Wesleyans Stand Against Trafficking
May. 12, 2009
Born in the abolitionist movement of the 19th Century, The Wesleyan Church revisited its heritage in committing to a denomination-wide effort to abolish human trafficking. Asking its Wesleyan Women department to coordinate the campaign, the board representing over 400,000 constituents, endorsed an initiative at its May 5-6, 2009 meeting that will be called "Hands of Hope."
State Department Advisor Commends Church
Speaking to the board members at The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters in Fishers, Indiana, Georgetown University law professor and former Department of State advisor Laura Lederer commended the Church on its efforts to help stop the trafficking of humans for sex and labor servitude. Leaderer, who helped frame the United States' law against trafficking, said that trafficking is prevalent in every big city in America, and that up to 17,000 persons (half of them children) are trafficked into America each year. She estimates the total number of trafficked persons at 27-28 million and calls the problem"modern-day slavery."
Fighting for Human Freedom and Justice
The Wesleyan Church, with over 10,000 pastors in 80 countries of the world, has a storied history of fighting for human freedom and justice. It was active in the underground railroad movement and one of its churches was the scene of the first women's rights convention. Its Freedom's Hill Church, which has been restored as a historic display on the campus of Southern Wesleyan University, was targeted by 19th Century slave traders and its pastor faced hanging because of his protection of slaves.
Lederer put a human side to trafficking with the story of Rosa. At the age of 13, Rosa was trafficked to America and forced into prostitution by a group of men who gang-raped, beat her and then abandoned her in a trailer without food or water for three days. A wife and mother of three daughters, Lederer, who currently serves as vice president of an anti-trafficking agency, urged Wesleyans to "first of all educate yourself, to read about traffickingto learn about the harm of it; and then to find a way to bring that information into the community."
Public Forum Will Enlist Community
The Wesleyan Church will offer a September 9, 2009, community information forum in Indianapolis, Indiana, which will be followed by a September 10-12 abolish human trafficking training staffed by professionals from World Hope International. General Director of Wesleyan Women and "Hands of Hope" coordinator Martha Blackburn says the training will equip men and women with skills to help prevent trafficking and care for its victims.
For more information, visit http://www.wesleyan.org/ww/opportunities/hope or call 317.774.7974 or call 317.774.7974.
