The fall has been a time of active ministry for JSASSN.

I’ve had the opportunity to connect with fellow ministers who seek to stop sexual abuse, assault, and trafficking, including friends from Church of the Resurrection, Nea Koi, and Emmaus Ministries in Chicago.

I’ve learned about new educational resources, including the International Justice Mission’s new documentary, “The End of Slavery,” and Heidi Hermann’s blog, “Abolish Human Trafficking.” I was thankful to God to meet Dawn Herzog Jewell and begin reading her book, Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom: Sex Trafficking, Global Prostitution, and the Gospel’s Transforming Power. I’ve also been writing an essay on the prevalence of incest in cases of childhood sexual abuse for a forthcoming book edited by a colleague at Trinity Theological Seminary called The Long Journey Home: Ministering to the Sexually Abused.

I continue to pray along with others around the world for an end to sexual sins and healing for those affected by sexual brokenness, both the abused and the abusers, thinking especially this Christmas season of the “restavèk” children in Haiti, homeless prostitutes on the street in Chicago, and children in America affected by sexual abuse in their own families. Please pray with me so that we may see the world changed by the love of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. “For with God, nothing is impossible.” Luke 1:37

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

I just found one of the most informative blogs I’ve ever seen on abolishing human trafficking. It has links to dozens of organizations in the U.S. and internationally that fight trafficking as well as articles and posts on related events to raise awareness or funding, especially in Southern California. Check it out:

http://www.abolishhumantrafficking.com/

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

THE FOLLOWING POST ORIGINATED AT THE COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL BLOG:

Restavèk is a Creole word for a Haitian child who stays with and works for another family. A restavèk child can be a boy or a girl who is given away by a poor family in order to survive. Frequently, the restavèk’s most basic rights to health and education are denied.

Of these children, 65 percent are girls between age 6 and 14. They are forced to work long hours under harsh conditions, and are subject to mistreatment, including sexual abuse. The restavèk child is the first person to wake up in the morning and the last one to go to bed, sometimes after 14 hours of work that consists of, among other chores, carrying water, washing clothes, taking the owner’s children to school, doing errands, and cleaning the home.

The restavèk child is often beaten for the simplest mistakes. Laws against child abuse exist in Haiti, but unfortunately they are seldom enforced as children’s rights don’t have a high a priority. The number of restavèk children reported nationally is between 250,000 and 300,000, and this domestic phenomenon is due to several reasons.

The main reason is parents’ low income. A lack of economic resources forces parents from remote areas to place their children with families in urban areas with the hope that the child will have a better future. A restavèk child can also be the product of parents’ broken relationships.
Another reason for a child to leave home is mistreatment by parents or relatives.

If the restavèk doesn’t find a better future by age 17, the child often takes his or her independence from the owner to join a street gang or to become a prostitute. The owner will then look for a younger child, and the infernal circle continues. In the past, restavèk children used to be placed in middle-class or upper-class families. But most current reports on restavèk children show the opposite, as the restavèks are largely owned by urban families who cannot even provide for their own children.

The restavèk child has to suffer not just because the owner does not want to meet the child’s needs, but because even if the owner wants to, he cannot. The restavèk owners are usually people who cannot read or write. The ones who can read or write have very little education, and often do not care about children’s rights. The restavèk’s owner is always reluctant to let other people talk to the child, so as not to be alerted to the child’s situation.

Fighting the Restavèk Curse in Haiti

Jean Klebert Excéus, a former child development center director, is a Haitian leader who stands against restavèk children in Haiti.

Klebert now works as a school administrator serving restavèk children. His job consists of evaluating the school program curriculum, hiring new teachers, evaluating teachers, providing new orientation to the school when needed, and providing reports to the church for assistance money provided by Compassion.

“In a battle there are different roles that a soldier can play. Some soldiers give alert, some give orders, and others launch the attacks; I am in the front line against it.”

Klebert originally shared his vision for fighting the trafficking of children into servitude with his church board. The church is located in the heart of the Solino slum, one of the largest slums in the Port-au-Prince area, which used to be a no-go area due to violence, kidnapping and gang activity. As a member of the church board, Klebert knew about the challenges, but was determined to do something. Because, he says, “Where there is will, there is also a way.”

Klebert believed that if he helped the restavèk children, he would reduce the number of street gangs since many street children used to be restavèk. Starting a school for domestic children was not without difficulty. The fact that the restavèk children are often older than 9 makes it hard for them to be part of Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program, which registers younger children.

Klebert initially decided to meet the restavèk children every Sunday afternoon since they had less to do that day and their owners are also more flexible about releasing them for just a few hours. One year later, in 1996, a school that operated in the afternoon five days a week was opened. Since then, the school has grown to 400 students, and it operates in two sessions. The difficulties of sustaining the program increased as more children came, and the local church could not meet all the needs.

That’s when Compassion began to assist the local church with the special project through tuition fees, books, uniforms and nonformal education.

The church actually has two schools. One is a regular school and the other one is for over-age children — restavèk. The schools are located in the same slum but in different locations. It is impossible for restavèk children to be accepted in the regular school because they are always over age when they owner decides to send them to school. They start school usually when they are 10 or 12 years old. In Haiti, children normally start school at 3, and complete elementary school at age 12.

Currently, the elementary school for the restavek children is one of the best schools in the Solino area. Children are receiving classical education plus vocational training such as plumbing, cooking and pastry, cosmetology and floral art. Klebert hopes to add courses such as computer training, carpentry, help nurse and cabinet maker, as those skills would equip the children for a better future. He dreams of having more children and more activities for them at the school. His dream is that one day, one of the restavèk children comes to replace him, as he had been replaced by a former sponsored child as the child development center director.

Stories of Restavèk Children

Michelet, a 15-year-old boy, is a restavèk child like thousands of others in Haiti. Unlike the others, however, he dreams of becoming the best plumber in Port-au-Prince.

Michelet did not know his mother very well, and does not know if she is still alive or not. He was born in Cayes, in southern Haiti. His father separated from his mother and took him from her at age 5. Michelet was brought to Port-au-Prince, to Solino, and placed in a family that his father did not know. His father could not find a job, so he decided to join a gang in order to help Michelet. Michelet remembers that his father sometimes used to bring food for him. But Michelet learned his father was killed during a police operation. So Michelet grew up as a restavèk.

His main job consists of taking care of his owner, a blind man. Michlet takes his “uncle” to church or any other place he needs to go. He calls his owners “uncle and aunt,” even though there is no blood relationship between them.

Unlike many other restavèk, Michelet had the chance to attend school for the first time when he was 10. Currently, he is in grade five, and he will take the official exams next June that will give him access to secondary school next year. Michelet is also learning plumbing at the center. His passion for plumbing is evident in that he always wants to be the first to start the practice session.

Unlike other restavèk who hate their owners after being freed, Michelet intends to help his “uncle and aunt” because they are getting older and have nobody to rely on. “When I am making money, I will help my uncle and my aunt, as they were allowing me to go to school.”

Michelet was not always treated well, though. Sometimes he went for an entire day without eating. His owners did not buy him good, clean clothes like they do for their own child. He was forced to stay with his “uncle” most of the time, with no time to play as a child. But the values and good manners he learned in the school make him feel that he must treat them well.

Acnise is an orphan. She lost both her mother and father when she was 8 years old. After her parents died, Acnise’s life was torn apart when a neighbor decided to take charge of her. Acnise was forced to wake up at 5 every morning to wash dishes, clean the home, carry water and cook when she was 9. Sometimes, she was not allowed to eat the food she made.

“I was beaten at least two times a day with an electric cable for any little mistake. Sometimes I don’t even know what is good and what is wrong, as I was beaten for almost everything.”

Because Acnise lived near the school, she used to see children her age wearing uniforms to school when she was walking home, carrying a bucket full of water on her head. One night after being severely beaten, Acnise decided to leave home, even though she did not know where she was going. Acnise wanted to take shelter at the school, but at 9 p.m. the gate was already closed. She decided to go to Klebert’s home.

After Acnise explained to Klebert why she was there, Klebert allowed her to spend one week at his home in order to better understand her problems and also to see how he could make her life better. The fact that Acnise was 9 and had never attended school made it difficult for her to register into Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program. However, she was admitted to the school for restavèks.

Acnise was placed in a family that belongs to the local church. Currently, she is in grade five and is taking cooking, pastry-making and floral art at the school. As a result, Acnise accepted Christ as her Savior and she is active at church. She is the only child the church has placed in a home so far. The young couple who accepted Acnise at their home has only one little boy. Acnise feels comfortable looking after the boy, as she is not forced to do that.

Acnise now can play with other children in school and at home. She cleans the home, washes the dishes and sets the bed after school. After that, she is free to study her lesson or do her homework. The family where Acnise was placed sometimes cannot provide her everything she needs.

But at least she is free in mind and in spirit.

SOURCE: COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL BLOG POST

Last night, I went to a benefit dinner for Emmaus Ministries. I have been praying for Emmaus for a long time, and I hope others who read JSASSN posts have, too, for Emmaus ministers to men in the inner city of Chicago who are trapped by male street prostitution, generational poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, and HIV/AIDS.

Emmaus Ministries has a talented leadership team, including Al and Andi Tauber, who direct educational outreach to local Catholic and Protestant churches to make people far from the city aware of the real needs there. Last night, they incorporated music, story-telling, and live performance art to draw the audience into an awareness of the lives of men on the streets: where they came from, what happened to them as children, what they wanted for themselves, why they turned to prostitution, how they began to get out of the destructive cycle of selling themselves on the streets and turn toward wholeness. The program was called TERMINAL HOPE because, even when everything seems dark and full of despair, there is hope at end of the line.

I am really thankful for Emmaus Ministries, and I continue to pray for them. Please pray with me for an end to prostitution in Chicago and around the world.

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

Last month, I got together with people from my church, Church of the Resurrection, who want to stop prostitution and sex trafficking here at home and around the world.

We listened to a fascinating presentation by Jennifer Roemhild Tunehag, the former Executive Director of Nea Zoi (Lost Coin) Ministries in Greece, who compared the way the Swedes and the Dutch have dealt with these issues in their countries.

In the Netherlands, prostitution was legalized in 2000. Since legalization, the country has seen a 25% rise in prostitution overall. Although the purpose of legalization was to regulate and tax the industry, in fact only 8% of prostitutes in the Netherlands are registered while 92% are unregistered. Illegal trafficking remains an issue, and poverty remains a factor in driving women into the sex trade.

Contrast this with Sweden!

In Sweden, prostitution is no longer illegal, but purchasing sex is a crime. Prostitutes are not arrested; instead, they are given counseling. Their clients, however, are arrested and prosecuted. Furthermore, if a Swedish man is caught overseas purchasing sex, he will be prosecuted in Sweden when he returns home. The Swedes have seen a drop in prostitution and prostitution-related crimes.

If only the wisdom of the Swedish model could be brought to other countries!

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

Recently, my friend and fellow poet, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, wrote a poem from the point of view of an Eastern European woman who was trafficked to the Middle East. When I read it, I vividly remembered the women I met when I was in Moldova and their stories. 70% of orphan girls are trafficked out of Moldova and sold for sex.

Mimi Chakarova is an investigative journalist who is finding the women who have survived this sex trafficking nightmare and creating documentaries that tell their stories. They’re at www.priceofsex.org.

What will it take for us to work together and put an end to the world-wide sex-trade?

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

Last weekend, I met Dawn Herzog Jewell, the author of Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom: Sex Trafficking, Global Prostitution, and the Gospel’s Transforming Power. Dawn’s book is an outstanding resource for anyone wanting to learn more about this injustice and how to fight it. I recommend it.

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

International Justice Mission has created a new documentary film called, “The End of Slavery: The Battle for Justice in Our Time.” The film is intended to educate the American public about the problem of international human trafficking and the enslavement of men, women, and children all over the world, especially in situations of forced prostitution. To order a copy of the film, click:

THE END OF SLAVERY

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

Can we stop prostitution in Chicago? Yes, we can. Here’s how:

Eliminate advertising.

In March 2009, our Cook County Sheriff sued Craig’s list to shut down its exotic services listing. Why is such a listing even legal? The sheriff shouldn’t have to sue to get it off the Internet. And what about the billboards for gentlemen’s clubs all over the city? Take them down.

Educate clients.

The prevalence of multimedia pornography has created a fantasy sex life in the minds of thousands of American men. When these men seek out prostitutes, they are looking to fulfill those fantasies in the flesh.

They are not thinking the woman on the street has been kidnapped, forcibly raped and beaten, coerced into sex from as early as age twelve, infected with AIDS or STDs, addicted to alcohol and drugs, made a witness to the murder of her friends, and forced to give whatever money she earns to her pimp, keeping little or nothing for herself, in exchange for trying to get her basic needs for food, clothes, and shelter met. Yet this is the reality on the streets, not the pornographic fantasy.

When former prostitutes teach court-ordered classes that educate the men who have been arrested for paying for sex on the streets, the recidivism rate drops.

Arrest and prosecute clients, pimps, and club owners to the full extent of the law.

Currently, prostitution is illegal in most states. However, most arrests are of prostitutes, not clients, pimps, or club owners. The supply of impoverished, abused girls who can be coerced into prostitution is practically endless in America as well as overseas. The law needs to concentrate on the demand — the clients — as well as the delivery mechanism: pimps and clubs.

Penalties must become more severe: raise solicitation from a misdemeanor to a felony, increase fines from $500 to $1500 for a first solicitation offense ($3000 for a second offense), and include mandatory education and service projects to which jail time is the only alternative.

When the cost of the crime goes up, the rate of the crime goes down.

Offer faith-based rehabilitation programs in prisons.

Often criminals go into prison bad and come out worse. Prison ends up being the social network for prostitutes, pimps, and others involved in the sex trade and other criminal activities. So prison has to do more than punish. It has to offer restorative justice that includes education and rehabilitation.

Studies show that faith-based rehabilitation programs like Prison Fellowship make the greatest impact on the recidivism rate because they encourage prisoners to willingly commit to change and give them hope in the love and the power of God to help them live a different life.

Create affordable, accessible, widely available rehabilitation programs for prostitutes.

Women coerced into the sex trade as teenagers, who have experienced the trauma of sexual assault and drug addiction, need food, clothes, housing, medical attention, counseling, education, job training, and child care. They need provision until they can become strong and independent enough to provide for themselves in healthy ways. Without the support structure, women will reenter the sex trade just to survive.

Intervention requires partnerships between government and nonprofit agencies, including dedicated faith communities, who will coordinate resources to change our culture.

Educate the public.

I’ve heard many people say we ought to legalize prostitution, regulate it, and tax it. Few people seem to understand how ineffective this approach truly is. With the legalization of prostitution comes a whole culture of crime that costs taxpayers paying for the resulting police, prison, court, and medical costs.

Worse still, legalization makes the government the biggest pimp on the block. This paves our streets and funds our schools with the bodies of human beings. It legalizes slavery. We once fought a war to eliminate slavery in America, but now it is back in the form of prostitution and sex trafficking. Is this the kind of culture we want to live in?

I’ve never met a little boy who said, “When I grow up, I want to be a pimp.” I’ve never met a little girl who said, “When I grow up, I want to be a prostitute.” What loving parents would want their children devastated by this kind of horror? Children and teenagers wind up in the sex trade because we, as citizens, have not taken a stand against this evil.

It’s time to stop prostitution. Let’s use the strategies that work to do it.

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International

Emmaus Ministries reaches out to men involved in prostitution in Chicago. On their website, they have compiled a useful handlist of Christian ministries serving those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction, sexual addition, internet pornography, sexual abuse histories, and other aspects of sexual brokenness. To download the list as a .pdf file, click below:

Emmaus Ministries Resources Handlist

Dr. Jane Beal
JSASSN International