branded
Eradicating child sex slavery & prostitution
Media Packet
Movement to end child prostitution in Phoenix gaining ground
Food for the Hungry teams up with Streetlight, local churches and city authorities to raise awareness and develop a rehabilitation strategy
A collaboration of nonprofit organizations, local churches and government leaders is bent on putting a stop to child prostitution in Phoenix.
"Child rape for profit is a problem that has exploded in the last five years, internationally and even locally," says Pat McCalla, a senior manager with Food for the Hungry, a Phoenix-based Christian relief and development organization that works to end physical and spiritual poverty around the world.
McCalla says that next to selling drugs, child prostitution is the second largest source of income in the criminal world. "One reason it has moved so fast is becauseM when you sell weapons or drugs, they're gone, but you can get an underage girl and sell her night after night after night," McCalla explains.
Three years ago, when McCalla joined Food for the Hungry to head its City Initiatives department, he prioritized the building of effective partnerships with community and church leaders, business and educational sectors, police department, and local government authorities. He met with them on a regular basis and asked what kinds of "giants" they faced in the city. One particular issue that kept popping up, says McCalla, was child slavery for sex and prostitution.
To solve this problem, McCalla said a three-tier strategy was developed: advocacy, prevention and rehabilitation.
To create the advocacy and prevention components, Food for the Hungry teamed up with former Phoenix councilwoman Peggy Bilsten, the Phoenix police department's vice enforcement unit, and local nonprofits to put together a 50-minute documentary on child sex trafficking called Branded. The goal of the documentary is to inform the people of Phoenix about the realities of child prostitution and motivate them to respond in tangible ways such as through advocacy and prevention.
"We're hoping that Branded will have hundreds of screenings to raise awareness and keep girls from getting into [this lifestyle] and change some legislation that would get some girls out of it and towards rehabilitation," says McCalla.
Thanks to a partner organization, McCalla says the rehabilitation piece of the fight against child prostitution is now taking shape. Streetlight, a nonprofit organization based in Peoria, Ariz., is spearheading the acquisition of a 40-acre land and the subsequent building of safe houses for girls who are rescued from prostitution.
Larrie Fraley, a pastor at Christ's Church of the Valley is rallying other churches to put their minds, hearts and resources together into solving child prostitution. The appeal has been met with overwhelming support from more than 20 large churches in the Metro Phoenix area. Already, at least six churches have committed to build some of the houses. Other churches have volunteered the skills and resources of their members.
Streetlight envisions a village-type of living environment for rescued girls where each house can comfortably accommodate four to six girls. Each house will be staffed with a houseparent, and there will be counselors, tutors and mentors to help the girls recover and rebuild their lives. McCalla estimates that five or six of those houses could be built by the end of 2010, with more additions as resources allow.
McCalla believes a safe house is the best option for rescued girls as it would allow an environment for holistic healing and restoration. "These girls have enormous physical, spiritual, emotional and social needs. A safe house would be a place where these needs could be met," he says.
Another option, adds McCalla, is to build the safe houses in different parts of the city and mobilize the churches to provide training and counseling to the girls and bring them hope.
McCalla recalls a day when he sat in a courtroom with a pregnant 14-year-old girl who was rescued by a vice enforcement unit officer. "You can see that she's been through a lot of abuse. But what's amazing to me is that when she gave birth, she named her child after her attorney, because it was her attorney who gave her hope," says McCalla. He adds, "I wonder how many girls like her are out there looking for hope. We want to give them all a chance for hope."
McCalla says the great stride that's happening against child prostitution in Phoenix is just one more example of how God works through various sectors of the society. "We don't have to recreate the wheel," he says. "A lot of times we just have to find out what God is doing and connect with it."
To know more about Branded and how you can use it to raise awareness about child prostitution and sex trafficking, go to www.brandedphx.com. To know how you can help build a safe house visit www.streetlightphx.com.partner network
connections
