Welcome to all the listeners visiting from the Frank Pastore Radio Show!

Here’s a bit more in depth about how Children’s HopeChest is helping to prevent the sex trafficking and forced prostitution of orphans in Russia.

Click to Make a Gift to Help Protect Girls in Russia from Forced Prostitution

Given the prevalence of trafficking in Russia, HopeChest is spending more resources on ensuring our programs are the frontline of trafficking prevention efforts.

Globally, over 2 million children are forced into some kind of sexual slavery.

Whether desperate to survive or tricked by a pimp, girls around the globe are vulnerable to the commercial sex trade. Once trapped, girls in some brothels are raped up to 40 times per day.

In Russia, the HopeChest Ministry Centers provide education and protection for girls facing these situations. Our goal is to provide a safe place filled with resources and knowledge to help girls and boys develop job skills and life skills within a Christian context.

Click to Make a Gift to Help Protect Girls in Russia from Forced Prostitution

In 2009, Russian authorities arrested 14 people involved in trafficking hundreds of girls from Russia to Eastern Europe. It was headed by a woman from Kostroma–one of the cities where we have a large Ministry Center. The Ministry Centers prevent trafficking in several ways, including:

• Educating them about typical tricks of traffickers, such as debt bondage. One of our girls was trapped by hotel owners who provided her gifts of food and clothing when she was having trouble finding a job. She was then told to have sex with two men in order to “work off” her debt. She escaped, but not before being beaten through the night, and threatened by man who held an axe to her throat.

• Connecting girls with legitimate business opportunities, and teaching them to question offers from employers that are “special for orphans.” In one case, the traffickers came to one of the local technical schools with a special job opportunity “for orphans only.” One of our girls was lured to an apartment, and told that she would be visited by a man who would “break her in” for her new job as a prostitute. Fortunately she also escaped.

In both cases above, the girls ran not to the police, but directly to Children’s HopeChest. They knew from years of experiences with our ministry that the staff would help them and know what to do. Now, they are helping other girls by sharing their stories.

Click to Make a Gift to Help Protect Girls in Russia from Forced Prostitution