National Human Trafficking Awareness Day

Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

27 million people around our world are enslaved in either the sex trade or forced labor. Let that number sink it. These are children. Moms. Teen girls. Dads. Sons. From the brothels of India to the battlefields of Uganda to the truck stops in the US - the problem is EVERYWHERE.

100,000 of our own children are prostituted every year.

The average age of entry into prostitution is 13. These kids are typically raped, beaten and tortured to dehumanize them and make them submissive to their captors.

55% of child pornography on the internet comes from the US.

US citizens account for 25% of sex tourists in the world and 80% of those in South America....the primary reason to go abroad for sex is to have sex with a child....and when they aren't traveling, they are right here at home.

This is a growing problem in NC because of the I-95 corridor (there are increasingly "make-shift brothels" along this route and truck stops are a common place where kids are prostituted), agriculture-based economy, military presesnce, and increasing immigrant population (they are especially vulnerable to traffickers because of the language barrier).

We must end the demand. We must educate and protect the supply.

Please share this video and these organizations with everyone you can:

Shared Hope Intnernational: http://www.sharedhope.org/
Tiny Hands International: http://www.tinyhandsinternational.org/
Triad Ladder of Hope: http://www.triadladderofhope.org/
World Relief: http://www.wr.org/
International Justice Mission: http://www.ijm.org/
The Defenders USA: http://www.thedefendersusa.org/



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9HUZ6Y_Yuo

And above all, please say a prayer for those enslaved, those being trafficked, and those in recovery.