got me thinking.
ha. all of these days get me thinking ;)
but today, thinking differently.
we had speakers from GEMS [http://www.gems-girls.org]
which stands for
girls educational and mentoring services
they are advocating for girls who have been traffiked.
often when we think of human traffiking,
we think of asia, africa, HAITI [http://ow.ly/YGby]
but here in our country,
girls are getting traffiked too.
in nyc,
girls aged 11-17 are getting arrested for prostitution.
arrested. and imprisoned
rather than being treated as the victims.
long story short,
vulnerable girls are discovered by "loving" pimps
who care for the girls
and then sell them out
beat them
rape them
give them purses and clothes and money
etc.
because of their situation,
lots of them dont realize that what's happening to them is wrong.
especially becase they're making money.
also because
as the speakers - including a survivor - pointed out to us
we live in a culture obsessed with sex.
it's flooded the songs
the billboards
the tv
the movies
the advertisements
and look at what clothing is being sold to young girls.
i know we always speak about modesty
...mt, or modesty talk, we always fondly called it at church camp.
because as girls you should respect yourself
and not cause your brother to stumble.
look at it another way:
when the clothes on the racks for
high schoolers
middle schoolers
grade schoolers
are slinky and revealing
clothes that people wear to clubs
clothes thatlook old and cool and sexy
what does it do?
it tells girls that it's ok
that they are expected to dress like that,
to grow up quickly,
and do everything associated with dressing like that.
so, high school girls,
modesty is so much more than
not being able to wear a spaghetti strap tank top at church camp.
so next time you go shopping...
look at your options.
to you, it may mean nothing.
but to somebody else....
it may lead to so much more.
president obama has declared january anti-traffiking month.
27 million people are enslaved today, being used for labor and prostitution.
for more information about traffiking
check out
there is also a film called
"Very Very Young Girls"
that speaks more about the situation of traffiking and prostitution
in new york city.
it can be found on netflix.
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