Youth are playing a key role

 by David F. Dawes

Some young people in B.C. have a mission. Freedom 151 is a group of youth at Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna who are raising funds to help free young people in South Asia from slavery. They are part of a growing movement to combat this scourge.

With youth as the target audience, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) also weighed in on the issue recently, with a new full-colour booklet, Not So Ancient: Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.

The booklet, EFC stated in a press release, “is for those who are tired of the status quo and are ready to live out God’s call for justice.”

The booklet declares that trafficking is indeed happening in Canada, where “the major form of exploitation is the commercial sex trade.” In this country, the crime is committed mostly by organized crime groups, “who often use the internet or other forms of technology to attract victims.”

Christians, the resource states, should be especially concerned. “God's heart is broken over the millions of people enslaved today, and he suffers alongside each and every one of them. God is not apathetic or indifferent to their cries for mercy and justice. He has sent his church – his chosen people – into the world for the very purpose of bringing hope for change wherever injustice exists.” The fight against human trafficking made some progress this past year.  

On September 30, Parliament passed a private member’s bill which will allow for more punitive measures against traffickers. MP Joy Smith’s Bill C-268 is a proposal to amend the Criminal Code to provide a minimum sentence for the trafficking of anyone under the age of 18. At press time, the bill was under review in the Senate.

‘Buying sex is not a sport’ was the theme at an event held October 14 at the University of British Columbia. Co-sponsored by the UBC Faculty of Law, the presentation was aimed at the increase in sex trafficking which many anticipate will accompany the 2010 Olympics. Also notable was the fact that one of the speakers is a Christian activist.

Michelle Miller, executive director of Vancouver's REED (Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity), which co-sponsored the event, told the audience she was speaking “as a follower of Jesus.”

Christ, she said, “calls us without hesitation or fear to name injustice and work for the liberation and equality of all people – but especially those who have been marginalized and are suffering from oppression.”

Vancouver, she said, “is already a hot spot for trafficking, and a known child-sex tourism destination. We already have a problem with the demand for paid sex fueling the exploitation of women . . .

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“Now imagine what will happen when we add hundreds of thousands of visitors to this mix. In 2004, when the Summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greek police found double the number of trafficking victims. The following year – once the Games were over – the number dropped 24 percent . . .

“What will we say to Olympic visitors? Come on in, our women and children are for sale?”  

One group which has had success in fighting human trafficking is International Justice Mission (IJM). The organization's personnel collaborate with local authorities in 13 developing countries worldwide, to free both adults and children from forced labour and sex trafficking.

IJM Canada, one of its affiliates, works to raise Canadians’ awareness about modern-day slavery, and partners with IJM’s international offices in efforts to combat the problem in Bolivia, Cambodia, Uganda and South Asia.

Churches in North America have actively given compassionate assistance to the poor and marginalized, but IJM maintains that Christians need to be even more involved in the area of pursuing justice for oppressed victims worldwide.

“IJM’s frontline professionals are nationals who are experts in their fields, highly professional and deeply dedicated to the work. But they can’t do this job alone,” said Ed Wilson, IJM Canada’s director of development and operations.

“We have found that when Canadians learn of the great need to combat the violence suffered by the poor around the world, they are eager to join the fight.”

Contacts

* World Vision: wvasiapacific.org/humantrafficking
* International Justice Mission: ijm.ca
* Freedom 151: freedom151.com
* UN.Gift: Ungift.org
* Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity: embracedignity.org
* 50 Thousand for Freedom: 50thousandforfreedom.com
* Salvation Army: thetruthisntsexy.ca
* Free the Slaves: Freetheslaves.net
* Anti-Slavery: Antislavery.org
* United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking: No-trafficking.org

– additional reporting by Lori Pederson

Options - Winter 2010