Sex trafficking is a human rights catastrophe and requires the advocacy of people of all faiths if there is to be a tipping point on this issue.
According to the U.S. State Department, human trafficking is one of the greatest human rights challenges of this century, both in the United States and around the world. Researchers estimate that more than 80 percent of trafficking victims are women and over 50 percent of human trafficking victims are children. Author Daniel Walker brings these devastating statistics to bear in real life though his memoir, God in a Brothel: An Undercover Journey into Sex Trafficking and Rescue.
Walker details the four years he spent working undercover in more than a dozen countries documenting cases of human trafficking on behalf of two unnamed international organizations. His account is also a compelling story of his own faith journey, offering a unique perspective from his years battling the sex industry. Stories of high-stakes rescue and exposure to many dangerous situations thread throughout this piece, as does Walker's inner struggle with the realities and temptations associated with being an undercover agent. Ultimately, Walker's efforts resulted in the rescue of many hundreds of women and children as well as the successful prosecution of traffickers. The challenges he details leave the reader disturbed yet determined to do more for those who are enduring such extreme suffering on a daily basis.
Most provocative about God in a Brothel is Walker's challenge for all Christians, regardless of theological or political affiliation, to care deeply and to risk doing something bold to end human trafficking. While Walker views his work through an evangelical lens, he recognizes the urgency of ecumenical cooperation on this issue, "To effectively combat this most horrific form of modern day slavery, it requires every expression and every gift the church has. We need each and every denomination; we need evangelical Christians to set people free and to realign their allegiance; we need the Pentecostals to come with their message of liberation and healing; we need the Catholics with their rich history; we need the progressive Christians with their understanding of social justice. It requires the whole church. Regardless of where you are on the religious, political, social, economic spectrum, the core message of the Bible is to help people find hope and freedom. Christians may disagree on many things, but we can all agree that women and children were not created for slavery."
Walker believes human trafficking is the most important social justice issue of our time—one that has tremendous potential to unite non-denominational, evangelical, and mainline progressive Christians across the globe. In Chapter 9 of God in a Brothel, Walker tells the story of two sisters who, to this day, remain burned into his memory. Lan and Milan were only 5 and 7 years old when their aunt and uncle began profiteering from their sale. Walker knew that if he did not save them, no one would. Ultimately, the raid on their particular brothel went awry, costing Walker many of the children he intended to save, including Lan and Milan. Walker believes that Lan and Milan's story—and the fact that they are most likely still out there somewhere, lost in a world of sexual violence—has the power to transcend theological difference.
Sex trafficking is a human rights catastrophe at both the global and the local levels and requires the advocacy of people of all faiths if there is to be a tipping point on this issue. Progressives have been active on the issue for many years, though non-denominational evangelicals have more recently been leading some impressive efforts through the Not for Sale, Love146, and Traffick 911 campaigns. Even secular organizations such as Free the Slaves recognize the potential of uniting a diverse religious base, providing anti-slavery texts from Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish traditions. All faiths speak out against slavery, and lift up the dignity of all human beings. It is best for Christians of diverse traditions to find ways to work together on this issue, not only for the protection of victims, but to grow in our own theological and ecumenical relationships.
While Walker and I agree that the human suffering behind sex trafficking transcends theological debate, theological differences become very important in regard to gender roles and taking action on the issue. Men are crucial to the conversation as the primary perpetrators and purchasers of sex, and need to be educated and held accountable. In God in a Brothel however, I felt uncomfortable with Walker's depiction of the Christian Western male savior figure, which left the trafficked women and girls in the book with little agency. As a feminist and a progressive, I interpret the Bible through the lens of equality and dignity for all, and recognize the tremendous leadership of oppressed and enslaved women. Walker's theological lens fails to recognize the women he is "saving" as leaders in themselves, and any successful action and advocacy between progressives and evangelicals on the issue would need to address power dynamics and gender roles.
Despite our different lenses, I agree with Daniel Walker that modern day sex trafficking is an incredibly urgent issue, perhaps the most urgent issue of our time. Most people will never risk challenging human trafficking in such a direct and dangerous way as Daniel Walker, but there are still many opportunities for people of faith and people of no faith to become involved in ending trafficking on a global and local level. From an international perspective, Amnesty International's Women's Human Rights Network offers opportunities for activists to stay up to date and take action on the most pressing women's rights violations occurring around the world. Locally, I admire the work of the End Demand Illinois Campaign, a campaign of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) that works to end the routine arrest of women and girls in prostitution and instead advocates for new resources to allow law enforcement to begin prosecuting those who create sex trade demand.
I greatly appreciate Daniel Walker's tireless efforts on behalf of the victims of sex trafficking, and his book has done a great service to bring many of their stories to light while helping all Christians reflect on their moral responsibility to take action. The time is now for Christians, and all people who yearn for justice, to unite to create a safer world for women and girls. Staggering statistics bear the cold, hard truths about sex trafficking, but real change happens when faith communities risk overcoming difference to unite around a greater calling.
God in a Brothel teaches us that faith entails risk. Because we can, and because we must . . . together we can wipe human slavery and sex trafficking off the map for good.
Visit the Patheos Book Club for more conversation and resources on God in a Brothel.
Alisa serves as vice president of the Board of Directors of Rape Victim Advocates and also advises on campaign strategy and membership mobilization in support of the promotion and protection of women's human rights as a member of Amnesty International USA's Women Human Rights Coordination Group. She presently works as director of strategic initiatives at The Voices and Faces Project, a national documentary project created to bring voice and face to survivors of sexual violence and trafficking to the attention of the public.
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