Week 8: Intimacy & Advocacy

Sex & Money

Morgan Perry

    This week has probably been my favority week so far.  I learned an incredible amount and we had the "Angelina Jolie of Human Trafficking" come and speak to us...  The one and only Morgan Perry. If you don't know who this is, she is the producer of the documentary Sex & Money (if you haven't seen this drop everything and go watch it) and the soon to be documentary Liberated.  She also works for the non-profit organization Exodus Cry in Kansas City.  She is seriously the most selfless, inspiring, so on fire for Jesus, passionate, and God fearing women I have had the pleasure of meeting.  She talked a lot about why our society is the way it is and what the cause is for the increased rate of Human Trafficking.

    Very few people know about how prevalent Human Trafficking is in today's society.  Most think that it happens in foreign countries but the actuality is there are millions of women, men, and children being trafficked in the U.S. each year.  Why are there so many people being trafficked?  The fact is, if there wasn't a demand then there would be no need for supply.  So, if there were no men buying women for sex there would be no women on the streets prostituting their bodies in the first place.  

• In Germany and Spain there is approximately 1.5 million purchases of sex each day. 

    Who are the victims of sexual slavery?  They are mostly women who have low self esteem, have run away from home, live in a broken home, are starving for attention, and are in survival mode.  Most of runaways will be picked up and trafficked with in 48 hours.  The evils of sexual slavery are; theft of innocence, forced labor, rape, physical trauma, and abortions. The average age of entry into prostitution in the U.S. is 12-14 years old. 

• Of the women who are slaves 95% of them are assualted and 75% of them are raped.

    Why is human trafficking so bad in today's society?  Why are there more slaves today than in any other point in history? The simple answer is porn culture and party culture. 

    In porn culture the message that is displayed about women is that they are available, disposable, and they only exist for male pleasure. The message to men is that it is all about their pleasure and that women are instruments for their pleasure.  The highest rated genre of porn in the world is torture porn and the second highest is barely legal- meaning porn stars are dressed up as children and are having sex (some rape scenes) with men. Some people will argue that porn is not a form of trafficking and that there is nothing wrong with it, but the cruel reality is that 99% of porn stars are being trafficked or have been trafficked, because trafficking is not just the abdustion and solicitation of women. By definition it is the recruitment of people by the means of threat, coercion, or deception for the purpos of exploitation. So, when people buy porn they are supporting human trafficking.  

• Porn releases dopamine into the brain and becomes as addictive as heroin
• The average age of first exposure to porn is 7 years old

    In today's party culture millions of people world wide flood to the beaches to celebrate their spring break. Many of the girls are raped and assaulted. For example last summer a girl was gang raped (on video) on Panama City Beach with thousands of people around and yet no one did anything. Rape has become so normalized in our culture that no one even thinks to help a girl that is being raped on a beach in front of thousands.  This is today's party culture. All the young guys partying want sex, money, and alcohol. All the girls crave attention so much that they are willing to give it to them with no thought.

    If you would like to know more you can check out Exodus Cry's web page or A21 Campaign's web page.

    Sorry this post was a tad depressing, but I think it's important to let people in on what's happening with Human Trafficking in today's society.

    I have just a few short weeks before I leave for Africa and I could still use your support.  You can donate by following the following link: gofund.me/taj8tg8.  Thanks for all your support.  Please pray for protection for both of our teams.