February 2015 – Do you remember getting report cards in school? If you got a good grade, it was because you were smart and deserved it. If your grade was below your parents’ standard, you blamed it on friends distracting you, the tests being filled with trick questions, or the dog eating your notes. Basically, any excuse that would not reveal the real problem: You weren’t prepared for the tests.

Step one: admit there is a problem
In 2011, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal received a report card based on a test he wasn’t prepared for. Shared Hope International, an organization fighting human trafficking, gave his state a grade of C. Jindal had only a cursory knowledge of human trafficking at the time. He knew it was a $32 billion global enterprise. He knew it was a terrible blight on civilization. He knew it was centered in foreign countries and rarely, if ever, seen in America, much less his beloved state of Louisiana. Until he was shown how wrong he was.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jindal’s hometown, is one of the biggest cities in the country for human sex trafficking. According to Shared Hope, Baton Rouge has been a sex trafficking hub since Katrina devastated the New Orleans area. Over the course of 10 years, thousands of girls and boys under the age of 18 have been sold for sex there.

Jindal heard these facts from Shared Hope and began investigating the matter. His search led to hearing testimonies of survivors and seeing reports from local groups such as Forum 35 and Trafficking Hope. The latter reported street gangs “selling women more than drugs” because drugs can only be sold once while women can be forced to perform sexual acts 15-25 times a day.

After these revelations, Jindal began making changes in his state. He said in a recent interview, “This, to me, is a huge, huge problem in our society … This is not a victimless crime. It is happening in our backyard.” He also said even though human trafficking is a big problem, it gets minimal media attention. So he moved to change the attitudes surrounding trafficking and, in the process, bring more exposure to it. His passion led him to support and have a cameo in an upcoming movie highlighting the issue.

Step two: address the problem
Other leaders in Louisiana caught Jindal’s vision. When they too realized the scope of the human trafficking problem, they started working on solutions.

In June 2014, Louisiana state representatives passed four important bills with support from both sides of the political aisle. One bill, written by Neil Abramson (D), targets those purchasing sex by making the “unlawful purchase of commercial sexual activity” a criminal offense. Abramson’s law requires a person found guilty to register as a sex offender. It also expands the present crimes of human trafficking and trafficking of children for sexual purposes to include the act of receiving, isolating, and enticing persons into prostitution, and owning or operating a place of prostitution.

The second major bill, written by Julie Stokes (R), authorizes district courts to create a division within themselves for the sole purpose of judging human trafficking cases. The law requires judges in these courts to receive advanced training on any issue involving human trafficking and specialize in hearing cases involving prostitution related offenses for the purpose of identifying victims. The judges are responsible for keeping trafficking victims from being incarcerated for acts they were forced into.

Valarie Hodges (R) authored a bill requiring outpatient abortion facilities to post the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline contact information in plain view. Another bill to help potential victims, written by Barry Ivey (R), requires that women be given information on coerced abortions and human trafficking before undergoing an elective abortion. The aim of both bills is to help identify victims of human trafficking who are forced to go to abortion facilities. Victimizers often force girls to undergo abortions so they can keep being prostituted. These bills provide a way for girls to escape their victimizers and save their babies.

With many courts and doctors being trained to spot human trafficking, Louisiana quickly saw another need for educating the police force. Since prostitution is illegal in Louisiana, police officers often arrested and charged women for prostitution. This only served to further victimize victims. Now officers are required to undergo training that will help them spot girls who are being trafficked and help them escape their abuser and find rehabilitation.

Step three: assisting the victims
While the ultimate goal of Louisiana’s efforts is to put an end to the practice of modern-day slavery, those currently living through the torment of being trafficked are in need of healing. Some Louisiana citizens have found ways to meet this need.

Louisiana Coalition against Human Trafficking (lacaht.org) is a 501(c)3 organization that founded Free Indeed Home. The home can house up to eight girls at a time and works with police officers, the Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services, judicial personnel, and social workers to find and bring survivors under the age of 18 into the home.

While in the home, LACAHT offers the girls trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, a Spiritual Awareness class where they are given the gospel, life skills classes, education, and health and dental care. All services are provided free of charge.

Many survivors are found simply because they get too old for traffickers to use. They are found abandoned with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. They are broken mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. They have been told they are worthless and no one wants them so often that they genuinely believe it. Then, some are fortunate enough to meet a couple in Louisiana who does value them and want them.

When Lee and Laura Domingue learned about human trafficking through a trip to Greece, they were mortified. When they learned their home state of Louisiana was a trafficking hub in America, they were heartbroken and angered. The heartbreak came because no one should live in slavery, especially in the land of the free. They were angered not only because this was happening in their backyard, but also because they had been oblivious to it.

Their passion led to the creation of Trafficking Hope (traffickinghope.com). It did not take the couple long to learn they could not fight the war against trafficking alone. Lee is an entrepreneur and business leader. Laura is passionate and relentless. Together, they developed C.A.R.E.S. (Coalition, Awareness, Rescue, Education, Services). Since its development, Trafficking Hope has built partnerships with local governments, civic groups, churches and other secular, Christian, private, and public organizations.

They also retrofitted an old police training facility into Hope House, where rescued girls are brought and reintegrated into life. “These girls have been so traumatized,” Lee said, “that they are amazed when we bring them to our dining hall and give them a choice of food to eat. When we bring them in again for lunch, they are blown away. Most can’t remember the last time they were able to eat two meals in one day.”

The Domingues want more than to rescue. They want to stop trafficking before it begins. Lee said, “The problem is men. Men are the victimizers; men cause the demand. If we can stop the demand, we can save these women before they ever become victims.” To that end, Trafficking Hope has used billboards, radio spots, print media, and public forums with a simple message: “It’s not okay.”

Louisiana has become the standard bearer in America’s war against modern-day slavery. While the state is making great strides, the church must not allow this to become an excuse to be idle. Rescuing, rehabilitating, and reintegrating victims is difficult, arduous work. But the church is uniquely equipped to help.

Although these victims may be physically free from their tormentors, many are yet to be free from the bondages of anger, hatred, and fear. No amount of laws, policies, or time will can break those chains.

Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can accomplish that. Many survivors have received the gospel, finding a peace they no longer thought existed. Sadly, many others have survived hell on earth with no clue there is hope for any type of future. It is time for the church across the globe to be the proverbial hands and feet of Jesus, reaching into these broken lives with love, joy, peace, patience, and hope.

Churches can be active in the fight against trafficking by teaching about the link between pornography and forced prostitution, urging congregations to contact city and state representatives encouraging political leaders to be involved in the fight, and by praying. Believers need to pray for and minister to victims, and for the victimizer and user that they are brought to justice and repentance.  

How is your state doing?
The United Nation’s definition of human trafficking includes three areas: 1) the act of trafficking –  recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a person against his/her will; 2) the  means of trafficking – how traffickers force victims to stay and work (manual labor, prostitution, etc.). This can include the threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payment or benefits to a person in control of the victim; and 3) the purpose of trafficking –  often prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery, or the removal of organs.

For a global perspective on the fight against trafficking: unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking.

Shared Hope International grades each state in six categories: criminalization of domestic minor sex trafficking, criminal provisions addressing demand, criminal provisions for traffickers, criminal provision for facilitators, protective provision for child victims, and criminal justice tools for investigation and prosecution. To see how your state is joining the battle, visit SharedHope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/reportcards.

 

___________________

Shari, a 15-year-old girl from Toledo, Ohio, was abducted along with her 14-year-old cousin while the two walked to a local fast food restaurant. The girls were forced into prostitution. At a truck stop, where Shari’s pimp forced her to sell herself for sex, a truck driver called the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline (1-888-373-7888) to report what was happening. His call saved the two girls and as well as seven others. The trucker’s phone call also resulted in the conviction of 31 offenders and shutdown of a 13-state prostitution ring.

Learn more about Shari’s story and Truckers Against Trafficking at  truckersagainsttrafficking.org.

__________________
Somebody's Daughter: A Journey to Freedom from Pornography – Three men and a husband and wife share their personal struggle with pornography confronting the lies and darkness of this addictive force with compelling honesty and hope. Available at afastore.net.