3 Ways The Church Must Awaken to Sex Trafficking
Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 by
“I tell them they have a pretty smile.”
Recently a pimp was interviewed about his process for recruiting girls into trafficking. His answer caused me to tremble...
"I tell them they have a pretty smile."
1. Some of the risk factors aren’t what you think.
From a single, simple, seemingly innocuous statement, he could discern a girl’s confidence and security. If they respond with, “Thank you” or anything that demonstrated self-esteem, he would walk away. But a response that showed a semblance of insecurity or self-doubt, a “no, you don’t mean it,” or “really?” would initiate relentless recruitment and manipulation towards enslavement in sex-trafficking.
As a father of four, I cannot help but think about my twelve-year-old daughter when I hear this. A 6th grader at Truman Middle School, she’s already an amazing leader. She’s confident, joyful, and sincerely loves Jesus. But like all middle school students, she can be insecure at times. She may doubt her beauty or her place in the world. She enjoys attention and affection. And, although this is not wrong of her to do, it also worries me.
We tend to think of girls that get enslaved in trafficking as those coming from extreme backgrounds – abuse, addiction, homelessness, etc. And certainly these create major risk, but the most significant risk factor, according to the testimony of this brutally honest pimp, is all too common – simple insecurity and self doubt. Girls at risk for entry into trafficking are all around us.
The good news is that words of life and affirmation can make a tremendous impact in protecting teens and preventing entry into trafficking. Invest in the young people you have relationship with. Speak truth over them. Tell them that they’re important, valuable, and made in God’s image. Love them and show them their God-given value. As the church, we have tremendous power and responsibility to protect this generation by investing into their identity with love and truth.
This may sound like a simplistic or glib response to a heavy topic, but scripture teaches us that our words are powerful. It was with His words that God spoke creation into existence. It is with his spoken words that Isaac passed on a blessing to Jacob. And it is with our words that we speak life over girls we meet in Remann Hall – desperately hoping to instill them with the value and purpose we see in them. We’re convinced that the journey to freedom begins with an identity rooted in Christ.
2. Although every girl is vulnerable, the enemy specifically targets the most vulnerable.
In Deuteronomy 25, the Lord tells Moses to recall the evil of the Amalekites. As the nation of once-slave Israelites fled Egypt, the Amalekites were the first to attack the vulnerable travelers. And as the Amalekites attacked, they specifically targeted those at the back of the column – the weak, the tired, and the injured. And somewhere in the heavenlies, the Lord watched, kept score, and gave his people instruction to make things right.
Specifically targeting the weak and powerless, our enemy is, by definition, a bully. And over thousands of years, his tactics have not changed. He continues to target the weak, the tired, and injured. And although every girl is vulnerable to being preyed upon, it is young people from the hardest places who face the greatest risk.
Consider this:
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70% of girls in trafficking were at one time in the foster care system. The enemy targets people who have already faced significant abuse, neglect or instability. He targets the injured.
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The average age of entry into trafficking is 13 years old. The enemy does not target healthy adults who can make solid choices. He targets the powerless and weak.
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Many girls initially step into trafficking through “survival sex” (trading sex for basic needs - food, shelter, clothing etc). The enemy targets the poor and vulnerable. He targets the tired and desperate and gives them a “choice” that is really no choice at all.
I’m remembering one of the first girls I met in our City Life ministry named “Sharice.” Having already been kicked out of her grandmother’s home, and refusing to return to her abusive mother, she was transitionally homeless. She was offered a chance to move in with a boy she just met. He became abusive as well, and she hated living with him, but he promised her a room as long as she slept with him. Having burned enough bridges, she settled. Sharice fell off our maps shortly thereafter.
Girls like Sharice are highly vulnerable to the false promises that a pimp makes. When sex is reduced to a tradable commodity, there’s no longer significant barrier to allowing our sexuality to be exploited for another’s profit.
Over thousands of years, the nature of our enemy has not changed. A bully, he picks on those who are already weak and cannot protect themselves. And God, now like then, is keeping score. And asking his people to do something about this. His commands haven’t changed. Protect the vulnerable. And fight the enemy who picks on them. We will joyfully obey this command.
3. Chains of manipulation can be stronger than chains of iron.
Pimps often begin the process of recruitment with false promises of love and provision. And understandably, most 13 year olds are not discerning enough to see through the lies or understand the intent of their would be pimp. Once a child is separated from her family and society, the pimp begins to brutalize her. Rape, beatings and torture are the normal initiation – followed by continual verbal, physical and emotional abuse. Often the pimp will keep the girls in a drug-induced stupor to incapacitate them further. Other pimps become masters of manipulation and control – convincing the girls that they are loved by the pimp, and unlovable by anyone else.
The intensity and volume of trauma inflicted upon a child upon entering this lifestyle is hard to fathom. Quite literally, the mind, body and spirit all become broken. Self worth is shredded and engulfed by emotions of self-hatred, despair, fear, and shame. The ownership of self is then passed fully to the pimp – who now controls every interaction the girl is to have with society. The chains of slavery in America, previously made of iron, are more commonly found today made of manipulation and control.
This causes the rescue process to be fraught with difficulties. The average girl who escapes from trafficking attempts to leave the lifestyle seven times before succeeding. The bondage of manipulation seems impossibly strong as we witness time after time as girls are lured back to relationship with their abusive pimps. It is maddening and can make even the most faith-filled believer feel powerless.
And yet, there is hope.
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
If ever a stronghold existed, if ever there were thoughts and arguments setup against the knowledge of God, surely it’s found in a girl, subservient to a pimp, believing they are nothing. Standing with girls in the lifestyle, we see the challenges at hand. We know the statistics. We feel the darkness that surrounds. But we are not powerless. We bring truth, hope, love, and the power of the Holy Spirit to this battle. The Lord has not asked us to rescue the enslaved without first equipping us with power and authority to do what only His body can do.
In Isaiah 61, and Luke 4, we see God’s heart to set captives free. And throughout history, every significant abolitionist movement has been led by the people of God. The clarion call of freedom was designed for the Church to blow loudly and beautifully. That should not change in the face of modern slavery. The chains, the strongholds, the bondage – they’re all tragically real.
Church we must awaken.
You have been given power to cut chains. Your prayers are powerful and effective. Your gifts and talents are unique and needed. Join us in the mission of rescuing captives.
Please share this message. Comment a prayer. And ask the Lord how you should respond. We are in major need of volunteers who will walk with these teens, committed prayer partners, and those who would give financially to the mission. Let’s break some chains.
To get involved, to join us, or to simply learn more about how we are entering this need, please contact Brenda Boback at brenda@tacomayfc.org.
In Christ’s heart
Myron
Myron Bernard serves as our Ministry Director at Tacoma Area Youth For Christ.