It has been 17 years since I first learned I live in a world where children are sold for sex. On that day, I heard statistics that overwhelmed my mind and my heart; millions of human beings, enslaved around the world, sold as a commodity for the profit of some and the pleasure of others.
Though my heart was broken, I wondered why difference I could make in the face of such numbers and such evil. I was “just” a mom with no experience in this field. I had no expertise I felt I could offer in the global fight against a multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise. It was too big and too overwhelming. I convinced myself I could never make a difference—the battle could never be won.
Then I met Yvonne.
She was 14 years old and lived in the city I now call home. She was recovered by law enforcement in a sting operation where her "boyfriend" was selling her for sex. She was in the foster care system because the family she was born into didn't keep her safe and were part of her abuse. Yvonne had a 1-year-old son, fathered by her trafficker. She couldn't attend school regularly because she ran away from any foster home she was placed in. Although she had a grandmother who demonstrated love to her, Yvonne refused to live with her. The courts and her social work had run out of placement options for her except for juvenile hall, though she was a victim of the crime of trafficking while not even knowing it.
I bought her lunch and asked her what she dreamed of—what she wanted for herself and her son. She told me a home: a place she wouldn't be scared of someone coming into her bedroom, where she would know her son was safe, where she could focus on graduating from high school. Yvonne wanted to be a social worker and get her drivers license—she wanted a "normal" life.
When I asked what she would need to accomplish all of these things, her response was immediate: "I just need someone to believe in me."
In that moment, global statistics faded away as I looked into her eyes and vowed to something, anything, for her. In focusing on the one—cutting out the overwhelming and soul-crushing magnitude of the fight against trafficking—I found my purpose.
Will you join me in finding a purpose? Together we can change the world one individual at a time.
Jenny Williamson
CEO & Founder of Courage Worldwide