My dear friends, today I would like to temporarily conclude these true stories of the young girls, of how they were sold into sex slavery. I would like to conclude them, but not terminate them completely! I have many more stories that I would like to share with you, but I think that these three stories are enough to convey the painful experiences of these poor girls.
As I mentioned in the introduction, I predicted that after I have posted my stories to be the voice for these girls, there will be people who applaud me, some who will criticize me, some who will be touched, and others who will not like or appreciate them. As of today, 1 month and 10 days after the first story was posted online, I have received over 1000 emails. Fifty of which criticized me for what I did; there were some that were cheering me on; I also received some threats, some were threats to take my life, others were a stab at my spirit. On top of that, there were also phone calls just to say unpleasant and nasty things.
But my dear friends, I would like to reiterate: "I am not afraid! I have God by my side and He will take care of me! But these young girls sold who are sold into sex slavery, if you and I cannot be their voices, who will???" I will tell you a short story about an encounter that Thien Nga (the girl from the story More Than Half of a Lifetime) and I had:
Once when we were in a coffee shop in the middle of day, we witnessed a business transaction of selling and buying human beings. The values of these young girls were completely destroyed. The kind of business they ran is already unacceptable, but the fact that they were able to do these operations in public with NO SHAME... is absolutely mind-boggling. The atmosphere that day was really unpleasant. The Caucasian men were having drinks with a number of Cambodian men, and from what I can tell, not only did they consume alcohol, but were also under the influence of drugs. I asked Nga, "Who are those men?"
She answered, "The Caucasian men are guests and tourists, the Cambodian men sitting over there are high ranking government officials. Their job is to protect the people around this area. But obviously, as you can see they are not!"
So then we immediately left the coffee shop. When we were outside, Nga told me, that "in Cambodia, you only need $50 to hire an assassin."
My friends, in January 2004, in the mist of all the U.S. presidential campaigns, NBC Dateline joined up with the U.S. State Department and did an undercover story of children sex slavery in Cambodia. The story was televised the night of January 23, 2004. The broadcast exposed the terrifying reality of the disgusting billion dollar industry, which aroused the heart of humanity. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, promised that the United States would step up its interventions and pursue justice for the young victims. President George Bush also signed a law to investigate and punish those who are involved in the business of buying and selling underage children.
In an interview between NBC Dateline's Chris Hansen and Colin Powell, Hansen asked, "Why has child sex trafficking become such an important issue for you and the Bush administration?" Powell answered, "Because it's the worst kind of human exploitation imaginable. Can you imagine young children, learning their ABCs or whatever the equivalent is in their language, being used as sexual slaves for predators? It is a sin against humanity, and it is a horrendous crime."
Viewers of NBC were absolutely disgusted when they saw the clips on Cambodian brothels. They watched as Dateline reporters and Cambodian police broke into a brothel in Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital) and rescued not only teenage girls but also shockingly very young, helpless girls (between the ages of 5 and 10) who were forced into child prostitution. When the reporters and police entered and searched the secret rooms, they discovered pictures and notebooks filled with records of many Vietnamese girls. Many of the names in the notebook were Vietnamese names such as Liên, Tuyết, Xuân, Yến, etc. And according to the NBC census, by the end of that day, 37 girls were rescued, most of them were under the age of 10.
Below are a few clips from Dateline NBC's broadcasts.
NBC Dateline-Children For Sale
source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4038249/
NBC Dateline-Children from sex ring "have a future"
source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20186675/
NBC Dateline-Sex Trafficking: Anna's Story"
source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20186675/page/2/
NBC's Chris Hansen interviewed Mu Soc Hua, Cambodia's minister of women's affairs:
Hansen: "Cambodia has a lot of problems. Where do you rank the child sex trade?"
Mu Soc Hua: "I rank sexual trade, sexual exploitation of our children as top - on the top of my list."
Hansen: "Is there any way to even attach a number to this to say how many children?"
Mu Soc Hua: "Around 30,000."
Hansen: "That's a staggering number."
Mu Soc Hua: "Yes. Yes."
My dear friends, only 37 children were rescued from that place of darkness, that prison they were kept in, the place that was like hell. The thought of 37 freed children, in comparison to the staggering 30,000 who are still imprisoned in the brothels, pierce through my heart. How can I, a Vietnamese, not take it personally, when the majority of those young girls are my very own people--Vietnamese?
I know that when this news first came out in 2004, it made many viewers furious. Many also shed tears for these children and became the voices for them. Some even stepped in and helped. Children sex slavery was able to come to a halt, or at least slowed down a bit for a short time. But my friends, these brothel owners are very good at putting pieces together. The progression of buying and selling children as sex slaves has become more refined. They are able to hide it better. There are now more children than ever serving the sickest of men. Today I will once more let my cries for them be heard through you, and let their screams be heard through me.
Now I would like to share with you a part of an email from a woman who titled herself: a 63 year old ‘old lady.'
"Dear Father Martino, after I finished reading your story ‘Being Robbed Twice,' I immediately went to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Similar to Jesus being captured and tortured and nailed to the cross, today, 2000 years later, His children are also captured, tortured, and instead of being killed, they are tied to bed poles and raped. Dear God, the pain You endured cannot be expressed into words from 2000 years ago, nor can the pain of Your young children who suffer today."
My dear friends, do not let the children cry by themselves. Listen to them as they are calling out to you, as they are suffering in the four walls of their cold-hearted owners. Please be their voices, for if you do not hear them and speak up for them, then how will others be able to hear them? Do not let their cries vanish into the desert.
Please help them carry their crosses as Simeon had helped Jesus carry His Cross 2000 years ago. May the God of Love and Truth take away our fears and uncertainties so that we may become the voices of the truth. And through truth, the children will be set free!
