Human Trafficking 101

By Shirley Love Rayburn


Shirley Love Rayburn introduces us to Human Trafficking, the horror of modern-day slavery. “The key statistic that compelled me to action was that 80 percent of people trafficked are women; 50 percent are children. Those numbers woke me up and I was hungry to learn more.”




He had no beauty or majesty to
attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that
we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces …


Isaiah 53:2b-3

It was with the reading of this famous passage from the book of Isaiah that my Faith Community embarked on an evening of worship, learning and intercession regarding Human Trafficking.


I have found that this issue in its brutality can cause us to want to “hide” our “faces,” just like in the passage. Many of us would rather “hear no evil, see no evil … “ But for those who have engaged in a dynamic relationship with Jesus, this is not an option. We don’t want to be counted as ones who hid their faces from Jesus.


There is so much to know about the issue of Human Trafficking. I think most involved in the battle still feel like learners. When I was just embarking on the journey to being an abolitionist, I heard some stories that gripped my heart. I want to share these with you:


These stories are from the Trafficking in Persons Report: June 2005. You can learn more for yourself and read this year’s report by going to http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/.


The key statistic that compelled me to action was that 80 percent of people trafficked are women; 50 percent are children. Those numbers woke me up and I was hungry to learn more.


But it is the stories, the life descriptions of those who have been enslaved that motivate me to press on when I want to hide my face or plug my ears. Stories express the heartbeat behind the statistics. Following are stories from various parts of our global village. All stories, but for one, are directly from the TIP report of 2005. I’d suggest you pause after each story, and ponder the suffering expressed, ideally – gather in community and read these stories aloud, giving voice to the words, then together carry the burden of sorrow to the foot of the cross … for this He suffered and died.



Cambodia

Neary grew up in rural Cambodia. Her parents died when she was a child, and, in an effort to give her a better life, her sister married her off when she was 17. Three months later they went to visit a fishing village. Her husband rented a room in what Neary thought was a guest house. But when she woke the next morning, her husband was gone. The owner of the house told her she had been sold by her husband for $300 and that she was actually in a brothel.


For five years, Neary was raped by five to seven men every day. In addition to brutal physical abuse, Neary was infected with HIV and contracted AIDS. The brothel threw her out when she became sick, and she eventually found her way to a local shelter. She died of HIV/AIDS at the age of 23.



Central Africa

Mary, a 16 year-old demobilized child soldier forced to join an armed rebel group in Central Africa, remembers: “I feel so bad about the things that I did. It disturbs me so much that I inflicted death on other people. When I go home I must do some traditional rites because I have killed. I must perform these rites and cleanse myself. I still dream about the boy from my village whom I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me, saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying.”




Italy

Viola, a young Albanian, was 13 when she started dating 21-year-old Dilin, who proposed to marry her, then move to Italy where he had cousins who could get him a job. Arriving in Italy, Viola’s life changed forever. Dilin locked her in a hotel room and left her, never to be seen again. A group of men entered, and began to beat Viola. Then, each raped her. The leader informed Viola that Dilin had sold her and that she had to obey him or else she would be killed. For seven days Viola was beaten and repeatedly raped. Viola was sold a second time to someone who beat her head so badly she was unable to see for two days. She was told if she didn’t work as a prostitute, her mother and sister in Albania would be raped and killed. Viola was forced to submit to prostitution until police raided the brother she was in. She was deported to Albania.



India

Shadir, a boy of 15 years, was offered a job that included good clothes and an education; he accepted. Instead of being given a job, Shadir was sold to a slave trader who took him to a remote village in India to produce hand-woven carpets. He was frequently beaten. He worked 12 to 14 hours a day and he was poorly fed. One day, Shadir was rescued by a NGO*working to combat slavery. It took several days for him to realize he was no longer enslaved. He returned to his village, was reunited with his mother, and resumed his schooling. Now Shadir warms fellow village children about the risks of becoming a child slave.

* (non-governmental organization)



United States

A Columbian woman brought herself to the ER of a hospital in the Pacific Northwest. She refused to tell the receptionist or other medical staff what was wrong. The physician was able to find out her age, her country of origin and the reason for her visit to the ER, shared in a “detached voice.” She had been forcibly raped “and just wanted to make certain she was OK.” The doctor intuited there was something darker.


Four years ago she had been widowed. While still grieving she met an American woman who befriended her and told her of a wonderful man back in the U.S., she would arrange for them to meet.


In time, the American helped the Colombian woman acquire a visa. The two arrived in the U.S. and the Colombian woman was taken to the home of the “wonderful man.” Life seemed blissful. The two became inseparable. The Colombian soon took on the chores of daily living, and things began to change. It seemed she couldn’t do anything right. She kept being criticized, punished for doing things wrong. Eventually her passport and visa were taken away. Six weeks after her arrival in the U.S., the American woman who had helped her in Colombia moved into the home and informed her that she was the rightful wife.


The Colombian woman was told she would have to work to repay the debt she incurred by coming to the States. She had become another victim of Modern-Day Slavery. .” – story used with the permission of Dr. Thomas Burke.


You can find the full story at http://www.massgeneral.org/globalhealth/.


My hope is that each of us will allow these stories to touch our core. I believe, as women, we are invited to grieve alongside these beautiful people. We need not fear the grief. I recently read these words from a George MacDonald novel (paraphrased): “We can let grief try to get to consume our souls, but we find, once the fire of grief is exhausted, God is deeper still.” May our hearts be stirred, our souls be grieved, and our wills be moved to action on behalf of these, our brothers and sisters who are afflicted.


Next article: Human Trafficking Defined and some discussion of root causes.


About Shirley:
Shirley Love Rayburn is Executive Director of Voice for the Voiceless International Society with the following mission statement: We exist to cry out on behalf of enslaved women and children, labouring until they are valued on earth as they are in heaven. Shirley delights in celebrating life and freedom with her husband, Matthew, and their pre-school daughter, Adia Talitha.

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