Читать книгу The True Story of Canadian Human Trafficking - Paul H Boge - Страница 5

foreword

There are people you meet who change the course of your life. While that is rare, it is rarer still to meet people who, while changing your life, also change the course of world history.

My friend Joy Smith is one of those people to me.

She has a fire, a passion, and a vision to pursue what is right, true, good, and noble.

My eyes were first opened to the topic of human trafficking through the Dateline NBC documentary Children for Sale, first aired in 2004. Dateline went undercover and detailed a brothel raid to free child sex-trafficking victims in Cambodia. The raid was organized by the International Justice Mission (IJM) in co-operation with the Cambodian Ministry of Interior. The television special is still available online, and while the raid has been surrounded with controversy and criticism as to its efficacy, especially in relation to the well-being of the victims, it was arguably one of the most important international “tipping point” moments in raising public consciousness to this horrific crime.

In late 2004, my wife, Liz, and I were offered an opportunity to travel anywhere in the world to participate in Samaritan’s Purse’s “Operation Christmas Child” delivery program, a yearly event that reaches over 90 war-torn and impoverished nations around the world. Through OCC, children around the world receive a practical, free, unconditional gift. The gifts are packed, delivered, and sent with love to children of all ages who would otherwise never have an opportunity to receive such a gesture of hope. Having been impacted greatly by the Dateline special and wanting to learn more about human trafficking and how we could be a part of solving the problem, we immediately requested southeast Asia. The next OCC trip available to us was delivering to Cambodia.

Cambodia changed our lives. Its people, food, and natural beauty are all incredibly compelling. Early historical accounts show Cambodia as a potential crown jewel of Asia. There were few other kingdoms on earth more poised with potential and promise. It’s a beautiful country with a more recent tumultuous and genocidal past, and we struggled to comprehend as we learned of the atrocities of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime. We walked the killing fields and sensed the voices of millions of victims crying for justice from beyond the shallow burial pits. We witnessed the bones, teeth, and bits of clothing still evident on the ground, brought up each time the rains fall and fail to wash away the sins of the past. We could feel the ripple effects of generations of trauma, abuse, and disregard for the sanctity of human life. The beauty of the jungle and Angkor Wat’s impressive architecture contrasted sharply with a history of slavery, dishonesty, coercion, murder, and abuse.

We met a spirit in Cambodia, and its hatred for human life knows no bounds.

While visiting, we were introduced to a fledgling NGO working to free child sex slaves. We listened as their organizer explained that because they were vastly under-resourced, all they could afford at the time was to pay traffickers the going rate for these children so that they could take them from the brothel for the day. They would bring the children to a safe location, feed them, let them play with toys, and let them be kids; but at night, they had to take them back to their owners.

I never lose grasp of the fact that Cambodia was once a prospering nation. No one could ever have imagined the horror that would befall it. It’s estimated that around 3,000,000 died during the rule of the Khmer Rouge, and the stage was set for an incredibly vulnerable population to be exploited. As Edmund Burke so eloquently stated, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Since Cambodia, we’ve been advocates in the fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation. We’ve travelled to many countries, and while we’ve seen hope and joy expressed through the perseverance of the human spirit, we’ve also seen abject poverty and lawlessness. I remember returning to my home in Nashville from one such trip. I was scheduled for a lunch with a business associate, and I immediately began to share with him stories of the need we had witnessed. He stopped me midsentence.

“I don’t want to know.”

He then went on to share his dreams for parties he was planning, events he was attending, and investments he was considering. I was dumbfounded, but I suppose at least he knew the kind of person he wanted to be. He understood somewhere deep inside that with knowledge comes responsibility, and he naively believed that by ignoring evil and injustice, they wouldn’t be his problem.

My experience has shown me that this is not how it works. Ultimately, to fight against human trafficking and sexual exploitation is to take a stand for the limitless value of human life. It is to uphold human dignity. To ignore this issue is to erode the very foundation of democracy and civilization. Society crumbles under the weight when evil is ignored. It’s been proven throughout history time and time again.

Liz and I were introduced to Joy Smith and her foundation’s work through new circles we were running in of those who were equally convinced of the significance of the fight against human trafficking. Through events we’ve attended together and conversations we’ve had, I have always been impressed with Joy’s ability to fight tirelessly on behalf of victims and to bear the burdens of human trafficking survivors. She is a true Canadian hero, but, more than that, she is a champion of humanity. She has changed our nation and through the introduction and support of Bills C-268, C-310, and C-36 has provided us with an opportunity. We can sit idly by as a nation while lives are destroyed, or we can remain on the right side of history, which has always been about justice, equality, and freedom. Since the days of William Wilberforce this has been the choice facing humanity when faced with slavery. “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know” was his battle cry, and he and Joy have been history-makers who have encouraged me to raise awareness and fight against what is still one of the world’s largest industries. As of the date of publishing, there are more than 40 million slaves in the world today, and research and evidence have proven that sex trafficking is a growing issue in Canada. Aided by the fast pace of technology, perpetrators and those who would sexually exploit our population’s most vulnerable have the advantage. While sex trafficking affects all parts of Canadian society, Indigenous women and children are disproportionally represented as sex-trafficking victims. Although only 4 percent of Canada’s total population, the First Nation’s population represents 51 percent of those trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Not many books can save lives. This one can. The True Story of Canadian Human Trafficking is an important account of a trafficking victim, a trafficker, a john, and a woman who decided to take a stand on behalf of our population’s most vulnerable.

Even though the purchase of sex is a crime in Canada, our ability to affect change related to sex trafficking and sexual exploitation admittedly seems small. Operation by organized crime syndicates and a seemingly endless demand can make this feel like an insurmountable battle. While studies are showing that education, research, and awareness are key, as Joy states in this book, “we need to admit that the battle starts in our minds and in our hearts.” While stopping the atrocity of human trafficking seems complicated, never have I heard a more appropriate and elegant solution than that offered by one of emancipation’s first pioneers: “Let everyone regulate his conduct ... by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us, and the path of duty will be clear before him” (William Wilberforce).

—Paul Brandt

Founder of The Buckspring Foundation

Founder of Not in My City

Member of Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame