Live Saving Work Through a Pandemic

I remember the first time a client didn’t want me. I remember him looking at me, disgusted, as tears ran down my face. I remember him demanding his money back because he couldn’t enjoy the sex if I was crying. I remember Peter’s eyes glazing over as he turned to me, the man leaving with his money in hand. I remember being punished that day and spending the following days watching the bruises on my thighs turn different colors. I was 6.

Amidst a global pandemic, there are men, women, and children in crisis. But this crisis is not new. The threat is not invisible. The fear and panic is something that has been burned into their minds and staying in their “home” is not a safety measure.

There are children still being expected to work. Little 6 year olds like I was. There are men and women still being expected to work. Pimps don’t care about a pandemic. They care about their money. The trafficking victims must make the money they’re expected to make, or they could be beaten, or worse. This results in them taking increasingly dangerous clients. Victims across the US are stepping into more and more violent situations in attempts to make the money they need to keep their traffickers from punishing them.

They need our help.

Today is Giving Tuesday, a movement sparked by Americans watching frontline workers, community partners, and nonprofits continue their life-saving work, even in the midst of a global pandemic. With the world shut down in many ways, organizations are left without volunteers and without regular donations as people social distance and experience disruptions in their work lives. While the world seems to have slowed down around us, the work that organizations do has not slowed down. In many cases, there is a spike in need.

For our organization, that rings true.

We have seen an increase in requests for emergency funding. Safe houses across the US are doing everything in their power to get these men, women, and children safe, and to keep them that way. They are fighting for these victims. They are working toward healing and hope. They are putting in the work and the compassion that these survivors are well worth, all the while reminding them they are worth it.

But fighting for them will not feed them on its own.

Working toward healing and hope does not keep the lights on.

Putting in the work with the survivors does not pay for their medical care.

Compassion alone does not furnish a room for a child pulled out of a trafficking situation.

But you can help with all of those things. Yes, you. You sharing this post, you praying for this organization, your donations, all these things can help change the lives of trafficking survivors. Be a part of that change. Share. Pray. Donate.

Hope

#FreedomRequiresAction #FacesoftheFight #BeyondAwareness #EndIt