I've always known about sex-trafficking. I've always been aware of the girls and boys who suffer in unjust, ugly ways. I've always been educated on the fact that slavery is still an issue today.
Yet I've always remained silent.
Until this weekend, the existence of sexual slavery seemed distant. It didn't affect me. It wasn't close to home. It was an awful evil that happened to innocent children whose faces I never saw and whose names I never knew.
But everything I knew regarding this subject changed this weekend.
"Something's different. Getting to actually know [someone who has been sex-trafficked] has changed my outlook. Even though I've only known her for only a few short days, I know she is a life-long friend. Not only that, but she is the reason I can no longer remain silent. I need to do something. This isn't a 'someone needs to do something' situation. No. This is personal. I need to do something. I need to help. I need to be a voice, be a healer.
"She's why. [This girl] is why I need to go, why I need to help. Not because I can change anything with her story. I can't. Her story of survival and redemption is already written.
"But what about those girls whose stories are not yet over? What about those innocent lives that have been so evilly exploited? What about those souls who have not yet found home?
"They need an advocate.
"They need home.
"I cannot remain silent."
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Ignorance is bliss. Unawareness is golden. Silence is perfection. But how can one remain silent when he knows the truth? How can a woman choose to live a life full of unawareness when she has been made aware? How can a man continue to be ignorant after he has gained knowledge? When these things happen, the barrier is broken. The blockade that has separated us from good and evil is destroyed. Stars align, and opportunities develop. Truth screams to be known. Uneducated men and women need to be educated. Vile happenings have to be stopped. When reality is revealed, ignorance is no longer bliss. Unawareness is refined by fire and is no longer golden. Silence is the furthest from perfection. The educated and the aware can break the silence. We can be a voice to the unheard. We can end the evil. We cannot remain living ignorant lives.
We cannot remain silent.
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Friends, sex-trafficking is real. My wake up call came in the form of a girl my age who so graciously befriended me. Because of that, I can no longer avoid this issue. I cannot continue to live as if it only happens to faces I'll never see and names I'll never know. It happens all around: across the globe, in our own backyard, and right underneath our noses. The vileness of the perpetrators often goes unnoticed in the dark. But we need light. We need to see the tragedy of the outcome. Most importantly, though, we need hope.
And thankfully, we have just that.
This can be defeated, but we must work together. This evil can end, but we all have to pitch in. This thievery of innocent lives can be stopped, but all hands are required on deck. We cannot pretend that we don't know the evil. We cannot continue to live in ignorance.
We cannot remain silent.
With a new awakening,
Bekah
