“Mumbai:  A two-month-old baby was stolen from Girgaum and later sold for Rs. 12,000 to a brothel keeper in Kamathipura. Police managed to recover the baby and arrest the culprits on Sunday. Officials believe the gang used to steal infants regularly and traffic them in the red-light area.”

Read more at Two-month-old sold to brothel for Rs 12, 000.

Read more at Rani Hong: Voice of Survivors: Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

“‪Human trafficking is a $32 billion global industry, the fastest growing and second largest criminal activity in the world, tied with arms and after drug dealing. I applaud President Obama’s effort to bring this issue to the forefront in the minds of Americans by proclaiming January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

“Modern slavery takes many forms, including forced labor, sex trafficking and involuntary domestic servitude. There is no one type of victim — men and women, adults and children are all vulnerable. From every corner of our nation to every part of the globe, we must stand firm with victims.

“In June, I launched a National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) presidential initiative called ‘Pillars of Hope: Attorneys General Unite Against Human Trafficking.’ Attorneys General will continue to make the case that action must be taken to hold traffickers accountable, to mobilize care for victims and to build public awareness.

“Although law enforcement has made great strides, more work needs to be done. We stand with those throughout the world working every day to end modern slavery, bring traffickers to justice, and empower survivors to reclaim their freedom. I urge all Americans to educate themselves about all forms of modern slavery and the signs and consequences of human trafficking. Together, we will combat this crime within our borders and join with our partners around the world to end it.”

via NAAG | January Proclaimed As National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

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“An American baseball player scaling an African mountain for an Indian charity might seem an odd way to draw attention to human trafficking.Steve Mitchell/Associated PressNew York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey.But that’s just what R.A. Dickey is doing. The Mets pitcher is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, which peaks at more than 19,000 feet above sea level and documenting it on Bats, The New York Times’ Baseball blog in part to bring awareness and money to stop sexual slavery thousands of miles away in the gritty lanes of Kamathipura – Mumbai’s largest red light district.”

via What’s R.A. Dickey Climbing For? – NYTimes.com.

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Mumbai, India’s largest commercial center is also home to Asia’s largest red-light district.  Human trafficking is the commercial exploitation of men, women and children. In the dark alleyways and behind closed doors and cages, people are exploiting others for profit.

Businesses and churches from all over North Texas are working together and strategizing to do their part in helping put an end to the enslavement of women and children halfway around the world.

On November 5, 2011, Sower of Seeds will draw the winning ticket in their annual charity raffle (opening day of deer hunting season in Texas).  The prize is a Customized 2011 Camouflaged Jeep Unlimited, sponsored by Denton-based Lone Star Conversions. Proceeds from this raffle supports Project Red Light Rescue.  This is just one example how local business is helping to fight the commercial exploitation of women and children.

According to a Times of India article in April of this year, there are currently three million human trafficking victims in India, 1.2 million of them children.

While U.S. Department of State puts pressure on goverments to come up with solutions, this is no easy task in India, home to over 17% of the world’s almost 7 billion people. Much of the desired change will take place as a result of non-governmental organizations who source private funding.

The truth is that the non-profit sector cannot do their job without cooperation from the for-profit world.

Since 2000, Sower of Seeds International Ministries (SOS International) has helped local churches in India with funding and strategy to implement social programs with great success (water wells, schools and feeding, orphan care). These projects has been funded for the most part by local businesses, churches and individuals in North Texas. (Learn more about Charley Pennington, who’s North Texas business Charley’s Concrete has been partnering with SOS.)

In May of 2009, SOS International launched Project Red Light Rescue, their project to help fund the rescue (with a focus on rehabilitation and aftercare) of women and children trafficked into slavery in Asia’s largest red-light district.

With the help of local and international partners, Project Red Light Rescue not only raises awareness, but is helping to build an aftercare center and helps fund operational costs to offer a real, impactful solution to the human trafficking problem in one of the world’s trafficking hotspots.

Although significant progress has been made in promoting awareness and exerting pressure on governments recently, little has changed on the ground. It is still hard to get convictions against traffckers, and while organizations have made progress, police raids that remove women and children from immediate danger without a place to take them, limits the effectivity of these campaigns.

We cannot ignore the long-term causes and effects of intimidation and coercion that traffickers use on their victims. We believe the damage can only be undone by establishing effective counseling programs and by helping to fund good aftercare centers and programs for rescued women and children.

With no place to go and no-one to care for these girls, who will take care of them?

With a focus on partnership with local businesses, churches, schools and individuals, Sower of Seeds believes that business owners, teachers, school children, or any individual can make a difference in the lives of the women and children living in slavery today.

The bottom line? The average cost of caring for someone rescued is only $150 per month.

Will your business join us as we fight bad business by adopting a cause like Project Red Light Rescue?

(Read what others are doing here…)

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Southlake, TX – When 180 Wellness opens its doors on October 22nd, 2011 the first dollars earned won’t go toward a bottle of champagne. Instead, owners Jerrod Wright, D.C. of Wright Chiropractic, and Wade Parkhill, D.C. of Parkhill Chiropractic plan to give the entire day’s revenue to Project Red Light Rescue, a project of Sower of Seeds International Ministries that rescues trafficked girls from sex slavery in Mumbai, India.

“When I heard what was happening to young girls in Mumbai, I was horrified. I have two daughters of my own and I couldn’t imagine them stolen from our home and forced to work in a brothel,” said Dr. Wright. “I wanted to do something to help. The grand opening was the perfect venue.”

While the community benefits from discounted chiropractic adjustments and activities for the kids, the girls in India will benefit more. All of the day’s proceeds will go to Project Red Light Rescue to meet the needs of hundreds of trafficking victims.

“We want our new business to give back somehow. We have a mission statement on the office wall that says ‘Our desire is to see people set free from pain and bondage, and walk in newness of life…’” said Dr. Parkhill. “We chose to give to Project Red Light Rescue because they are accomplishing this goal so literally.”

Not only does Project Red Light Rescue save young girls from the immediate danger of the brothel system, but they also take charge of each girl’s entire welfare – lodging, food, and emotional and physical health- while she recovers from the trauma of her abuse.

The generosity of 180 Wellness isn’t a one-time splash. “The more we have learned about trafficking, the more passionate we are to stop it,” said Dr. Wright. “The money we make from each new patient visit goes straight to the project. We want to give on the front end to make the cause a priority and not an afterthought.”

As a state of the art chiropractic clinic, 180 Wellness takes a comprehensive approach to health. “Exceptional spinal adjustments are just the beginning, we use the highest quality nutritional supplements available. We offer anti-aging and hormonal balance, spinal decompression and much more,” said Dr. Wright, “but our most important function is to improve the lives of hurting people.”

The community is invited to meet the staff of 180 Wellness and tour the new facility on October 22nd from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The event will include free food, family entertainment, $20 adjustments, and discounted exams and X-rays for new patients. The offices of 180 Wellness are located at 321 W. Southlake Blvd., Southlake, TX.

Dr. Wright and Dr. Parkhill serve as the team chiropractors for the champion Texas Rangers baseball team.

Dr. Jerrod Wright

Dr. Wade Parkhill

For more information, contact: Ryan Burns
817-337-5199

Visit 180 Wellness Facebook page

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Photo by Hazel Thompson

“A girl on 14th Lane taking a customer into one of the cubicles. The  act takes 5-10 minutes and costs about $4.00. Younger girls, often minors, between the ages of 12-16, costs about $22…”

From the book CAGE. Available here for purchase.

What you can do:
$1,800 rescues and provides one year of care for a girl
$ 900 rescues and provides for 6 months of care
$ 450 rescues and supports a girl for 3 months
$ 150 supports a rescued girl for one month
If you can’t give $150 please consider giving $75 to combine with another’s gift to rescue a woman or young girl from this injustice.

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“Traveling to India had long been a dream of mine, I had tried, but the opportunity was never quite right. It wasn’t until I went to a screening of Goodnight Red Light, a documentary about the red-light district in Mumbai, produced by Sower of Seeds International Ministries, that I know my opportunity has finally come. This film stirred my heart in deeper ways that I can imagine. The images on the screen were horrific: poverty, hopelessness, despair…

The next morning I looked at my husband and said, “I’m going to India to make jewelry.” I had no experience, so it sounded crazy, but it was like God opened my mouth and let the words fly out. I wanted a purpose, a chance to give something valuable to the rescued girls who had suffered so much.
Asha – the Hindi word for hope- was born. The ultimate purpose of this project is the ethical, gainful employment of women who have suffered at the hands of others, but who have so much to offer all of us.

Just as the lotus rise through the mud and muck and blooms into something pure and beautiful, so do these incredible women.”

Asha jewelry is available online at www.ashaunlimited.com.

For more ideas how your business can partner with Sower of Seeds.

“India’s Central Bureau of Investigation estimated that in 2009 about 90 percent of trafficking took place within the country and that there were some 3 million prostitutes, of which about 40 percent were children.”

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Plano, TX – Sex-trafficking is on the rise in the suburbs, with the problem spreading from historically urban areas into suburbia, with young girls literally being snatched from their neighborhoods and forced into a lifestyle of sexual servitude. Dallas-Ft. Worth has become a major hub in the U.S. for sex-trafficking and in particular, what is called ‘pimp culture sex- trafficking.’

In an effort to bring attention to this problem, Chase Oaks Church in Plano will be partnering with local folk musical group, Surge on Smith to host a Sex-Trafficking Awareness Benefit Concert on June 18th at 8:00 p.m. at their campus located at 201 Legacy Rd. in Plano. Tickets cost $5 at the door.

“Through this concert and our upcoming tour this summer, we hope to not only build awareness about this problem right here in our community, but to encourage people to embrace this issue of modern-day slavery and sex-trafficking and not just walk away overwhelmed by the problem, but challenged to make a difference,” remarked lead singer/songwriter of the group, Kelly Clemons.

From an income standpoint, research shows that one underage girl who is sex- trafficked brings in about $200,000 a year, with the industry as a whole making $32 billion a year. According to the End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking (ECPAT) of Children for Sexual Purposes, around 100,000 U.S. children are forcefully engaged in prostitution or pornography each year. And a recent study by the Dallas Women’s Foundation found that in Texas, 740 underage girls were being marketed for sex in a 30-day period. Two hundred fifty-six of these girls were in the North Texas area.

CDs will be on sale at the concert for $7 each, with ALL proceeds from the sales going directly to organizations in the DFW area who are on the front-lines fighting to end human and child sex- trafficking. Several of these organizations, including Sower of Seeds International will have representatives available after the concert for those wanting to learn more.

Kelly’s personal passion to build awareness of this issue spurred her to co-write, along with professional musician/ songwriter, Jonathan Reuel, this series of songs dedicated to the topic, which weaves the metaphor of an old-fashioned “slave train” through the lyrics to depict the various stages of the sex-trafficking industry.

All are invited to attend the concert, which costs $5 at the door, but parents are strongly cautioned to not bring younger children due to the graphic nature of this issue.

This concert is one of the many ways Chase Oaks Church is involved in partnering with our community to support those individuals and organizations doing good work and making a difference throughout our area.

View Map to Chase Oaks Church in Plano

*Information taken from a press release on www.chaseoaks.org