About two weeks have passed since the international human trafficking awareness day, and millions of women and children are still suffering from injustices of human trafficking.
It is estimated that there are more than 27 million people who are being exploited for manual and sexual labor against their will, according to The A21 Campaign, an organization dedicated to addressing the injustices of human trafficking in the twenty-first Century.
In her new book “Undaunted”, Christine Caine, a pastor from Hillsong Church Australia and the founder of The A21 Campaign, wrote in her book detailed accounts of the former victims of human trafficking.
In the first account, a girl named Nadia, raised in poverty during time of war in Georgia, and her group of friends were approached by a man and told of opportunities to work in Greece. The man promised good-paying jobs and a bright future, and there would be an information session, where details would be provided. At the meeting, some men introduced themselves as agents gave compelling presentation of the opportunities in Greece, passed out the necessary paperwork for obtaining passports and work visas, and patiently helped the girls filled out the forms.
Although the Nadia’s parents were concerned at first, the embers of hope also burned inside them. As soon as Nadia arrived in Greece, she was brought to an apartment building, where she was then beaten and raped repeatedly by several men. For two weeks, the beatings and rapes continued. Finally, she was told to work in a brothel and threatened that if she does not do as told then they would kill her family. While monitored twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, she was forced to perform unmentionable acts with constant flow of customers – up to forty times a day.
Yet another horrifying story detailed by the Caine in her book is the account of a woman named Mary from Nigeria. In Nigeria, Mary and fifty-nine other young women were brought to Greece in a shipping container. They were told to either lose their deposits and any future opportunities to work abroad and return home or to make the voyage in the shipping container. The girls had given everything they owned to pay for the passage. After the girls entered, the door was shut and locked. Then, the filter that allowed oxygen to circulate in the container stopped working, so the inside of the cramped box suddenly become lightless and airless. Half of the girls died from lack of oxygen. They had nowhere to sit but in their own vomit and feces.
Upon arrival, around 30 of the living were hustled to small apartments nearby, where the girls were repeatedly raped and beaten. Then, they were loaded into small rubber boats and taken across the Mediterranean Sea to a Greek island. The Greek Coast Guard was doing a routine check. To avoid a lengthy imprisonment, the traffickers began throwing the girls overboard- only five of the approximately thirty girls escaped drowning that day. Those lived were hidden among their captors when the Coast Guard came aboard. In Athens, the girls were then taken to brothels.
In the foreword of "Undaunted", Max Lucado, author and pastor at Oak Hills Church, wrote, "I pray you will read this book. If and when you do, you'll discover what I have: God has given our generation a Paul, Mary, and Esther. And her name is Christine Caine.
"God has given our generation the opportunity to make a difference in the vilest atrocity of the century. After reading this book, I resolve to do more. I hope you will too."
The goal of A21 is fourfold: prevent people from being trafficked, protect those who have been trafficked, and provide support services, prosecute traffickers, and strengthen legal responses to trafficking, and partner with law enforcement, service providers, and community members to provide a comprehensive front against trafficking.
To find out how to fight against human-trafficking, visit: www.TheA21Campaign.org
