Human Sex Trafficking:
“A Special Evil”
A Survivor Speaks
“So often I thought of
killing myself, and
then I thought of my
poor mother and my
sisters. I prayed every
day that today I will
be rescued. But the
days just passed and
passed.”
Marika (not her real name) Ukrainian
survivor. From “The Natashas: The New
Global Sex Trade” by Victor Malarek, 2003.
Image not Marika.
A Survivor Speaks
“What rape is to others
is normal for us.”
(Melissa Farley, survivor statement presented to the 4th
Annual BLSC Conference, 2004).
Scripture
“But this is a people
battered and cowed, shut
up in attics & closets,
victims licking their
wounds feeling ignored &
abandoned but is anyone
out there, is anyone
paying attention to who is
coming?”
−Isaiah 42:22
Biblical Authority
“Do not degrade
your daughter by
making her a
prostitute, or the
land will turn to
prostitution and be
filled with
wickedness.”
−Leviticus 19:29
What is Sex Trafficking?
Human
Sex Trafficking is a form of slavery. It
happens when human beings are sold and bought
for the purposes of sexual exploitation. It includes
people (mostly women and girls) being recruited,
transported, transferred, harboured or received. It
includes force, the threat of force, or other forms
of coercion.
Trafficking is always involuntary, because even
when consent is achieved, it is only through some
form of fraud or deception, abduction/kidnapping,
or abuse of power/vulnerability.

(Based on the United Nations Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, 2000)
International Scope of the Problem

There are an estimated
27 million slaves in the
world today, not
including persons
trapped in the sex
industry.

The last 3 years have seen a
20 percent increase in the
number of prostituted
children in Thailand.*

One million children enter the
sex trade each year.*
(*End Child Exploitation, UNICEF/UK July 2003)
Trafficking in Canada



At least 2500 foreign women and
girls are coerced into joining the
Canadian sex trade each year by
human traffickers.
Another 2,200 people are coming
to Canada in transit to the United
States for work in brothels,
sweatshops, domestic jobs,
construction work.
Only 1 in 10 victims in trafficking
report to the police, so the
numbers are likely much larger.
Sarah’s story

“Sarah” comes from a small village and a
poor family. At a young age, her mother
“gave” her to a neighbour for the night so
that she would have enough money to
feed her family. As a teenager, Sarah
moved to the capital city. She made a
good friend who encouraged her to go
work abroad and make lots of money.
Sarah’s story cont.
Sarah was unsure, and yet attracted to the
idea of freedom, living in a new place, and
making lots of money. She was told she
would be a waitress and make lots of tips.
Sarah thought this would be a good way to
eventually get an education, as well as be
able to send money home for her mom
and the rest of her family.
Sarah’s Story cont.
Once in Canada, Sarah discovered that
she would not really be working as a
waitress. The first night, she was forced to
have sex with 3 men. She was told by her
new “boss” that he would protect her, but
she would have to meet certain quotas in
order to pay off her plane ticket that he
had purchased.
Sarah’s story cont.
When he saw her crying, he suggested
some drugs to calm her down. When she
tried to leave, he hit her and showed her
that he had her family’s address back
home. He told her they were only one
phone call away from his reach.
If you suspect…
If you think that someone you know may
have been trafficked please
Contact your local law enforcement agency
(e.g. police)
and inform your local Anti-Trafficking
Network Representative
(a list of members is available at
www.salvationist.ca/trafficking)
Sexual trafficking is evil
 Lies,
violence and power characterize
the entire spectrum of these crimes
against humanity.
The sale of human beings is run by
international organized crime, and it is one
of the largest money making industries in
the world.
 Human trafficking is a $10 billion (USD)
annual business.
 Traffickers may be men or women

Traffickers use:
Intimidation and threats (of violence, etc.)
 Lies and deception (i.e. promising
attractive employment possibilities)
 Identity control (i.e. confiscating passport)
 Emotional abuse/manipulation
 Money (situations of debt
bondage to the trafficker)
 Social isolation

For the Purpose of Exploitation:
Prostitution “Of Others”
or Other Forms of
Sexual Exploitation
Forced Labor or Services
Slavery or Practices
Similar to Slavery
Servitude
Removal of Organs
Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Prostitution
Live Sex-Shows
Pornography
Stripping
Mail Order/Child Brides
Brothels and
Cage Brothels
Message Parlors
And Saunas
Escort Services
Prostitution Fronts
And Venues of Sale
Health Clinics
Night Clubs
and Strip Clubs
Streets
Internet/“Electronic
Red-Light District”
Government
Policies
New
Technologies
Cultural Attitudes
And Values
Orphaned
War
Gender
Prior Sexual
Abuse
Sexual Trafficking
Demand for
Commercial Sex
Poverty
Abandonment/
Runaways
Ethnic
Minority
Legal and Tolerated
Sex Industries
Corruption
So what do we
need to do?
We need to seek God’s heart, pray
and fast!
 Join
the international weekend of
prayer and fasting for victims of sex
trafficking – last weekend of
September each year
 Pray and fast for those at-risk of being
trafficked, people who are trafficked,
traffickers and those in the commercial
sex industry, and all of us who are
fighting against this sexual slavery
We need to become more
informed, teach others and partner
locally and globally
Organize workshops at our workplaces,
churches or schools on this issue
 Encourage youth to do research projects
on sexual trafficking
 Find out (i.e. from anti-trafficking network
representative) who our potential partners
are and meet with them to work together

We need to know our history
During the 1880s The Salvation Army
joined Josephine Butler in her Christian
movement to rescue and restore "fallen
women" (the Victorian-era euphemism for
prostituted women)
 In August 1885, partly because of The
Salvation Army’s advocacy in England, the
age of consent was raised from 13 to 16
(although reformers sought 18).

We need to reduce the destructive
factors
(e.g., poverty, corruption,
discrimination, lust, greed,
injustice)
 Be
on the lookout for those who have
been trafficked or those who are at-risk
 Avoid all forms of pornography
 Write to our members of parliament
showing our commitment to this issue
We need to address demand for
commercial sex
Advocate for laws that criminalize demand
• Pressure government to put up billboards with
pictures of men arrested for soliciting
• Impound cars of men arrested for soliciting
• Continue supporting john schools
 Christian-based sex addiction treatment
 Oppose legalization of prostitution
 Property buy-outs (purchasing property which is
or could be potentially owned by brothel
keepers)
•
We need to check our attitudes
We need to consider how we (and others)
view trafficking victims or those in the sex
trade
 We need to look at gender relations in our
community

We need to advocate on behalf of
victims of sexual trafficking

We need to plead with government to
make funding available so that victims of
trafficking can be assured of good services
is they escape their traffickers (i.e. safe
houses with counseling and protection
services, repatriation and reintegration
programs, cooperation with government,
immigration, and law enforcement, etc.)
We need to increase the positive
factors (e.g., debt reduction,
community development, fair wages
and fair trade, evangelism and
discipleship)
Support Fair Trade initiatives
 Give to “partners in mission” and other
initiatives to alleviate poverty and assist
trafficking victims

The True Fast
“Is this not the fast that I
have chosen:
To loose the bonds of
wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go
free,
And to break every yoke?”
− Isaiah 58:6
For more information…
www.salvationist.ca/trafficking
www.salvationarmyusa.org/trafficking
Dianna Bussey
Canada & Bermuda Territorial Anti-Trafficking
Network Chair
Dianna_Bussey@can.salvationarmy.org
*Thank you to Lisa Thompson for her contributions
towards creating this powerpoint.