Human trafficking relies on abortion to function and grow. And grow it has – it’s second only to drug trafficking with profits totaling 9.8 billion dollars in the US. Pimps commonly sell girls for $400 per hour, and abortion is an essential tool to keep the money pouring in.
An estimated 300,000-plus children become victims of sex trafficking each year.
The victimization of these young women, girls and boys is not going unanswered. An element of the pro-life movement is stepping in to help.
Sex trafficking is a commonplace occurrence that literally unfolds all around us. An alert and informed individual can identify the red flags. You can learn more about sex trafficking and the abortion connection by viewing parts one and two of a video produced by Life Issues Institute. If you witness suspicious activity, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888. Your only involvement will be alerting the authorities.
A growing number of pro-life pregnancy help centers are expanding their mission to identify potential victims of sex trafficking, and provide them with appropriate care and resources to help them escape this modern-day slavery.
Heartbeat International is a network of over 2,700 pregnancy help centers that provides comprehensive pregnancy assistance to women by offering compassionate support and positive alternatives that demonstrate abortion isn’t their only option.
This compassion now includes resources and training for their affiliated centers to identify and serve victims of sex trafficking. As a result, it’s likely that more and more centers will be ministering to victims of the sex trafficking industry.
An excellent example is that Houston Pregnancy Help Centers recently provided emergency aid to over 500, young girls, many who were raped or trafficked during their journey to get to America.
These centers aren’t alone in taking on this behemoth demon. Rescue America is an anti-sex trafficking network that focuses on “direct outreach, rescue, and emergency assessment.” Its own research shows that the number of sex trafficking points of sale outnumber Starbucks stores in America. They are working with pregnancy help centers to incorporate assistance for victims of sex trafficking.
In addition to pregnancy care centers, two pro-life organizations of medical professionals have teamed up to do battle against this insidious industry. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American College of Pediatricians are advocating efforts to combat sex trafficking. This includes “training healthcare professionals to recognize and intervene on behalf of sex trafficked victims, and mandated reporting of abortions below age of consent with immediate referral to child protective services.”
Reclaim 611 reports that “Up to 88% of sex trafficking victims come into contact with a healthcare provider during captivity, and less than 1% are identified.” An important new study has been published that interviewed survivors of sex trafficking who provided invaluable direction for healthcare providers assisting victims. Many spoke of dropping subtle hints that were cries for help, only to be ignored.
Key to reaching and helping these victims is a display of compassion, combined with probing, respectful questions. All the while presenting a nonjudgmental attitude even in the face of unimaginable revelations by the patients.
Pro-life pregnancy help centers are uniquely equipped to interact with victims of sex traffickers. Currently, the need outweighs the number of centers engaged in the efforts of intervention and protection.
Resources are now available to assist any center that wants to make a difference in the lives of young women, men and children who’ve been victimized in horrific ways that we can hardly imagine.
Let’s all do our part and share this information far and wide.
Protecting women and their babies,
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