Every girl needs a dad to protect her

While every girl has a biological father, far too many girls have no dad to protect them from danger and injustice.

As the father of an 11-year-old daughter, I’ve been wondering what I’d do if my daughter fell into the hands of traffickers… And I realized that I’d sell everything and seek her to the ends of the earth.

I’m pretty sure you’d do exactly the same thing if it were your daughter, even if it cost you your life. Even if it were ‘only’ the daughter or son of a good friend of yours, you’d spring into action!

Right?

So why don't we do the same for the countless girls, boys, men and women who are trapped in forced labor or prostitution?

Isn't it about time that all the men of the world acted like real dads and joined the fight to find and liberate these people?

Will you join the search party?

This work takes great skill and dedication. So while we may not be able to join the search in person, we can at least ensure that the organizations who are doing this work have enough resources to track down the children, free them, guide them in their new lives and – crucially to deter others – prosecute the perpetrators and put them behind bars.

My dream is that we can say during this generation that : Every Girl Has A Father who stands up for her!

Hopefully you feel the same way and would like to be able to say: “I was part of the solution”. Be a protective dad today for a girl or boy who desperately needs your help.

 

Give!

Decide now to give, preferably with a recurring gift per month.

You can donate to one of the organizations shown on this site. You can also look online for an organization that is close to your heart. Or click on ‘I can’t choose, pick one for me.’ and we’ll redirect you at random to one of the organizations shown.

Whatever you do, please don't think ‘I’ll do this later’. The girls in slavery can't wait any longer. They need your help right now!

 

Too big a problem?

The problem is far greater than many of us realize.

• There are currently over 40 million girls, boys, women and men held against their will in inhumane conditions.
• Exploited for forced labor and prostitution – both online and physically – they’ve no protection from abuse and mistreatment.
• Around 180 billion Canadian Dollar is earned annually from human trafficking - both by organized crime and ‘petty’ criminals in your city.
• Corruption within government agencies tasked with protecting people is an enormous problem in some countries.

Sometimes we can be part of the problem too. Where does your T-shirt come from? And that chocolate bar? Maybe you've gazed longingly at those girls behind the window in the Red-Light districts of our cities, or the streets in Bangkok, or the webcams streaming from the Philippines?

Yes, the problem is big. But I believe it is not too big!

 

An even greater solution!

It’s a big problem that requires an even larger solution. While brave people and organizations are already standing up for the slaves of our time, they need far more money to continue their struggle. A rescue operation can cost thousands of Dollars, sheltering and re-educating the victims many times more. The lawsuits designed to put perpetrators behind bars and deter future criminals are very expensive but there comes a tipping point where even corrupt leaders realize it no longer pays to allow public prostitution of children on their streets.

 

200 million dads on behalf of two billion fathers

There are about two billion fathers in the world. Let's assume that 10% of those can afford to contribute financially AND want to help free those 40 million slaves and bring the perpetrators to justice. Of those 200 million dads, some can give $10, others $10,000. If we give an average of $100 dollars per year that’s $20 billion annually for this battle and those who go in search of the slaves. Join us so that you can also say to those around you, or even your children: “We’re safe and free, and that’s why we join the fight until all are free!”

 

Money does not buy happiness

“Money doesn't buy happiness but it helps” say some. “Money doesn't buy happiness but giving it does” say others. Both statements are true. If you share a little of what you have, organizations can intervene more often and provide better aftercare. And if that also makes you happy, all the better!

Give now, and be like a dad to a girl, boy, man or woman who is waiting for someone to look for them and stand up for their rights!

 

Pass it on!

If you have given, or even if you cannot but you still wish to be part of the solution, please share this post with people you know.

 

No surrogates and no knights

For the sake of clarity, fathers and mothers of victims are rarely to blame for their children’s predicament. In many cases parents are actually looking for them! But the task is too big or expensive for them to succeed alone and they also face the dangers of the poor security situation in many regions. And there is also the lack of legislation and enforcement to contend with. By giving to one of the organizations mentioned, you are not becoming a surrogate parent nor replacing the birth parents. But you will be standing in solidarity with people who are looking for and liberating these children: next to the parents and the staff at the organizations.

Also, you won’t be a knight only supporting the rescue of people. It is a common misunderstanding that rescuing is the only difficult part. Recovery, however, is at least as difficult and often a much larger task for these organisations. Rescue is nothing without recovery. Organizations like the ones mentioned, use many skills and resources to empower the survivors to find hope, healing, and their voice to go and protect would-be-victims by prevention programs.

 

More information

Discover more about the challenges of slavery and human trafficking on the websites of the organizations mentioned. Check this site for more info about the mentioned facts, numbers and amounts. We also recommend movies like “She has a name” (2016) and “Nefarious: Merchant of Souls” (2011). Warning: these films will not leave you unchanged!

 

It's never quite that simple

This one page cannot tell the whole story. First, not all facts are known, and second, not everything fits on a single web page. Here are a few good-to-know points:

• Modern slavery is not the same as human trafficking: sometimes people are enslaved as result of debts but not trafficked
• Trafficking in human beings is not the same as smuggling: sometimes people looking for a better future voluntarily pay money to their smugglers to find a way into Europe, for example
• Human trafficking is not just for unwitting children and organized criminals in Thailand. In our own countries, too, well-educated people are tempted to work in a hotel somewhere in Europe for example, after which their passports are taken away and they’re forced to do what is required of them under threat of violence. Or a lover boy just gets a grip on a girl from your neighborhood, street, or class at school.
• Forced labor is not the same as forced prostitution: it is estimated that of the 40 million slaves, about 5 million are in prostitution online or physically
• Forced prostitution does not only include very young girls far away in Asia. An estimated 20% are under the age of 18, and 5% a boy or man. About 70% takes place in Asia, the rest in Europe, the Americas and other continents.
• Prostitution is not the same as forced prostitution: some choose this line of work as their way to provide for themselves or their family
• Human trafficking and forced labor are not only major problems, they are also symptoms of corruption, a lack of law enforcement/protection, poverty, oppression of women, prohibition of women in certain forms of work, and so on.

But please don't let that last point stop us from helping now. You don't tell someone who gets into trouble during a storm that it’s due to global warming and we need to solve that first.

 

About us

We are a team of volunteers with a heart for the slaves of our time. We receive no financial remuneration and have no ties with the organizations mentioned, although we have checked as much as possible that they are reliable and effective. We don't tell the world who we are, but if you want to contact us for valid reasons or would really like to know who we are, email us at info@everygirlhasafather.com.

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