12 year old sex slaves? Why?!!!!!
Being in Thailand is like heaven to me. I love how sweet the people are, how beautiful the beaches are, the food and street vendors, massages and motor bike exploring days... But the one thing that rips my heart out is the sex trafficking of young girls and women. Seeing this first hand in 2006 when I came to Thailand with the World Race group, my heart was literally broken. I cried for days. I could never erase the photo memory of the young girls we seen in little string bikinis with numbers pinned on them clinging to a pole like it was their long lost mom.
Here is the thing. Thailand's industry is tourism. They cater to tourist's in every way imaginable. You can get a $10 massage anywhere. You can rent a motorbike for a day for $5. Fresh cut fruit on the streets costs a few cents. Clothes, shoes, jewelry, handbags... its all available for a fraction of the cost. This is a huge attraction for many visitors to this land of paradise. Although these are some of the things I adore about this country, this blog is about the one thing that breaks my heart.
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| The fruit is so fresh and so cheap! For a bag of cut up watermelon and pineapple, I think I paid 25 cents! |
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| I think every other shop in Thailand is a massage parlor/spa. The women stand on the street trying to get every person who walks by to come into their salon. These girls must be working a long shift because they do not look too happy! |
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| My favorite nights are when we grab ice cream and go sit on the beach to watch the sunset... its so beautiful! |
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| TONS and tons of jewelry... its my dream and Marshall's nightmare! I did buy a pair of earrings from this guy. He was making them right in front of him! Pretty cool! :) |
Prostitution. Lots of it. And even worse, sex trafficking. My issue isn't exactly with the girls who choose to wear next to nothing and cater to old men for money. It's gross and disgusting and I will never understand it, but at least they are making that decision on their own.
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| We sat at an Irish Pub and had dinner across the street and watched this girl try to hook man after man as they walked by. |
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| Very very common. Sorry about the horrible photography! I'm nervous to lift my camera to take pictures of these things because it seems like people are always on the lookout and ready to yell at you! |
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| Waiting... |
My very serious issue and heart aches are for the young girls who are not making that decision on their own... but forced into it. This girl in the next two pictures has had a permanent place in my mind the last few days. We had gone out for dinner and were walking around and saw her. It was blatantly obvious that she was trafficked. She looked about 12 or 13. Definitely not Thai. She was horribly drugged up and completely out of it. And she was locked in this room above the bars which is a sign that they need to keep the girls more or less hidden. The majority of the prostitution is in front of you on the streets. But the young girls who were trafficked are kept inside for customers wanting services and privacy. The more they keep it hidden, the better it is. This girl was like just kind of swaying around and trying to move but her eyes were like in another world and I felt at that instant that someone had punched me so hard in my stomach.
I didn't know what to do. I wanted to try and "buy" her for the night and bring her home, hydrate her,let her have some sleep, and try to help her escape. Marshall reminded me that this business kills people that mess with them. I do know that, but I couldn't help the tears in my eyes knowing this was someone's baby girl. I wondered about her story and how she got where she is. If it was a family vacation and she was kidnapped. If she was offered a modeling position and shipped out of her country. I still cannot get her out of my mind and have googled missing girls that may have been trafficked to just maybe find a match. These pictures are really blurry because a guy was yelling at me that I was not allowed to take pictures of her. He also stopped my video after like 10 seconds, but you can kind of get an idea of how horrible this dirty industry is.
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| Where she is standing is like a glass box above all the bars... I am sure it connects into the brothels inside. |
This is another picture of a trafficked girl locked in the box on the pole... If you look up, she is in the blue dress. This picture gives you a better idea of what the set up is like. We watched this girl for a few minutes and she was so out of it she barely moved from that position but just kind of swayed a little.
Whenever Marshall and I would take a taxi somewhere, they would try and take us to a backstreet apartment where their buddies tip them off. At these places, they want to take you upstairs to the trafficked girls for services. It's shocking and horrific. We never told him to go there, but one time he didn't listen to us and went anyways thinking we would maybe change our mind. That is how we know what dirty tricks they try and pull over on people.
You also have the women who are working the men and leave their sweet babies on the streets to beg and care for themselves. This was so devastating. I so badly wanted to bring them home with us and put on some cartoons and give them something to eat. So awful... :(
There is such a difference in the many ladyboy clubs, and strippers you see enjoying their time, and the others who have no option but to do what the men and women order them to do. These pictures are of strippers and prostitutes...
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| This bar is a ladyboy bar meaning all the "girls" in here were originally boys. Weird weird weird... and there are a TON in Thailand! |
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| This is pretty much what all the bars are like... |
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| These three are all ladyboys too... You come across so many people on the street, men and women, all ages... trying to offer you these "shows." They include the women and they have them perform all sorts of what they call entertainment. You can buy a ping pong show, bottle show, horn show, ribbon, candle, and the list goes on. This picture shows all the people standing in the streets trying to coax the tourists into their bars and brothels for these performances. |
We were walking down the street and saw a bunch of people crowding around this table. It was a little performance by the lady boys... Crazy.
This is what the bars are like. I really am bad at taking pictures and videos in these areas because I'm so afraid of the people around me. You literally have eyes on you at all times and I dont exactly think I want to mess with them.
There is an organization in Thailand that is pretty awesome. Some of our world race teams have worked with them. They are called Nightlight Bangkok and they have rescued some of the girls out of the trafficking industry. They teach them life skills as many have only known how to do one thing for the past few years. They hold Bible studies with them to renew their hope in God and to help bring some light back into their lives. And they also teach them how to make jewelry. There are many precious stones in Thailand and they use them to make jewelry and sell all around the world. People can host jewelry parties like the pampered chef style and help them sell their items. It's a great organization and I highly recommend anyone interested to take a look at their website for some beautiful items!!
Even though we have left the crazy area of the bars and girls, I still cannot stop thinking about that sweet young girl. It's such an awful feeling being helpless against such a dangerous enemy. We are reporting that club to the American Embassy because we know they file reports and can put pressure on the country to take action... but with police patrolling the streets and being all over, they obviously do not care or are being paid off in services.
All I can do is trust. Trust that God will protect that girl and redeem her. Trust that He will help the many others who are being beaten, drugged, and raped when they should be playing with barbies and reading bedtime stories with their parents.
It is a cruel and devastating world. It's even worse when you witness something so awful firsthand. I will be posting many more posts about our trip and I promise they will be more positive than this one! I just had to share what is really going on here. Hug your loved ones tonight one extra time for all the sweet kids who cannot.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE FACTS • An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labour (including sexual exploitation) at any given time
as a result of trafficking1 Of these:
o 1.4 million – 56% - are in Asia and the Pacific o
250,000 – 10% - are in Latin America and the Caribbean o
230,000 – 9.2% - are in the Middle East and Northern Africa
o 130,000 – 5.2% - are in sub-Saharan countries o
270,000 – 10.8% - are in industrialized countries o
200,000 – 8% - are in countries in transition2
The Profits
• Estimated global annual profits made from the exploitation of all trafficked forced labour are US$ 31.6 billion14
The Victims
The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age5 An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year6
95% of victims experienced physical or sexual violence during trafficking (based on data from selected European countries)7
43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation, of whom 98 per cent are women and girls
(These stats are from the UN.gift website)
These are some other facts about Sex Trafficking...
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A promise of a good job in another country A false marriage proposal turned into a bondage situation Being sold into the sex trade by parents, husbands, boyfriends Being kidnapped by traffickers
Sex traffickers frequently subject their victims to debt-bondage, an illegal practice in which the traffickers tell their victims that they owe money (often relating to the victims’ living expenses and transport into the country) and that they must pledge their personal services to repay the debt.
Sex traffickers use a variety of methods to “condition” their victims including starvation, confinement, beatings, physical abuse, rape, gang rape, threats of violence to the victims and the victims’ families, forced drug use and the threat of shaming their victims by revealing their activities to their family and their families’ friends.
Victims face numerous health risks. Physical risks include drug and alcohol addiction; physical injuries (broken bones, concussions, burns, vaginal/anal tearings); traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting in memory loss, dizziness, headaches, numbness; sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea, syphilis, UTIs, pubic lice); sterility, miscarriages, menstrual problems; other diseases (e.g., TB, hepatitis, malaria, pneumonia); and forced or coerced abortions.
Psychological harms include mind/body separation/disassociated ego states, shame, grief, fear, distrust, hatred of men, self-hatred, suicide, and suicidal thoughts. Victims are at risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – acute anxiety, depression, insomnia, physical hyper- alertness, self-loathing that is long-lasting and resistant to change (complex-PTSD).
Victims may also suffer from traumatic bonding – a form of coercive control in which the perpetrator instills in the victim fear as well as gratitude for being allowed to live.