jayhardwick.com: All Should Be Free

Did you know that there are 2.5 million sex slaves worldwide, many of whom are under the age of 18?

Neither did I.

A great friend of mine, Greg Darley, and a team of people have responded to this grave injustice by creating an initiative called Free Chains. Free Chains is a collaboration between individuals, churches, musicians, artists, business owners, moms, dads, athletes, and students to end child sex trafficking.

What is child sex trafficking?

Sex trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years.

Where does it happen?

Child sex trafficking happens everywhere. According to the report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Trafficking in Persons: Global Patters report, April 2006: children are trafficked in every country. Countries considered "very high destination" countries for trafficked victims include Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States.

An estimated 200,000 American children are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry.
Atlanta is recognized as the top city in the US with 14,000 sex slaves.
1/3 of all US runaways end up in the sex trade within the first 48 hours of leaving home.
1/5 of all pornographic images on the internet are of a child, 55% of all child pornography on the internet originates from the U.S.
The average entry age of prostitution is 12.

What can you do?

With an issue so big, where do you start? The vision of the Free Chains Campaign is to provide simple and tangible ways for you to be part of the solution...Buy a key chain. Buy and wear a t-shirt. Donate towards a Safe House. Donate towards an investigation and prosecution to stop trafficking. Host a party to make your friends aware. There are tons of ways for you to get involved.

A child trapped in sex slavery is the epitome of the least of these. What are you going to do? Go to the Free Chains to be a part of ending this injustice.