A Father’s Pledge
Father’s Day is here. This year let’s forget about getting a card, or a barbecue, more chrome for our motorcycle or a new fishing rod. This year let’s not worry about presents. This year let’s take on a mission. This year, in celebration of Father’s Day, let’s do what dads were made to do; defend.
Let’s defend our daughters. Let’s leverage our political will to ensure that the men who buy and sell our children are fully prosecuted; and let’s make sure the punishment fits the crime. Let’s leverage our compassion (and what’s greater than a father’s compassion?) so that the daughters trapped in this nightmare can be quickly rescued and restored. And let’s leverage our moral courage and take a stand against the commercial sex industry and their attempts to glamorize prostitution and traumatize our daughters.
Just imagine if you’re one of the 100,000 fathers in America whose daughter – or son – is one of the 100,000 children who have disappeared in the last year, forced into the commercial sex industry. If your thirteen-year-old daughter vanished, and you didn’t know where to find her or how to get help, what would you do? How could your family endure that kind of emotional torment?
Though many think slavery was abolished long ago, as hard as it is to believe it indeed still exists. Child sex trafficking is one of modern slavery’s horrific forms. Our daughters and sons, taken from under our very noses, are being sexually abused and serially raped. Consider this staggering statistic – the average age of children entering prostitution here in the U.S. is just thirteen years old. At this age they are too young to protect themselves.
Fortunately, there are many groups and people working tirelessly to put a stop to sex trafficking in this country. And as a father, there is something you can do. You can help prevent the sexual exploitation of your child, and other children.
The Defenders USA program challenges men across America to step up and personally participate in protecting children from sex-traffickers. Founded on Father’s Day in 2006 as a project of Shared Hope International, The Defenders USA is a campaign by men, to men, and for men. We ask you to take a pledge to stand up and speak out: don’t purchase or participate in pornography, prostitution, or any form of the commercial sex industry, and hold friends accountable for their actions. We need good men like you to help reduce the demand for the sexual services of young girls and boys. Men started this problem; better men have to stop it.
Along with prevention, it’s important to provide the children already bound in sex slavery with help. We need to work with our legislators to strengthen laws providing victim services and treatment. And most importantly, we must recognize that children are just that – victims, and not criminals. A child being forced through violence to participate in the commercial sex industry should not be punished; they need our help.
The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking found misidentification of victims to be the primary barrier to properly addressing America’s trafficked children. Shared Hope International conducted investigations throughout the country and found that children being prostituted are often arrested for the crime committed against them. While the men purchasing or selling their sexual services, the johns and the pimps, frequently go unpunished.
Rescued girls and boys who have suffered severe physical, sexual and emotional trauma need psychological and social services, as well as legal counseling. And they need somewhere to go besides the inside of a jail cell.
Today, surrounded by love and support from your family, take a moment to consider those fathers who won’t see or hear the words “Happy Father’s Day,” because their child is enslaved. As you count your blessings, remember there is something you can do to help – take The Defenders USA pledge, to help protect your daughter or son and shine a light on this important issue. Children all across the country will be grateful.
Tomas Perez
National Director
The Defenders USA Project
Shared Hope International
Lauren Taylor
Founder & President
End Slavery Now
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July 18, 2010 at 4:37 am