Towards Excellence

“99% of victims trafficked for sexual exploitation are women and girls…”

It is truly impossible to imagine that even the smallest, most vulnerable ones can be and indeed are subject to attack.

Yes, sadly, the world lives in ignorance and ignores what is happening around them. As stated on the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) website, “Human trafficking is a global, multi-billion-dollar with no country immune. Every year, millions across the world fall victim to traffickers for the purpose of exploitation.”[1]

And not only that, “More than 1 million children, according to the International Labour Organization, are exploited each year in the commercial sex trade.[2]

World’s Children, on the other hand, states, “99% of victims trafficked for sexual exploitation are women and girls (IBLA, 2019). Traffickers use threats, lies, violence, debt bondage, and coercion to force victims to engage in commercial sex acts against their will.[3]

Chilling statistics, aren’t they? However, this dark side of human trafficking, especially involving children, is even more complex and putrefying, which would require much more time and space to analyze.

For now, it is more than enough because the purpose of this article is to raise awareness among parents, teachers, authorities, and the community in general, so that we keep our eyes wide open and a willing heart to become true defenders of children and adolescents. The world is becoming increasingly perverted, where personal interests prevail, including the dirty movement of money and low passions, at the cost of attacking and destroying innocent lives.

Yes, let’s keep our eyes wide open because unfortunately, individuals disguised as tenderness and innocence may be lurking in the surroundings of schools, health centers, neighborhoods, and even in our own homes, whose fundamental purpose is to “precisely destroy the tenderness and innocence of our little ones.”

Wess Stafford, President Emeritus of Compassion International, wisely stated in one of his books: “The spirit of a little child is a lot like wet cement. When a child is young, it takes little effort to make an impression that can last a lifetime.”[4] What a great truth!

This July 30th marks World Day against Trafficking in Persons. Let us be alert not only on this day but every day, minute by minute, and be the guardians of our children and adolescents worldwide. Let’s confront anyone and anything to defend the life and integrity of each child. As adults, it is our responsibility!

God states it in His Word: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:2-4)

May our Creator find us always doing what is right!

To conclude, Hacia la Excelencia highly recommends the film “Sound of Freedom”  Official Trailer  currently available in English and being screened in the United States. It will soon be available in Latin America and other continents. It’s a movie we cannot miss, based on true events, that will inspire us to act even more as true defenders of children and adolescents.

[1] https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/endht/index.html

[2] https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/nation-now/2018/01/30/sex-trafficking-column/1073459001/

[3] https://www.worldschildren.org/child-trafficking-statistics/

[4] https://kidminandculture.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/excerpt_toosmall1.pdf