The Super Bowl® is being played in Phoenix, Arizona this weekend. For those who live and breathe football, it is a BIG DEAL. If you are not a football fan, and perhaps didn’t even know the BIG GAME is being played this weekend, please don’t click out of this post yet. I promise not to talk about football.
The Super Bowl® is a BIG DEAL to the economy of Phoenix. It is also a BIG DEAL for some people who never get to see the game, but who are hugely affected by it. I’ll get to that in a moment. First, let me remind you a bit about what goes on in a Super Bowl® city.
Tens of thousands of people have come into Phoenix, Arizona this week in preparation for the Big Game. Media, players, spectators, advertisers, and so many more, the vast majority of whom are likely men. Something else has come into Phoenix, Arizona this week.
Pimps, johns, and trafficked women and girls.
An estimated 20.9 million men, women, and children are trafficked for commercial sex or forced labor around the world today. (Polaris Project statistics) It has been estimated that as many as 10,000 women and girls are brought into a city, like Phoenix, in preparation for the demand for sex by men, and sometimes women, who are in the city for the event. The average age a child is first exploited through prostitution is 13 years old, though children as young as infants have been identified in pornography. (Shared Hope International statistics)
These women and girls are often lured by their pimp into slavery under the guise of a promise of a high-paying job, or romantic relationship. There will be no high-paying job. In fact, they will not be paid at all. Most will be expected to have sex perhaps 30 times in a 24 hour period. Victims in the sex trade industry are expected to bring in a nightly quota, ranging from $500 to thousands of dollars. (Polaris Project statistics) Many are drugged, raped, and beaten. Most women and girls who are trafficked live less than 10 years. Suicide is common among these women and girls.
You may be thinking, “This doesn’t apply to me”. Oh really, it doesn’t?
What if it was your daughter or granddaughter being sold for sex? What if it was the girl next door? What if it was the teen at church? Because, friends, this is not a problem of third world nations. It is a problem that is in our back door, in our counties, our cities, and our states. Atlanta, Georgia, a mere two hours from where I live, is one of the major US cities for the sale of women and girls for sex. How do I know this?
My dear friend, Susan Norris, wrote a book entitled Rescuing Hope that tells of a young girl who was lured into the sex trafficking industry.
Rescuing Hope by Susan Norris
Rescuing Hope is a fiction book, but it is based on scores of interview that Susan did with survivors of sex trafficking, a former pimp, and several detectives who work units assigned to take down these pimps and johns. Susan speaks nationally and internationally about the problem of human trafficking, and is intimately involved with many survivors of this horror. She has shared stories of these victims with me, and every time my heart is broken.
I have included a link below this post where you can order Susan’s book, if you like. I also offer a link to a book written by Mary Francis Bowley founder of Wellspring Living, an organization to which I donate.
So, why am I telling you this today? Most of us do not live in Phoenix, Arizona. We cannot physically go and try to rescue a victim being trafficked. Most of us are not law enforcement officers who deal with this problem. What in heaven’s name can we do about it?
You and I can pray.
We can pray that the pimps and johns will be caught and stopped. We can pray a hedge of protection around these girls and women. We can pray that God would give law enforcement wisdom to find these victims, and rescue them.
We can also give to organizations that are leading the fight to stop human trafficking. There are many credible groups that are doing great work. Wellspring Living, Shared Hope International, The Polaris Project, and so many more.
Will you join me this week in praying for the victims of human trafficking to be rescued and led to Jesus? Will you pray for the pimps and johns to be caught and punished for their crime, and ultimately be led to Jesus?
I urge you to pray.
