A room filled with hand-poured soy wax candles was the first sight that evoked a poignant feeling. Followed is the sight of T-Shirts and face caps on display for visitors delight. A couple of leather bags were hung on the wall, adding to the various types of products available in a room filled with ‘goods that empower’. The items were made by survivors of sex exploitation.
Welcome to Elijah Rising, a faith-based nonprofit in Galleria West, one of the most sexualized districts in Houston, Texas, running with the mandate of driving the reality of modern-day slavery into the consciousness of the society. It is interesting to know that the building housing the headquarters of Elijah rising once housed an Asian brothel called Angela Day Spa. It used to be one of the original stops at Van Tours organized for interested persons on request.
A tour round the Museum of Modern-Day slavery managed by Elijah Rising almost evoked a tear-jerking reaction. On display are collections of artifacts preserved from raids of motels and street interventions. The museum with a reputation of potency in exposing brutal realities of sexual slavery and commercial exploitation also houses a room, which is replica of a spot discovered during a raid of cantinas where women are being exploited in 2013. A cantina is a dimly lit tavern popular in Mexico and Spain cultures where traditional alcoholic drinks are served.
In the small room, there is a mattress on the floor with ruffled pink bedspread. A waste bin containing trashed condoms stand in a corner, side by side a stool with photos of a woman cuddling a baby, a small bible and some condoms. In the other part of the museum are tattered brassieres and female shoes. These items were preserved during a raid of a motel used for housing trafficked women exploited in commercial sex.
David Gamboa, a youth pastor who works as the Creative Director of Elijah Rising got an epiphany when he visited the organization on a museum tour. David relived how he in a bid to find solution for teens addicted to pornography, he embarked on the museum tour, prompting them to come see the reality of what happens to women who are sexually exploited.
“I believe something shifted in their mindset. That was how I got involved with Elijah riding,” he recalled.
As a faith-based nonprofit organization, Elijah Rising runs with the mission of ending sex trafficking and commercial sex exploitation through prayer, awareness and after care. These tenets of the organization’s mission are executed in the spirit of Isaiah 1:17, a Bible verse which speaks about doing good by rebuking oppressors and seeking justice for the fatherless and widows. At the early stage, the nonprofit was solely focused on sex trafficking. It expanded by giving priority to commercial sexual exploitation in order to address modern day slavery.
“Elijah started out as a prayer group of concerned people who gathered to pray about this issue and we decided to evolve into an official nonprofit. Prayer is essential to what we do. In every place we go to, especially the van tours, the atmosphere is highly spiritual,” David offered.
Samantha Hernandez, the director of interventions and strategies exudes the charm and charisma of a personality responsible for organizing rescue mission and leading after care programmes for survivors. With hair tinted in colour blue, Samantha happily shows off her tattoo, which she describes as a Rehab tattoo. Rehab in biblical times was a prostitute who was redeemed and later got mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. Samantha later led the visiting journalists on a Van Tour, touching high probability trafficking areas in Houston. The Van Tour which can sometimes take up to two hours has been described as a ‘rolling human trafficking 101 class with visuals’.
With interventions at specific days of the month, the organization trains church groups and leaders who go to various places where sex is sold. Elijah Rising also reach out to women who are exploited online by training volunteers who phone perceived victim of trafficking to offer them a way out. At other times, they go out on the street, distributing food and relief materials to commercial sex workers. In reaching out to the women on the street, the volunteers also try to slip a phone number which leads to another team known as Rescue Houston, a nonprofit which can arrange for escape and connect survivors to resources.
“Rescue Houston support women who are literarily stepping out from their traffickers who sometimes they are in love with. The team sit survivors through the trauma period by connecting them with resources and channels,” Samantha added.
Stance on Prostitution
Elijah rising takes a stand that prostitution whether legalized or not is a violation of human right. The stance is anchored on the fact that majority of clients serviced by the nonprofit who are in willing or trafficked prostitution face violence and abuse equally across the board.
Affirming this position, Samantha said; “Every woman I have met who has been through prostitution or sex trafficking entered through coercion because they need to survive–that is not a choice, it is a product of a lack of choice. That is our stance and we take a lot of hate for it. We have clients that have been high end escorts who have been raped and forcibly beaten. The lines are almost the same.”
The organization is also interested in policy as it is pushing for a legislation aimed at decriminalizing women who are being sold into sex slavery. Elijah Rising advocates for a higher penalty for traffickers or pimps.
“There is a need to create a bad environment for buyers and pimps. Right now, prostitution is illegal in the U.S and prostitutes are likely to be penalized, so the approach is before they will be arrested, let’s get 50 people speaking to them that they have another choice,” David chipped in, adding that the organization caters to Christian and non-Christians alike.
In a bid to shift culture towards not buying sex, Elijah Rising also reach out to men, using some reverse strategy where potential buyers could be educated. They also try to identify men who could be addicted to sex, helping them with resources on curbing addiction.
In providing after care to survivors, Elijah Rising says it never exert pressure on women. “We never stand between a woman and an exit. When we reach them on phone, if they hang up, we send them a text message to reach out if they need help,” the organization stated.
Some years ago, Elijah Rising acquired Kendleton farm, a small campus college with dorms and onsite house for staff which used to be a Christian college. The space fills the gap of the massive accommodation problem in Houston. The Kendleton farm which the organization said was purchased for an insanely low price is now under renovation. At the moment, it has five residential homes and massive admin building with dorm space. So far, 12 women and five kids have been housed in the facility.
Houston is a major player in human trafficking in the U.S. In a study by the Arizona State University, it was revealed that 21.4 percent of men within ages 18 to 65 had solicited sex online in Houston. The average age of entry into sexual exploitation in the city is 12 or 14. According to the United Nations, the global Human Trafficking industry is said to be worth over $50 billion.
Hannah Ojo recently returned from a tour of three states in the United States where she participated in the Department of State’s Foreign Press Centre’s Combating Trafficking in Person programme.
