After finishing her degree in social work, Crystal hopes to work in victim services with others who have been trafficked.
LOOKING BACKWARD Crystal grew up in a home that was, in her words, “riddled with family dysfunction” that included domestic violence, neglect, and sexual abuse. The summer she was 8 years old, Crystal was sexually assaulted almost daily by her stepfather. She says this abuse “set the stage” for years of exploitation and forced prostitution. A history of abuse is extremely common among survivors’ stories, according to Jones, who says she hasn’t met a victim yet who wasn’t abused in some form as a child. The vulnerability that comes from past abuse is exactly what recruiters look for. “Traffickers can sense when someone is vulnerable, and I was no exception,” Crystal notes. “I think that’s really important to know, because nationwide people are starting to take notice of this kind victimization, because for so long it was seen as a choice by a rebellious teen,” says Charisma de los Reyes, a policy analyst with San Diego County’s Child Welfare Services and an alumna of PLNU. Many women, like Crystal, are recruited by someone they consider close, often a love interest. Then they stay because of coercion. “The bonds that hold victims are not always physical,” Jones says. “In fact, most of the time they’re not. They’re almost always psychological.” According to Crystal, that was the case in her situation: “Although I did not know it, I never even had a choice.” She adds, “Fortunately, today I have a much different story. One that is full of hope and potential.”
To learn more about the
BEAUTY FOR ASHES SCHOLARSHIP,
visit the PLNU Center for Justice and Reconciliation at pointloma.edu/cjr or pointloma.edu/beautyforashes.
6 Ways Your Church Can Fight Human Trafficking A common misconception in the United States is that human trafficking happens only in other countries or that victims in the U.S. were all trafficked from other countries. Yet research shows that human trafficking* affects every U.S. state, according to PolarisProject.org. These are six things your church can do to fight against the problem of human trafficking:
1.
RAISE AWARENESS. Learn about the problem of human trafficking and educate your congregation and community. You can find well-researched information from Polaris Project (polarisproject.org) and specific ideas for raising awareness at NCM’s website (ncm.org/trafficking).
2.
PRAY TOGETHER. Human trafficking is a dark form of evil. Ask God to break through the forces of darkness and break the yoke of bondage. You can find prayer guides at ncm.org/trafficking. You can also host a Freedom Sunday event at your church. Visit ncm.org/freedomsunday for free resources.
3.
STUDY SCRIPTURE. Open the Bible together to learn what it says about God’s heart for people who are oppressed and God’s heart for justice. Free Bible study downloads are available from the Faith Alliance Against Slavery (faastinternational.org).
4.
EQUIP CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH WORKERS. Recruiting happens in middle schools and high schools. Many traffickers pose as friends or boyfriends, or
they use other students to do the recruiting. Give pastors and volunteers tools to identify signs of abuse and steps to take, as well as age-appropriate resources to teach children and youth to identify signs of trafficking recruitment. NetSmartz.org also has tools to teach kids to protect themselves online.
5.
RESEARCH YOUR LOCAL CONTEXT. Learn about the issues in your community and partner with anti-trafficking organizations in your area. The Engage Together website (engagetogether.com) serves as a virtual community to connect organizations and individuals or groups. The site also includes a free toolkit for how your church can create an anti-trafficking action plan in your community.
6.
FIGHT THE DEMAND. Human trafficking is a big-money business, and our actions can drive the demand for slave labor and commercial sex. Learn more about the connection between pornography and sex trafficking at pornharmsresearch.com. There are many resources to help people who struggle with addiction to pornography: Defenders USA (sharedhope.org), X3Network (x3pure.com), and the SATP Institute (satpinstitute.com). Learn about the connection between consumerism and labor trafficking from the Global Slavery Index (globalslaveryindex.org), Slavery Footprint (productsofslavery.org), and Free2Work (www.free2work.org). *This list addresses the problems of sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
Winter 2016 | 9