Meet Justice

Innocence Atlanta: My Voice. Her Freedom. Stop child sex trafficking.

Every 2 minutes a child is sold as a sex slave. And everyday we fight against the reality that child sex slavery exists in our world. Phrases like, ‘child rape’, ‘8 year old prostitute’, and ‘cigarette burns on her back’ should never be uttered in a sentence. It is up to us to tell their story. We must be heard. We must not stop. We must pursue justice.

Let us be clear, this is not just an issue in the world at large. No! Child sex slavery has crept into our own backyard. In Atlanta. The city that ranks among the top in America for sex trafficking. Innocence Atlanta was started because we believe that you can make a difference. We believe that every child has the right to be a child. We believe that innocence can be restored.  read more »

What is sex trafficking?

I have found that many people are unaware of what sex trafficking really is. Here is a basic introduction to the enemy.

The formal explanation, as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, is:
1) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18, or
2) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

According to the Atlanta Mayor's Report of 2005, it is estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 children in the United States and an estimated 10 million children worldwide are involved in prostitution.  read more »

We pulled into the small business complex and quickly found the building that housed Victoria's Friends. Victoria was outside on her phone and flashed us a huge smile as she ushered us inside, not even missing a beat with her phone conversation. The floor in the reception area was covered with wrapping paper, bows, and gifts for the upcoming bridal shower that was to take place that night.

I (Kate) had heard Victoria's story and read a few articles published online. However, meeting this woman who had been through so much yet has managed to transform her past into a future for so many other women was truly amazing. Victoria was a dancer and a stripper. She was everything you were warned about in Sunday school as a child. She was the woman fetching water for Jesus at the well.  read more »

DAY 75 – Western Europe

The horn honks out front and Alyssa runs down the stairs a few seconds later. She grabs her book bag and runs into the bathroom for one last glance in the mirror.

Bangs adjusted.
Lip gloss refreshed.

Honk- Honk. “Bye honey- have a good day” mom yells from around the corner in the kitchen. “Bye mom- see you after practice,” yells Alyssa, running out the door into the warm September morning. Piling into the backseat of the Jeep Cherokee, Alyssa joins her two girl friends and fellow freshman squad cheerleaders on the ride to another day at school.

The scene will be repeated tens of thousands of times across America every morning this fall. Those wonderful early teenage years hold fond memories for most of us- and some of the best blissful days of innocent life before reality of the real world sets in.  read more »