These girls live in our safe home for children recovering from trafficking and exploitation. On the left here is 7-year-old Julieta,* and on the right is 9-year-old Mindy.*
Do these girls look like they’re waiting for someone to save them, pity them, or “rescue” them? No.
Women and girls are formidable – full of strength and dignity – but we as a human race clearly have a problem getting behind this basic truth.
How do I know we have a problem? Because…
- These girls are both survivors of sexual assault.
- These girls endured having their bodies literally priced & sold for money.
- These girls have had to suffer to every imaginable extent the consequences of male entitlement and privilege.
- These girls continue their lives with serious health complications from their difficult childhoods.
- These girls are both working diligently to catch up to their academic grade-level because they were being exploited when they should have been in school.
- These girls may receive support because some people believe women are inherently weaker, rather than because they are equal human beings who have immense potential to change the world.
- These girls will garner more attention than their male counterparts in our Survivor Care, because it’s easier for many to imagine girls being abused than boys.
These girls are fighting daily for everything they deserve, despite what they’ve been dealt. When we sell them short, we don’t just hurt them, we hold back all of humanity.
* Names have been changed for confidentiality.
