NON-FICTION
all worthy of
LOVE
BY Lindsey Fischer
13 | NON-FICTION
All Worthy of Love (AWOL) is an antihuman trafficking non-profit organization
that reaches out to those enslaved by prostitution through local weekly outreach. Our
main focus of outreach is to build consistent relationships united by trust. Our hope
is to extend love and offer individuals a safe
exit from the sex industry. We partner with
other local organizations to offer restorative care and protection.
During outreach we encounter a lot
of johns (catch-all name for men who purchase commercial sex), pimps, drug dealers, and traffickers. We believe that those
in prostitution are in bondage to one thing
and the john, pimp, drug dealer, and trafficker are in bondage to another. When I
first started doing outreach it was easy to
judge the johns and flash them looks full
of hate and damnation. It was easy to overlook the pimp and to blame them. It was
easy to feel angry and it was easy to justify
that anger. They are the easy ones to blame,
hate, and overlook.
While conducting outreach, I began to
realize that ending slavery was not going to
be accomplished if we only addressed part
of the problem. Sex trafficking is an industry that survives because of supply and demand. If we cut down on the demand, we
will minimize the need for the supply. The
enormity of human trafficking is so massive
that it needs to be tackled from all sides. It
is not just the trafficked that need support,
but the individuals trafficking them as well.
Now, our team prays for the pimps,
smiles at the johns, and passes out a meal
and a hygiene kit to the drug dealers. As a
result, we’ve had the opportunity to get to
know these individuals and build friendships with them. We’ve started to dream
about how different the neighborhood
would be if the pimps and drug dealers
changed.
On a typical night we make a few stops
at houses that local drug dealers, pimps,
and gang members call home. When we
pull up to a home we quickly beep our horn
and within seconds multiple people come
outside to greet us. Sometimes there are
two or three people and other times there
are a dozen. During this time our friends
share with us their personal struggles,
needs, and how their week has been. Together we all hold hands and pray. We seek
to encourage and build friendships.
Over the years we have visited the same
homes every week and because of this consistency we have been able to form deep
friendships. Three years ago we met a man
who has lived in the neighborhood we conduct outreach in his whole life. He pimped
women and sold drugs. One night he tearfully looked me in the eyes and said “I don’t
want to do this – this is what my grand-daddy did, this is what my dad did, this is all I’ve
ever known”. He told us that he’d always felt
that selling drugs and pimping women was
what he was destined to do. This man told
us he didn’t need our meals or hygiene kits,
he wanted us to keep coming over because
he needed hope and encouragement. We
continued to stop by his home every Monday, meeting new friends each week. Over
the years we’ve offered him friendship and
love without judgment or condemnation.
Today, he works three jobs and no longer has women in and out of his home. He
has made the decision to change and has
come to understand that women are not
objects, or investments. Even if just this one
man changes, it is one less person perpetuating modern day slavery in our neighborhood. By reaching out to the individuals
that are so often overlooked, we’ve begun
to see a change on the streets. People know
what is wrong with them, they need to
know what is right with them. Sometimes
all it takes is one person telling you that you
are worthy of love.
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