"Nefarious"

Even though my friend Sophia and I couldn't bear to watch every bit of this documentary about human trafficking, it touched me deeply. (Like "Caged No More," I also borrowed this one from my friend Bonnie of Salt & Light fame in Tokyo. She very kindly mailed it to me.) 

What grabbed my heart the most was the testimonies of former trafficked/prostituted women (one of whom, after filming, went back to prostitution--she was the one who said her mother and grandmother had also both been prostitutes and that she felt she had no other destiny). These women, one of whom had been a prostitute for 26 years in the UK, had all been sexually abused as children, and they said that they don't know of any prostitutes who haven't been. They grow up in violence and when a pimp ingratiates himself with them later, they seem to fall into it naturally because they feel they don't have any value or worth--they feel ashamed and lonely. The pimps claim they will take good care of them but end up threatening the women with death if they don't continue to comply. It's a vicious cycle, and the mortality rate for women who are in prostitution in the US is 40% higher than for those who aren't.

Sweden is doing a great job of stamping out trafficking by criminalizing and penalizing the johns--the men who pay for sex--and not the women. The women feel safe when approaching a police officer for help (they know they will not be arrested), and Sweden hasn't had a prostitute murdered since 1989, unlike most other countries.

They quoted William Wilberforce a lot in this film, and he is absolutely one of my all-time heroes. A few months ago I read Eric Metaxas's biography about him called Amazing Grace, and it blew my mind (I love the film made from this book, too, and Sophia and I will watch that one next). William Wilberforce's first rule for fighting slavery: PRAY. And so Sophia and I are committed to doing just that. 

We pray for freedom, healing, and restoration in Jesus for those trafficked and for the traffickers themselves. One of the most amazing and surprising testimonies in the film was by a former trafficker who is now a Christian and has a ministry that reaches youth before they get involved in this dangerous life. 

It takes a miracle, and Jesus is certainly up for that.