This is a story about the best and worst that humanity has to offer.From the depths of cruelty, despair and hopelessness to the freedom of life, liberty and economic self sufficiency.
Imagine a world where girls as young as five working a brothel house, having sex with up to thirty paedophiles a night; paedophiles who make their way to South East Asia specifically for the purpose of having child sex.
Not only are these young children rape victims; they are also sex slaves. To me, the biggest shock came when i read the facts page from their press release: AMERICANS PAEDOPHILES MAKE UP A FULL 25% OF THE CHILD SEX TOURIST INDUSTRY.
In their official press release from 2008, The Blind Project states:
Sex Trafficking FACTS
“Child sex tourism involves people who travel from their country of origin to another and engage in commercial sex
acts with children.
It is estimated that 2 million children are enslaved in the global commercial sex trade.
Nearly one third of the global trafficking trade, of about 200,000 – 225,000 women and children, are trafficked
annually from Southeast Asia.
Many of these children are either sold into prostitution or forcibly recruited on the street to work in brothels, where
they are required to have sex with as many as 30 men each day.
Victims of trafficking are subject to rape, torture, forced abortions, starvation and threats of torturing or murdering
family members.
Some prostituted children are as young as 5 years old.
Misconceptions that having sex with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS have fueled an increased demand for
child prostitutes.
Virgins are highly sought after and purchased for as much as 750 US dollars for their first sexual experience.
A brothel owner will pay as much as 100 US dollars for the ownership of a young girl. The average annual income in
Cambodia is 286 US dollars.
An estimated $9.5 billion is generated in annual revenue from all trafficking activities, with at least $4 billion
attributed to the worldwide brothel industry. (Ibid.)
25% of child sex tourists around the world are U.S. citizens ”
American Paedophiles in Cambodia
While Thailand used to be the world capitol of child sex slavery, Cambodia has now taken over that mantle, due to its appalling poverty and little to no child protection laws. And US paedophiles are out there in droves, as evidenced in a Fox News story dated August 2009
And as bad as these kids lives are, some are getting rescued from their hell on earth and are given a second chance at life due to the wonderful work of a handful of people who founded The Blind Project.
In 2006 co-Founders Chad Riley, Anthony Dodero, and Liem Nguyen embarked on a month-long journey across
Southeast Asia where they investigated and documented first-hand accounts of the sex trafficking industry. This included the use of surveillance tapes, mics and other equipment, that if discovered while inside a brothel could well have put these brave young mens lives in great physical danger.
They realised that something lasting needed to come out of this, merely rescuing these children from the brothels and set free would provide opportunity for the next slave master to continue the cycle of despair.
So they teamed up with Hagar of Cambodia. On its home page Hagar goes into alot of detail as to the equally important work they do.
To summize:
Trauma Recovery Centres provide critical crisis care including safe and secure shelter, food and clothing, and intensive counseling and therapy.
Building Resilience: Hagar’s goal is justice, dignity and empowerment for the women and children who come to us. Education, literacy classes, life and vocational skill development, social enterprise and job placements are all crucial pieces in Hagar’s recovery model.
Pedrhaps most importantly, Hagar’s social business, Hagar Catering, provides jobs for many women from Hagar’s programs. Each business has a safe working environment, pays living wages, and gives its employees the chance to develop new skills, make friends, and provide for themselves with dignity.
The Blind Project is making sure potential donors understand that the wages these women earn are not slave wages, but instead provides them with a quality of life that enables them to live fear free and full of hope.
Both charities are truly life changing for the most vunerable in society. Two fantastic charities to support.
Oh, and if you were wondering all along why The Blind Project is called The Blind Project- you will have to go their the website to find out why.
For further information about The Blind Project, please visit their website.
To make a donation to The Blind Project, aswell as buy some mega cool T-Shirts that spread the message of hope click here.
For further information about Hagar, please visit their website
To make a donation to Hagar, click here and see how much difference your money can make.
