The Shock of Modern Day Slavery

We think that slavery was a shameful part of our history which was ended at least a century ago. We are oblivious to the facts when we think that. Today, there are 27 million people enslaved around the world. There are ONE MILLION children trapped in the commercial sex trade every year. These statistics are sickening and enraging.

Today at church we had a guest speaker who is part of the growing effort to rescue young girls and women from the sex trade industry. Sovannara is Cambodian, going to graduate school in Texas. She first heard the word brothel when she was 10 years old. She was tricked and kidnapped by a woman who robbed her and left her alone in a city. Thankfully, Sovannara was able to get home, but was told she was very lucky that she had not been sold into a brothel.

Later, when she went to Phnom Penh to study, she became a Christian,and eventually, a counselor, working with children who have been abused in the sex industry. She works with an organization which helps rescue girls and women from the brothels that are everywhere in Cambodia. Sovannara counsels the girls who are rescued, including one eight year old girl who had been sold into a brothel, along with her six year old sister. Getting help for these girls is very complicated, and includes working with the police, lawyers, and judges in an often corrupt legal process. She said that she often feels hopeless because of the injustice. Only God can help. God loves these girls. He knows their brokenness and their hopelessness.

Sovannara is seeing many girls coming to emotional and mental health after being rescued from slavery. She shared the story of one girl who had been sold into a brothel by her mother. After the girl was rescued and became a Christian, she wrote her mother a letter in which she shared the gospel with her and told her that she forgave her.

Sovannara is getting her Master’s Degree in social work. She wants to help parents to understand the needs of their children and love them the way they need to be loved. She also wants to speak to churches in Cambodia so that Christians there see the problem and will rise up to meet the need.