Article January 17, 2005 Issue

WORLDWIDE CRISIS: PRAYERS NEEDED

Beverly Goldsmith

In April 2004, Vivian, a 21-year-old woman from Bangkok, was offered work in Australia as a masseuse. Her new employers flew her to Melbourne, but once there, she was forced into sexual slavery in two brothels. Vivian spoke little English, didn't know anyone, and was locked up after hours. By May, frantic to get free, she used her mobile phone to text message a client. He anonymously called immigration officers. However, when the brothel was raided, the authorities freed a South Korean and a Thai woman—but not Vivian. She'd been moved that morning to another location.

Vivian didn't give up. Using a business card she found on the premises, she text messaged her address to the client's mobile phone. A few hours later, Vivan was freed. As a result of her courage and determination, Australian Federal Police arrested and charged two ringleaders of an international crime syndicate with keeping a person in sexual servitude and possessing or exercising ownership of a slave.

While the slavery of Vivian is shocking, so is the fact that an estimated 27 million people are enslaved on every continent except Antarctica, and in many countries including the United States and Australia. Here are just a few examples of this tragic situation: