December 29, 2008
by Melissa Ramirez Cooper

On Sunday, Jan. 11, congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will observe National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, a day committed to raising awareness and fostering action against commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor or slavery. Some congregations are observing the day by studying the ELCA Message on Commercial Sexual Exploitation and participating in the efforts of Cherish Our Children, a ministry of the ELCA dedicated to preventing the sexual exploitation of children through prayer and action.

The ELCA Justice for Women program offers resources on commercial sexual exploitation, violence against women and more. "Human trafficking grosses almost as much revenue as the illegal drug industry, and it occurs in obvious places, such as brothels that skirt major sporting events worldwide, and in not-so-obvious places, such as local malls in the United States. Human Trafficking Awareness Day allows members and congregations of the ELCA to learn more about their local communities and to protest this egregious negation of human dignity and human rights," said Dr. Mary J. Streufert, director, justice for women program, ELCA Church in Society. "We do not belong to each other as slaves for labor or sexual service, two central reasons humans are trafficked," she said.

The 2005 convention of Women of the ELCA resolved to provide information and promote resources that help combat commercial sexual exploitation domestically and globally. "Many Women of the ELCA participants are actively engaged in addressing a variety of issues related to commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking," said Inez Torres Davis, associate for programs, Women of the ELCA. "Most women in prostitution are trafficked into the sex industry as children. Poverty is the precondition that makes it easier for traffickers to operate. The greatest factor in promoting child sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation is the demand for younger and younger victims worldwide. This demand comes from mostly white male buyers who become the customers in the growing global sex industry. Women of the ELCA seeks to be a part of curbing this growth," she said.

ELCA News Service