Social Justice

In “Sex Slaves,” FRONTLINE follows Viorel on an extraordinary journey deep into the world of sex trafficking to try to find his wife, Katia, who was four months’ pregnant when she left home, and then free her from the violent pimp who now “owns” her. (more…)

Stereotypes about prostitutes and the world of prostitution are both abundant and contradictory—prostitutes are human trash, and they deserve what happens to them, for example, or prostitutes are canny businesswomen who bring in good money by providing a service that men are all too willing to pay for. Each of these distinct portrayals serves to accomplish the same purpose: They hold prostituted persons at arm’s length, proving primarily that they are “not us.” Movies like Pretty Women show the proverbial prostitute “with a heart of gold,” a lovely outsider with a pure heart who can be saved by Richard Gere or some other knight in shining armor.

The reality, however, is much more complex—and ugly. (more…)

With the nation watching, a college student, a professor and a legislator team up to stop indoor prostitution in Rhode Island.

This article originally appeared in the May 2010 issue of Citizen. Some of the content in this story may be disturbing to some readers.

In 1636, after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Roger Williams founded Providence as a refuge for religious freedom. More than 370 years later, Rhode Island’s capital city had instead become a safe haven to pursue commercial sex without legal trouble. (more…)

Pro-prostitution forces in nearly every country in the world work very hard to convince the public that prostitution is a choice women make that empowers them. They argue that women should be able to use their bodies as the see fit and be free from the threat of law enforcement. Those same forces also happen to be the ones standing to make a huge profit from exploiting others should the laws against prostitution become lax or abolished. The United Nations estimates that sex trafficking is the second largest source of income for organized crime worldwide. (more…)

An interview with Dr. Barrett Duke, vice president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Citizen magazine conducted this interview in May 2008.

Citizen: Address the ‘seamless fabric’ argument–and why we might need to be more concerned about pornography than we are as a society.

Duke: In a lot of ways pornography is the gateway to most of the sexual deviancy that we’re seeing in this country. You’ll have a hard time finding any police officer who has been on the scene of a crime involving some kind of sex-related activity who won’t also say that pornography was involved in some kind of way. Oftentimes pornography is the starting point for some of the most violent and aggressive forms of sexual attacks on other people. (more…)

This article was written by Stephen Adams and originally appeared in A Grassroots Guide to Protecting Your Community from Pornography, published in August 2008.

Both Las Vegas and Atlanta have serious problems with prostitution, but their approaches could hardly be more different.

While Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and her administration have been ramping up enforcement activities to combat prostitution, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has been famously quoted as dreaming of a series of “magnificent brothels” for his city if prostitution can be decriminalized. (more…)

This article was written by Stephen Adams and originally appeared in A Grassroots Guide to Protecting Your Community from Pornography, published in August 2008.

Not all kids who end up in prostitution are runaways or delinquents. Cousins “Cara” and “Stacy,” 14 and 15, were simply walking along Main Street in East Toledo, Ohio, to get a Frosty when it happened to them in May 2005. (more…)

The following groups and individuals are leading the global movement to end human trafficking and restore those victimized by its evil.

Shared Hope International maintains safe houses around the world that rehabilitate women and girls harmed by trafficking. They also have conducted extensive research into the horrific practice of trafficking minors within the United States. Their Web site creates awareness of the problem and provides resources for those ready to take action.
http://sharedhope.org/ (more…)

Christians have a long history of social justice and individual ministry to the downtrodden.

Christians play a vital role in highlighting the harms of commercial sexual exploitation, protecting vulnerable youth and promoting a society that values every human being. The following talking points can help you educate and engage others on this issue:

• Sex trafficking turns people into commodities – sexual objects to be bought, sold, used and discarded. No human made in God’s image should be treated this way.

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Sex trafficking reduces men, women and children to a commodity, violating God’s standards for human sexuality and the value of human life.

Focus on the Family believes in the intrinsic dignity of women and men, each created in God’s image and bringing unique qualities to sexuality and relationships. (more…)