Streetlight is a shelter for child sex slaves in Phoenix that opened April 4. We often hear about sex trafficking in other countries but rarely hear of the impact it is having in America. So let me toss out a few facts:
1.) There are an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 children at risk of entering the industry IN AMERICA.
2.) The average age of entrance to trafficking is 13...though girls as young as 5 have been found...IN AMERICA.
3.) These girls averagely sleep with around 1500 men each year...IN AMERICA.
4.) The biggest demand is for girls age 14-17 because they are innocent and clean and come with a sense of danger.
5.) For the many of these girls, sex trafficking is NOT an option...they are forced into it by pimps through an intense process of grooming.
6.) These girls are subjected to brutal abuse...sexual and physical...and are often tattooed or branded as a sign of belonging to their pimp.
StreetLight is opening to help save these girls...to provide them with Christian counseling, career counseling, education, food, clothes and shelter. On a side note, the cabins are beautiful! Streetlight will rewrite what love means in these girls' lives.
StreetLight is using the One Dress/One Month campaign as a fundraiser and a way to raise awareness to this often overlooked and unknown abuse. Many women have been wearing one dress or one outfit for the entire month of April because so many of the girls caught in trafficking are forced to wear one outfit...for the majority of their time. They don't chose this outfit...it is chosen for them...chosen so that they can attract customers.
This cause has broken my heart every since I have watched the documentary Branded (which I recommend), yet this month has drilled it into my head. Each morning I wake up and put on the same black shirt and jeans...I have had the privilege of washing it as much as I want and accessorizing as I please. However, after the 12 day...I was over it...the challenge was no longer exciting...I was tired of it. Then I remembered that I am doing this because thousands of girls my age are forced to do this very thing only they don't get to accessorize or wash their clothes as much as I. It is all chosen for them...they are owned.
As I fall asleep each night, my heart breaks for those who are just now beginning their night and will be forced to stay out until they sleep with enough guys to collect the right amount of money for their pimps. Some girls are forced into cages or inadequate living spaces after these long nights. They can no longer cry because they are numb and have cried every last tear they have. They look at their skin and see where it says that they are property of so and so. They don't have the freedom to do even the simplest of things.
I ask you to open your eyes to the injustices that are thriving in AMERICA right now...in your own backyard. Sex Trafficking isn't just in Arizona...cases have been found in almost every state. When you go to sleep tonight think about the girls who are out on the street being beaten, branded...having foreign objects inserted in places that they don't belong. Educate yourself.
Here is Streetlight's website...check it out: http://streetlightphx.com/
And if your heart is breaking and you are being urged to dig into your pockets, feel free to donate here: https://donations.towercare.com/StreetLight
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