Sex Trafficking in Kolkata, India

India is one of the most culturally rich continents in the world. Thousands of languages are spoken there. Architectural, literary, and religious traditions all flourish there.

It has long been my dream to go to India.

Though I have known of the problems with prostitution in India, their severity was recently brought into sharp relief for me as I spoke with my dear friend, Michelle, who has served as a missionary with Free-Set Bags in Kokata, India.

Did you know that in Kolkata there are brothels filled, not just with adult women or teenagers, but with pre-pubescent children ages 7 to 10 who are raped and sexually assaulted daily by brothel clients?

I had not realized there were brothels specifically full of children in India. I was appalled that there were brothel owners who could think to appeal to a market of pedophiles. I was even more devastated as I thought that a sufficiently large market of such clients exists to make such a “business” not only sustainable, but profitable.

How can this be?

The daughters and sons of prostitutes are particularly at risk of being exploited and prostituted. The film, “Born into Brothels,” which originally aimed to work as a documentary to educate people about the problem, actually worked like an advertisement–tripling the international clientele of Kolkata brothels within three months of its release.

PRAY for the end of sexual slavery in India. Pray for the deliverance of children from every brothel. Pray for the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to save, to heal, and to redeem every person who has been sexually assaulted in Calcutta today.

February 2008 Update

In February, I have seen some powerful, new connections formed between JSASSN and other Christian ministries seeking to stop sex trafficking world-wide.

First, I met Rikki from Emmaus Ministries during Missions in Focus week at Wheaton College. Emmaus provides the gospel and seeks to meet the practical needs of male prostitutes as they transition off the streets of Chicago into a better life. I was so glad to learn of a ministry that is serving men! Men make up 20% of the trafficked population in the world, as I understand from the International Justice Mission, but most of the Christian ministries I know of focus on victimized women and children. But the need is greater than one gender or generation.

At the same Missions in Focus center where I met Rikki, I also met up with my friend Shuree Rivera. In talking with her, I learned she works with Remember Nhu, an organization to help children get out of trafficked situations in Thailand. Remember Nhu is now looking to expand its ministry to South Africa. Interestingly, in talking with another Christian sister, Taroh Saenz, after church one night, I learned of Straatwerk, which is also seeking to prevent the trafficking of children in South Africa.

Perhaps most significantly, I met to talk and pray with my good friend, Michelle McDonald, who has served as a missionary with Free-Set Bags in Calcutta, India. Free-Set is a “business-as-mission” ministry that provides women previously trapped in prostitution with work-with-dignity that can support them and their children. Michelle is going to help me create a more effective website for JSASSN (hallelujah!), and we are partnering in future ministry plans. (Thank you, God!)

I’m also working on a short book called Stop Sex Trafficking, which will be an e-book that can be down-loaded from the new site for free. I am praying that God will use this little book to raise awareness in the Christian Church about the problem of sexual slavery world-wide. It is my hope that more Christian soldiers will hear the call of our Captain, Jesus, to wage spiritual warfare against the powers of this darkness through prayer and active ministry to those trapped in the trafficking industry.

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International