Close to My Heart

Last month I heard Christine Caine speak about the A21 Campaign, an organization that fights human trafficking worldwide. Since then, I’ve done further research on this subject, and I’m appalled that this kind of evil exists in the world. Some of my findings:

• According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking has become the second fastest growing criminal industry – just behind drug trafficking – with children accounting for roughly half of all victims. Of the 2,515 cases under investigation in the U.S. in 2010, more than 1,000 involved children. (source)
• According to International Crisis Aid statistics, as many as 300,000 American children are being used in sex-trafficking rings. Victims average age 11-14 years old and start as young as four. (source)
• Baby farms are, in my opinion, the most horrifying aspect of human trafficking. Teenage girls are raped with the goal of getting them pregnant. They are kept as prisoners until their babies are born. Then the babies are sold. As if illegal adoption wasn’t bad enough, these babies aren’t sold to would-be adoptive parents. The babies are either sold for their body parts or to pedophiles. (source 1, source 2)
• The FBI has named I-10 as the #1 corridor for human trafficking in the U.S. I don’t know about you, but that’s uncomfortably close to home for me.
• Watch this documentary. If it doesn’t prompt you to take action, I’m not sure what possibly could.

Again, I’m appalled that this kind of evil exists in the world. But my broken heart alone isn’t going to save anyone or make a difference. So…

Andy and I made a substantial financial contribution to A21, but we wanted to do more. As most of you probably know, my husband is an artist. We decided to auction off a piece of his work (see below) to benefit A21. The silent auction will be held on March 17th at Art in the Park, with the winner being announced at 4:00 that afternoon. Yes, you must attend the event to place a bid, but there are other ways to get involved with A21. Our two goals in auctioning this piece of art are to bring human trafficking awareness to our local community and financially support A21.

Human trafficking is an overwhelming worldwide problem, but there IS hope. Get involved if you want to help fight this atrocity, and follow A21 on facebook for global updates. We ARE making progress.