The Olympics is a time to celebrate human excellence and sportsmanship, but it also exposes the worst in human behavior. An event unknown to many that takes place during large sporting events like the Olympics is human sex trafficking -- a dirty little sport played mostly by male tourists that victimizes many innocent women and children. According to a report by The Future Project, an anti-human trafficking organization in Canada, the sex trade grows exponentially during the Olympics. The number of sex trade victims doubled in 2004 during the Athens Games and still hasn’t returned to pre-2004 levels.
One of the campaigns seeking to stop human trafficking is the Buying Sex is Not a Sport campaign developed by REED (Resist Explotation, Embrace Dignity):
Buying Sex Is Not a Sport is a grassroots campaign to raise awareness and effect change around sex trafficking and the 2010 Olympic games. The demand for sexual access to the bodies of women and children fuels human trafficking. Women and children in Metro Vancouver and Whistler are routinely coerced into the flesh trade to meet this demand, and a large sporting event such as the 2010 Olympics will only further exploitation through a rise in the demand for paid sex.
It is still unclear what impact Buying Sex is Not a Sport will produce, but REED’s noble efforts are worth cheering for. Because organizations and people who seek to preserve human dignity and uphold the Imago Dei deserve a standing ovation and a gold medal.
Here’s how to get involved. And here's a video that offers more information.
not good.
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