If you can't imagine how they're related, read this article. You might remember a post I did about this time last year related to spikes in sex trafficking in South Africa as the World Cup approached. While it's depressing to think that these well loved sporting events carry a dark side to them, the sad part for me is that the traffickers are just moving with the supply and demand concept. I hope that many girls can be rescued from pimps and traffickers on account of awareness brought by articles like this, but until the demand is addressed, the traffickers will keep going after an endless "supply" of young girls to meet the demand set by the men right here in our own country.
At a recent workshop on trafficking that I attended, Brad Myles, director of the Polaris Project, addressed this exact issue. Here in the United States, law enforcement can go after traffickers and pimps all day long, and girls can hopefully get rescued when law enforcement is alerted, but until the issue of the "john" and the demand for the supply is addressed, the cycle just keeps going round and round. It's sad to think that we're our own problem with this issue.
The woman highlighted in the article, Tina Frundt, has an organization here locally --
ReplyDeletehttp://www.courtneyshouse.org/About-the-Founder.html
She is realy making a difference.
Thanks for posting, Mandy.