THE TRUTH IS, CHILD SLAVERY IS REAL!

We all find it hard to believe that in the 21st century slavery is so widespread. Unscrupulous criminals take advantage of vulnerable people. They lie about opportunities for prosperity, promising work and wages that turn out to be very different or non-existent. Instead of interesting work, menial tasks are required of the victims for no wages. Beatings and torture or sexual abuse are meted for no reason in order to intimidate and break the spirit of the victim who then too often succumbs to a demeaning life of abuse at the hands of their ‘owners’.

In some countries children are traded by families who are experiencing serious financial difficulty. In other places children become enslaved who have fled for their lives into refugee camps or are orphaned and abandoned and live in slums along railway tracks, under bridges or in sewer drains. They fall under the influence of evil people who teach them to beg and steal in return for a miserly supply of food and shelter that can barely be called adequate. Or they are confined to cramped quarters and sold to families or individuals who keep them from attending school and physically and sexually abuse them. Or worse still their days and nights are spent servicing the predatory sexual needs of violent abusers.

Exaggerating? – Not at all! These poorest of the poor are trapped and manipulated by evil people. They are powerless to do anything to break free because of threats to harm their families if they try to escape.

Although it is inherently difficult to know the numbers involved because it is often a hidden crime. Indications are that the numbers involved are staggering. Best estimates indicate that around 32 million people are entrapped in slavery of some type today. The largest numbers in any country are in India and China. But they are in many other countries including developed nations like the US, UK and Australia.

WHAT IS ANGEL RESCUE?

ICC Australia’s Angel Rescue Fund is set to become a major component of our fund raising as we turn our attention to providing significantly more resources for our overseas partners who are involved in the rescue of children who are at risk of being trafficked or working as bonded labourers or being forced into military service.

The Angel Rescue Fund is used to identify at-risk children and provide a safe place for them. Each situation is different and as such, sometimes the funds needed are smaller or greater, depending on the needs of the child. Generally, the cost of rescue includes transport, food, clothing and immediate medical care. They are placed in safe accommodation in a secure environment and over time are placed in a foster family or in a children’s village with a family employed by ICC Australia’s partners. Children in the vicinity of ICC Australia’s projects in Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia are particularly vulnerable.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

Monthly contributions of $23 or any one-off donation will help us make more concerted efforts to prevent and reduce the incidence of trafficking in regions where we are actively involved.

You could start your own fundraising group in your family, among your friends, or in your workplace to help rescue children who are at-risk of trafficking or already suffering the trauma and indignity of slave labour.

ICC Australia thanks you for choosing to say ‘NO’ to poverty and to help build communities of safety.