Can I be honest?

This is my 3rd year of the Little Black Dress Project! What?!!??

So… if I’m completely honest, when my friend first started doing her little black dress project a few years ago, I was like, “Hmmm…. that’s weird.” I didn’t understand the purpose very much and I didn’t understand anything about human trafficking. So she would post stuff and I learned a few things about human trafficking and how local it was and just how prevalent it was in the Northern Virginia area where I used to live.

BUT…though I knew it was a valid cause, I also was thinking, “That’s great…that she is talking about this and all, but there are so many other problems in the world. Is this really happening that much? I don’t think so… and if it is, I don’t really want to think about that sort of thing.” Yes, that is a horrible line of thinking, but just keepin’ it real.

Am I going to do this every year? I have no idea. All I know is that it took me 3 years of my friend at Average Advocate doing her Little Black Dress Project for me to get it… to really get it and start listening for real. And what did I do in response to finally getting it? I donated $5. That was all I had at the time and all I did, and that’s perfectly alright. So I’m doing this Little Black Dress Project 2016 in case there are people out there like me who just take a while to hear the information and let it sink in. The first step to fixing a problem is being aware and admitting that there is one.

Quick facts about sex trafficking:

• The average age of victims entering “the life” is 12-14 years of age
• The life expectancy for a sex trafficking victim is 7 years.
• There are fewer than 600 beds across the U.S. for rescued victims of sex trafficking.
• At least 100,000 children are used in prostitution each year in the U.S.
• Only 2 percent of victims of human trafficking are ever rescued.

Want to know more? There are several sites with more information. Polarisproject.org is a great place to start. Want to support our Little Black Dress Project and Present Age Ministries? Click here.