A New Story for Dara
The following is a true story shared by our She Is Safe staff:
Dara* sat behind a window in the busy Indonesian brothel. Men on the other side decided which girl they wanted. The loudspeaker blared Dara’s name. She had been selected for sex by one of the men. She disappeared around the corner with him. In less than an hour, I knew she would be back and the process for her would continue into the early morning hours.
I was there in the popular Indonesian tourist city, visiting in the brothel with our She Is Safe co-workers. I wanted to observe the reality and results of trafficking and also how rescue and restoration can happen.
Our co-workers had come to build relationships with the girls. Many of them were underage. Our friends offered them small gifts and engaged in conversation. This is the same busy brothel that had been raided by police only a few months previously where five girls were rescued, one as young as 14. But now, it looked as if nothing had changed. As I looked around the room, I quickly saw at least a dozen girls who were under 18 years old, just like Dara. Sadly, this whole heartbreaking process seemed normal to everyone there. Hour after hour. Day after day. Beautiful young girls being sold for sex again and again.
I know that some girls joined the sex trade answering the promise of high earnings. But they soon found themselves enslaved and in debt, with no way out. Regardless of how they arrived in slavery, if they are under 18 years old, it is illegal to sell them for sex. These at-risk, uneducated, unskilled girls are destined to lives of hopelessness, helplessness and abuse.
Dara’s story is only beginning. We hope she:
- Continues to build the relationship with our co-workers and accepts their invitation to join the training to learn a new business skill.
- Leaves the brothel and receives much needed physical and mental healing.
- Now knows Jesus loves her, sees her and that she will receive His gift of new life.
With your help, we will continue to:
- Reach out to her and others to nurture relationships.
- Offer alternatives to being sold to men for sex.
- Broaden our reach to many girls in remote high-risk villages and islands with our trafficking prevention work.
Thank you for joining us on this journey to offer girls, like Dara, a new ending to their stories.