National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2021

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day, so I wanted to write about how human trafficking impacts orphans around the world. Not being able to eat good food or drink clean water or sleep in shelter is bad—being trafficked is worse. And orphans are some of the most vulnerable to it. 

Human trafficking is usually a symptom of poverty. It is always a symptom of greed and lust. I am going to specifically write to you about sex trafficking. 

Because the demand for underage sex and porn is so high around the world, orphans—especially girls—are frequently abducted off the streets and prostituted. Some are even trafficked by their own guardians. 

When a child is sexually abused, they inevitably struggle to cope. They feel betrayed by their own body—they think that they should have run away, that they should have fought back, that they shouldn’t have felt any “good” feelings. 

Their soul becomes a petri dish of shame, depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness. 

Psychiatrist Dr. Bessel van der Kolk also writes, “[There] can be confusion about whether one was a victim or a willing participant, which in turn leads to bewilderment about the difference between love and terror; pain and pleasure.” Because of these crossed wires, an orphan who has been sexually abused will often unconsciously gravitate towards toxic relationships where they are further exploited.

UNICEF says that around 1.2 million children are trafficked every year. They say that 2 million—most of them being girls—are sexually exploited every year. More often than not, these children lose their right to an education. They lose their health to sexually transmitted diseases. Many lose their lives. 

And that’s why William, Blake, and I started The Avenir Project. The orphans who are lucky enough to be rescued and live in a good orphanage—at one point they weren’t. At one point, they likely were trafficked. They likely have a lot of healing to do.

With every gift someone like you gives, more orphans get the chance to feel safe, heal, and thrive—sustainably. Sustainability is a slow endeavor, but one which lasts infinitely. It’s so worth it. I hope you feel that, too.

So let’s keep doing what we’re doing for the sake of these orphans who deserve so much more than what poverty, greed, and lust have dealt them.