You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS
email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
========================================
This story may be seen here: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07751.htm
07751 November 16, 2007
Traffic stop
PC(USA) responsible investment committee holds education seminar on child sex trafficking
by Toya Richards Hill Presbyterian News Service
LOS ANGELES - From Thailand to Costa Rica, via cruise ships and in some of the most well known hotels around the globe, children as young as your own grade-schooler or rosy cheeked grandchild are being prostituted and trafficked for sexual exploitation.
It's a reality that hit home to a group gathered here for a seminar on the issue, and one the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is attempting to address through its Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee (MRTI).
As part of its meeting Nov. 8-10, the committee charged with monitoring the denomination's investments to ensure they're socially responsible held a workshop on trafficking of children for sexual exploitation.
Folks gathered at Covenant Presbyterian Church and heard from a diverse group that included Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT-USA Inc. (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes); the Rev. Ann Hayman, director of development for the Mary Magdalene Project; and Martha Bettis Gee, the PC(USA)'s associate for child advocacy.
The experts talked of the millions held against their will, often in countries where they don't know the language and are under the threat that they or their families will be killed.
The global sex market is a huge part of trafficking, and "younger children are more in demand," said Smolenski. "Teen girls are sold products," and even in the U.S. it's not unusual to see girls as young as 11 or 12 being trafficked for sex, she said.
Smolenski and others highlighted how child sex trafficking and sex tourism - people traveling abroad to garner sex - come together around the world.
"Some people do go on vacation ... to exploit the local population," she said, pointing to well-known hot spots like Thailand and Costa Rica. And traffickers often import women and children specifically for tourists, Smolenski said.
"It's basically like bringing your product to market," she said. And in the eyes of much of the world, these kids "are seen as criminals who need to be locked up."
Among the goals of ECPAT, a network of organizations working in a host of countries, is getting those in the leisure and hotel industry to adopt a code of conduct to protect children from sexual exploitation in travel and tourism.
MRTI, through its work with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), also is pushing for corporations in the travel industry to cooperate with ECPAT's efforts, and both Hilton Hotels and Carnival cruise line are among those the committee is engaging.
Other ways the denomination can address the issue also were touched upon in the seminar - everything from sermons and Bible studies, to better scrutinizing the policies of hotel chains where the denomination chooses to hold its meetings. All agreed, however, that greater awareness and a culture change must take place.
"How do you engage congregations?" asked Bettis Gee. One of the ways is by giving people the tools they need to identify that child sexual exploitation might be happening, she said.
"People don't know outside their vision," so providing those tools makes them much better able to address the situation, she said, likening child sexual exploitation to the same abuse of power that happens with domestic violence.
Charity Marquis, who heads the Los Angeles operation of NightLight, a Thailand-based organization committed to combating the exploitation of women and children via alternative employment and other means, also talked of empowering people to act.
Outreach teams through her organization teach people how to recognize trafficking, and then perhaps they'll go on and start their own outreach teams, she said. The goal is "people like us ... equipped to do something."
"The Bible is really clear about what is required here," said Hayman, whose Los Angeles-based project works to turn around the lives of street prostitutes. "And it's to do justice."
========================================
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS
email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-request@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228