PROJECT FUTURES global

According to a recent video by the Democrat and Chronicle, pimps know what to look for and who to prey on. Pimps go to malls and bus stops and look for children who seem to have no place to go. They take notice of the kids who are hanging out at the mall for lengthy hours or are sitting around outside.

Once they have found their target they give the victim attention telling them they are beautiful- a ploy to make them feel loved and wanted. A vast majority of victims are children and young adults who are wanting and looking to bond with someone.

The pimp usually starts off as the victims boyfriend and the victim falls deeper into the trap. Eventually they are either asked or forced to have sex with others to help “provide” for the home.

 Take a minute to watch the video and learn why some fall victim to sex-slavery.

What can we do to help vulnerable young girls? How can we make them feel more loved and cared for so they are not lured in by pimps lies and manipulations? 

Advertisements are every where: magazines, newspapers, t.v., public places. And on Backpage.com, pimps advertise underage girls for commercial sex in the adult escort section. Just like a product you would have sent to you from an online store, you can have a victim of sex trafficking.

You can buy a girl like Alissa, who recently spent the day with Nicholas Kristof
of The New York Times, sharing her horror story of being advertised and sold on
Backpage.com when she was 16. Alissa, now 24, is a college senior studying law. But she still bares the scars of surviving trafficking. She told Kristof, “Like cattle owners brand their cattle he wanted to brand me in a way that I would never forget.”

And Alissa isn’t alone. Just this past month, a 15-year-old girl escaped from a
house where she spent a week, being sold for sex through Backpage.com. She was
also forced to take ecstasy, tied up, and raped by the pimps running the house.

You are probably asking your self, how is this happening? How are these ads
allowed to stay up online? And better yet, why is Village Voice media CEO Jim Larkin allowing this to happen? Letters have been written and a Change.org petition has been signed by 94,000 people. He and other executives of Village Voice Media read the cries for this to stop, they hear the stories, but still allow Backpage to exist as a marketplace for girls.

Take a minute to read Kristof’s recent article and watch his video interview with
Alissa. What can you do to help put a stop to this? What will you do to make a difference?

Tomorrow is our last day of riding.

I don’t know-how I feel about this.
I thought I would be excited to rest, to recuperate, but I’m actually quite sad.
I’m finding each day, I welcome the challenge before me, look forward to it.
I’ve never pushed myself both physically and mentally this hard, but instead of feeling weakness in it, I have found such strength.
I wish I could show you some of the pictures from the centers. You would see what I’m talking about. Such light, such joy. It’s infectious. I am unable to because the girls identity must still be hidden. Sadly once they’re rescued they are still not completely safe. If their whereabouts is discovered the owners of the brothels can hint them down. Re-kidnapp them and force them back into the system. So we must help protect them and their identities by not showing any pictures. I hope my words can do justice for them.

Today we went to one of the shelters here in Siem Reap.
Im soaking wet from playing in the sprinkler with the girls (well rather a hose that was converted in a sprinkler type device lol)
Today is International Womens Day and I coolant think of any better place to be then here celebrating it with them.
This was a shelter for the older girls. Some of them have been with the program for years, others were just recently brought here.
When we first got to the shelter, we were ushered into a similar style space to the other shelter we visited. We sat under the house with all of them, and then their house leader began to speak. He was a gentle man, one who represented the good type of relationship they could have with a man. A loving respectful one.
He started by giving a speech on womens rights. Highlighting 12 points. Women in education, women in the workplace, women and government etc.. After he was done, a hand shoots up.

“Are these our only 12 rights?” this girl asks.
I’m in awe. Your only 12 rights?
He continues on telling her that they have many, many more and this is just an example of some. She smiles and sits, mulling over this new found information in her head. Several others whispering to one another with excitement.

Three girls walk to the front. They thank us for our journey and the support our ride gives them. One girls is crying as she says it. She was rescued just a month from a terrible brothel and she couldn’t believe a place like this existed, and that we would care about girls like them.

That broke us all. We were doing so well before that. Now we are all in tears. This girl who has been through so much, is thanking us for her education, her meals, the roof over her head, and being so strong to ride all this way for them…

I asked the leader to tell her that “she is the one who is strong not us. She is the one who is inspiring, courageous, amazing… Her life is what compels all of us to come here and do this, and each one of us represents a large group of people back home who care so much. Who are in this fight with us. Who supports them a well.”

The assembly is completed with a small gift ceremony where we give them all scarves and a gigantic huge. We all start laughing and embracing as one by one the girls drag us out for pictures.
My face is aching from all the smiling, but my arms never tired from all the hugging… I could do this forever.

My heart is spilling over in this moment.

Then the girls start to braid my hair… It’s beautiful. It could compare to anything you see on the red carpets. Intricate braids woven together into a bun at the back. I love it.
We eat with all the girls then the music starts.
We rush out into the yard and start dancing like crazy. Hand shaking, legs shaking… Doing the hokey pokey and turning myself about….

This is what life is all about…

We’re boiling, we have been dancing for about an hour straight, when the hose turns on.
It’s drops of water hitting us, and for a moment, relief. Then a hand grabs you, and your back into the mosh pit of smiling faces to learn how to “Khmer” dance. It’s amazing.

The next thing I know I’m limbo’ing under a bamboo stick as all the girls shrieke and laugh ( I don’t know if its great for my back, but it’s amazing for my soul) they grab my hands as I pass under the stick, making sure I won’t fall.
Even in a game there support for one another is so strong.
I’m watching them do this for each girl. In America it’s a competition on who can do it the best. If you fall your out. But here, it’s all about supporting one another. The group of girls reaching out for your hands at the front, and another at your back ready to catch you if you slip. But no matter how low the limbo… You will never fall.

I sat in this moment for awhile. Just in the beauty of what it represented.

After a million hugs, kisses, friendship bracelets and ‘i love you sister’s’ it was time to go.
The girls lined up on eitherside of the driveway blowing kisses and waving. All of us just over flowing with love and awe.

Today was an amazing day.

Thank you to all of you who support me in my journey. Wether it be by donation, email, awareness, whatever… You give me strength in the hard times and are right there celebrating with me in the good…
Love to you all

Serinda Swan