The Problem?
Today there are at least 20,000 slaves under the age of 18 in the United States. According to the Department of Justice, the average age of these children is 13 years old. Eighty percent of these children are girls and 80% of those girls are sexual slaves like “Amber”. The life expectancy of girls like “Amber” is 7 – 10 years from the time of their abduction and the start of their enslavement.
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“Amber” and countless other girls experience on a daily basis:
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Rape
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Assault
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Neglect
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Starvation
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Torture
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False imprisonment
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Exploitation
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Drugging
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Emotional, physical, and mental abuse
Slaveholders will send “testers” in to pretend to rescue the girl. If she engages with the tester she will be beaten. At some point the girl gives up and becomes resigned to her new life – her hell on earth. Survival mode will kick in and she will quickly become hardened, disconnected, hopeless, angry, and isolated – trusting no one, which is the slaveholder’s goal.
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Why Don’t These Girls Try to Escape?
There are many different methods these slaveholders use to manipulate and control their slaves. These impressionable and dependent children want to be accepted by someone. The slaveholder is the only person they really know in this new reality. The slaveholder manipulates the girls by telling them he loves them, buying them gifts, and taking them to exciting places in order to keep them submissive. This produces a Stockholm Syndrome where the victim actually thinks they are loved – thus skewing their concept of love and keeping them under the slaveholder’s control.
What Is Our Government Doing About Slavery?
The answer to that question is, “Not much”. Typically, the recovery rate is less than 1% of the actual trafficked population. What happens to a child like “Amber” when she is rescued? The Department of Justice has confirmed that care facilities specifically designed to support these trafficked children can give shelter to less than 100 of them. F.B.I. policy is to place these rescued victims into juvenile hall which sends the message to these children that they are criminals. The cost of a child in juvenile hall is $250 per day. Government agencies cannot give these children what they need most – love.
What We Do
Through volunteers and other organizations, Together Freedom helps victims receive up to 28 areas of service and professional evaluation immediately after they are rescued. By first meeting their NEEDS, we are able to build TRUST that opens the door for HOPE and HEALING.
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Together Freedom will respond after being notified of a victim being rescued. We facilitate and streamline assistance to the victim and provide a comfortable treatment environment where professionals are able to conduct various evaluations with the victim and provide much-needed care and provision.
Every child victim’s story is different and their needs are different. Together Freedom helps each victim individually where they currently are and develops a short-term and long-term plan for their future. The costs for the services and evaluations are high, and Together Freedom provides assistance based on the funding available. You can donate directly toward the care of more victims. By donating, you will give Together Freedom the opportunity to serve more child victims.