trafficking easily engrains itself into our communities. Share this issue with those closest to you to raise awareness!
Pray. We know that sounds so simple, but prayer is the only way we will end human trafficking. Think about it: We can fundraise and we can build safehouses, but if there’s no heart-change, we’ve done very little to break the cycle.

If you are interested in sounding a battle cry with us this month to rescue those trapped in the bondage of slavery, we invite you to visit our Get Involved page here. We have practical tools to help you take your first (or next) steps in ending human trafficking.

Please join us in this fight, and know that while one month may bring light to this tragedy, at-risk women all over the world suffer, sometimes for years, before rescue. What can you give up this month to bless a woman in need? Through your time, talent and treasure, we can fight exploitation together.
While it breaks our hearts that we even need a month here in the United States to recognize that trafficking exists, we understand the importance of raising awareness, and we applaud our government for declaring this month one for reflection and justice.

Join us today and spread the word this month!

Refugees at Risk

Refugees. We see them in the news, on magazine covers, in our social media feeds. There are more than 15 million refugees worldwide, coming from such diverse places as Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Whether fleeing war, persecution, famine, or natural disaster, all have experienced devastation, and all hope to find safety and a better life at the end of their journey. Yet in every stage of that journey, refugees face danger—not just threats to their physical health and safety, but a very real risk of exploitation.

While any sort of migration is fraught with risk, refugees face an increased danger of being exploited for sexual and labor purposes. For women and children, who comprise eighty percent of the refugee population (UNHCR), the risks multiply exponentially. Particularly vulnerable are unaccompanied females, the elderly and disabled, and children who have been separated from their families. What are some factors that leave this diverse population highly susceptible to trafficking and abuse?

Ripe for Exploitation: Why Refugees Are at Risk

The precariousness of their situation can lead refugees to take risks they would not otherwise take, exposing them to dangers that other migrants would take care to avoid. The trauma inherent in the refugee experience also plays a role, as the resulting emotional damage often robs victims of their self-protective instincts and increases the tendency to engage in risky behavior. These issues render them ideal targets for those who prey on the powerless and defenseless.

Adding to their risk is the disruption of family and community structures that may have protected them in the past. Families are frequently separated during conflict, in flight, or at refugee camps, leaving women and children especially vulnerable. The social structures that may have embraced them in their home communities have often broken down as well. The resulting lack of protection, economic difficulty, and absence of emotional support leaves many refugees defenseless, desperate, and at risk of being exploited.

Finally, refugees often find themselves with little or no legal protection from those who would exploit them. Many are “stateless,” no longer belonging to a country and outside any form of governmental protection. Traditional justice systems no longer exist for them, leaving them without legal aid, support, defense, or representation.

With all of these issues leading to heightened vulnerability, each stage of a refugee’s journey brings exposure to specific risks.

As They Flee: Risks Refugees Face

The risk begins long before a refugee takes flight, with exodus often precipitated by a conflict situation such as war or foreign occupation. Implicit in such conditions are violence, a breakdown of law enforcement and justice systems, and economic disruption—all of which create a ripe environment for traffickers and predators. In addition, the presence of occupying troops brings an increase in sexual violence, while the need for laborers and soldiers results in increased labor trafficking and illegal military conscription.

Once in flight, refugees face a new set of hazards. The forced and desperate nature of their migration often leads them to take drastic measures, including seeking the help of smugglers to get them across international borders. These smugglers may victimize those they are purportedly helping, or they may work in close partnership with drug, sex, and labor traffickers. Refugees are also susceptible to exploitation by corrupt border patrol and labor enforcement agents and even security personnel.

Refugee camps carry their own unique set of risks. Most are not safe or peaceful places. High population density, a shortage of resources, lax security, and a disparity of power render the camps prime spots for exploitation. Refugees often share space with corrupt troops and government officials, traffickers and predators, and arms and drug smugglers. As with conflict situations, the presence of foreign troops and officials creates an increased demand for sexual “services,” leaving unaccompanied females particularly at risk. Children are sought out not only by sexual predators but also by “recruiters” seeking to conscript young soldiers.

Once settled in the country of asylum, a refugee’s susceptibility to risk does not end. The lingering psychological effects of trauma can leave a refugee less likely to tap into social support networks and less able to secure and hold a job. In addition, refugees often face barriers to legal employment, such as lack of authorization, unfamiliarity with local employers and employment practices, and language or dialect issues. The desperation created by such barriers can force women and children into “survival sex” and leave both men and women vulnerable to labor exploitation. All too often, the “new lives” awaiting refugees are not much better than the lives they have fled.

Circles of Protection: Addressing the Risk

Recognizing the unique risks refugees face, WAR, Int’l has extended a circle of protection to various refugee groups around the world. An Eastern European partner recently hosted a retreat for a large group of women from a refugee camp, teaching and nurturing them for several days. Several partners in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe have worked extensively with refugees, caring for orphaned children and providing shelter and job training for adults. Many of the women in partnering African programs are refugees from war-torn countries.

As various groups of refugees flash across your television or your social media feeds this week, remember the extraordinary risks they face, and pray for their safety and strength. Pray also for the partners of WAR, Int’l who reach out to them. Pray that as they nurture and empower the refugees in their care, they will also be able to share the Gospel with them, and that these precious ones who have suffered so much will come to know the One who is the ultimate Refuge.

[A great deal of the information in this article was taken from the web document, “Trafficking Risks for Refugees,” by Anne P. Wilson]

Rewriting Her Story

Women At Risk, International is passionate about change—about bringing hope to the broken, freedom to the oppressed, and dignity to the downtrodden. There is no greater joy for us than to see women’s lives transformed and their stories rewritten. Rejoice with us in these stories of freedom, hope, and lives made new.

LIU BAO, CHINA

Teams of women walk through the red light districts of China offering words of kindness, encouragement, and hope to sex workers. They return time and again, building relationships with the women they meet. Knowing that most of these women did not choose the lives they are living, the outreach teams offer them a chance to start again. Through the outreach teams’ program, women are able to leave the streets and find safe shelter, counseling, and medical care. They also receive vocational training and employment in the outreach’s jewelry-making venture.

Liu Bao is one of these women. First trafficked when she was fourteen by a “boyfriend” who turned out to be a pimp, she later escaped and went back to her family—only to find herself trafficked again at the age of nineteen. After a year in China’s red light districts, she met several women from the outreach team. She left the streets and entered their program, run by a partner of WAR, Int’l, where she received trauma counseling as well as medical care and counseling for an eating disorder. Through much counseling and mentoring, she began to develop a healthy self-image and eating habits.

From the beginning, program staff recognized Liu Bao’s talent for computers and administration. Almost immediately, they offered her computer training and courses in administration and business English. As she began to heal from her past, Liu Bao found herself thriving in her courses. Just one year after leaving the streets, Liu Bao became an Administrative Assistant for the outreach program and is daily managing their jewelry stock, shipping, and consignment accounts.

As she thrives in her present circumstances and looks to a changed future, Liu Bao is no longer chained to her past. From the abuse and trauma of the red light district to the comfort and dignity of her office, Liu Bao’s story has been rewritten.

DAMARA AND RUTH, UGANDA

Holding back sobs, she made her way up to the platform, hoping for a chance to speak to the man from WAR, Int’l who had come to visit her village. Seeing her eagerness, the man stepped over and took her hands, and she could no longer control the sobbing that poured forth. “Thank you,” she told him over and over. “Thank you that I can go to college.” As her tears subsided, she told him her story—or rather, her mother’s story.

When Damara’s father died of AIDS, his family kicked her HIV-positive mother out of their family home and farmed Damara and her siblings out to other families. Damara’s mother, Ruth, found her way to a partnering program of WAR, Int’l which employs AIDS widows and HIV-positive women to craft jewelry out of recycled magazine pages. The jewelry-making venture had just begun, and Ruth became one of their first artisans. Her skill blossomed, and she was soon making enough money not just to support herself, but to put away for the future. She saved enough to buy land and build a house, and then set about getting her children back. With a steady income, she was able to send all of her children to school, and Damara was now graduating from college—something that a decade ago, neither she nor her mother would have ever thought possible.

Ruth’s story doesn’t end there. Spurred by her success in jewelry-making, she began growing mushrooms and popcorn, both high-demand and profitable commodities. She built more buildings and barns to accommodate her businesses. “And the food you ate today,” Damara revealed with a wide smile, “was made by my mother’s new catering business.” She couldn’t hold back the tears that flowed once more as she caught her mother’s attention in the crowd and motioned for her to come and meet this man whose organization had helped to change their lives.

And how great is that change! Once desolate and abandoned, Ruth now has more than enough to meet her needs and those of her children and is now pouring back into their community. A fresh start making simple but beautiful jewelry has led to the rewriting of her story and her children’s stories.

DAUGHTERS OF THE KING, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The chatter of excited girls rises above the clatter of forks and the clinking of glasses. The girls, students at an academy run by a new partner of WAR, Int’l in Central America, are clearly enjoying their etiquette classes. Their enthusiasm is bolstered by anticipation of a special dinner out at the conclusion of the classes. Such a treat!

Nearby, their mothers and other village women work handcrafting purses and bags. They are grateful for the income they earn this way and even more grateful for the education and nurture their daughters receive at the school. There, they learn not just academics, but skills like gardening, cooking, art, and most recently, table etiquette. The conversation among the women turns to the upcoming dinner—the food the girls anticipate eating and the new dresses they will wear. Lately, the girls have talked of nothing else.

Joining them for this dinner will be a friend of the Academy, Ana, along with her special guests. The girls love spending time with Ana, who has been talking with them about who they are. And who are they? They are more than poor children from poor families, more than trafficking survivors, more than the sum of their pasts and their circumstances. They are beautiful, lovely, and restored. They are chosen, beloved, daughters of The King. They are Princesses! It is hard for them to wrap their minds around this, yet they are coming to believe it.

Never is this more apparent to their teachers and mentors than when they overhear the girls talking as they model their new dresses after class. They primp in front of the mirrors and twirl around the room, skirts flowing. “Look at us,” they whisper to each other. “We are people now.”

Princesses. Daughters of the King. Change worn both outside and in. Stories rewritten. This is the goal of Women At Risk, International. This is why we are here.