Chi Alpha, a Christian fellowship organization at A&M-Commerce, will team up with other campus organizations to present Rescue the Girl in The Club at the Sam Rayburn Student Center at 7 p.m. May 7.
The event aims to promote awareness of child sex slavery and organizations that fight against it by featuring performances from local bands, pieces of artwork that will be auctioned off and opportunities for attendees to donate money to the cause.
“In America alone, there are more than twice as many slaves today than at the time Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation,” Nathan Cole, Chi Alpha leader and one of the main organizers of Rescue the Girl, said. “There’s at least 200,000 people at risk to be in sex trafficking in the United States this year. Last year, FBI and several other organizations have been saying that sexual slavery is the second largest illegal money maker. Last month, March of 2009, it went to number one. So, sex trafficking actually now raises more money than all the drugs in the world.”
The issue of child sex slavery is not commonly thought of in the United States, with much of its activity occurring in other countries, such as India. Cole says that it is, in fact, a problem within American borders.
According to the Trafficking in Persons Report, 14,500 to 17,500 people were trafficked into the United States in 2004, with 5,000 to 7,000 coming from East Asian and the Pacific. The majority of these girls fall between the ages of 11 and 17. Cole says he has heard reports of girls as young as 5 years old being used in sex trafficking, with 8 being a commonly found age.
Another fact presented by The Coalition Against Human Trafficking says that the second largest trafficking bust in U.S. history occurred in Houston, Texas, in 2007.
“In America, we have this issue that’s much bigger than it’s ever been, although it’s been subversive for a lot of time,” Cole said. “Twenty percent of all sex trafficking in the United States happens right here in Texas. The majority of all sex trafficking in Texas happens a few hours away from here in Houston.”
Chi Alpha will promote the event in the weeks to come. There will be an information table in the student center lobby starting next week and flyers in various places around campus. Users of Facebook will be exposed to it the most, as that is where Cole believes the majority of the attendees will come from.
“Obviously, you can donate,” Chris Mullarkey, a student involved in planning and setting up the event, said about ways students can contribute. “I mean five bucks a month, that’s a coffee for one week. Just give what you can, if it’s money or time, help out; we’ve got a lot of things going on.”
The event itself will have information tables about organizations such as Project Rescue, Love 146 and Home of Hope, which is currently pursuing to build the first long term facility for sheltering young girls and women who have escaped sex trafficking.
Bands from all over the area are invited to perform as a part of a benefit concert. They are welcome to bring their own promotional material to sell to attendees, the profits of which would go towards those organizations fighting sex slavery.
“These bands we’re trying to pull in, really just any musicians, we want them to come in and play a thirty minute, forty-five minute set,” Derek Harvey, Chi Alpha worship leader and organizer of Rescue the Girl, said. “If you’re not doing anything on May 7, it’s a great cause.”
The hope is that Rescue the Girl becomes a part of an even bigger campaign to make the issue of sex trafficking relevant. Year after year, it has become more visible in the world view, and organizers are aiming at continuing that trend.
“This is so huge, that people reject it the first few times they hear it,” Cole said. “They don’t want to think about it, they can’t imagine it, so I would say that it’s come a long way. There are movies like Taken, Slumdog Millionaire, there’s one coming out in a few weeks called Nefarious, a documentary about this same issue, so it’s definitely happening.”
For more information, individuals can visit www.rescuethegirl.com.