Kate rang me at work with some good news. She asked me if I had seen the paper – an odd thing, considering she’s a teacher, and I work in PR. I had to admit I hadn’t (an even odder thing!) “The red light prayer is working,” she told me. “They’ve made the biggest bust in America!” I tried to press her for more details, but she had a class to teach. I went straight online after I hung up.
The FBI made the biggest bust in American history in sex trafficking, rescuing over 100 children. They were all girls, aged 13 to 17. I opened every linking article I could find to the story. Statistics showed girls were the most vulnerable group when it came to trafficking, especially runaways or those in foster care. The FBI said these girls were targeted because they had nowhere else to go – a third of children running away from home will typically be lured into prostitution within 48 hours. I put a hand to my mouth. I was beginning to pray to God to protect these children, but He already had. I switched to a prayer of thanks, but couldn’t get my mind off the news.
I kept reading one article I’d found – the people victimising these girls were usually affiliated with organised crime. Most disturbing was their use of big national sporting events – the kind I help promote – to “ply their wares”. It seems people attending these events are the most likely to use prostitutes. They have the highest amount of disposable income, and see the sex trade as part of the entertainment of these big events. I felt an icy shiver go down my spine – how many people had used our charity sports galas to hire a prostitute?
I sent an email to a reporter we do business with, asking him if he’d seen the news from America. I also asked him about the sports events connection – did he think that went on over here, too? His reply came ten minutes later: of course. He told me security was always on the lookout for call girls at the private functions, but that was lone girls looking for customers. If they came in as guests, there was nothing they could do.
I wondered how many of them were children. The reporter didn’t rule that out as a possibility, but he figured the prostitutes would have identification to make them adults, at any rate. If they’re all legally adults, does that make it any better? He asked. I shuddered, and went back to my research.
One of the articles I’d read described sex-trafficking as modern day slavery. A top officer in law enforcement had described it as a crime against basic humanity. If people felt so strongly, why was it still going on? What could we do, aside from prayer, to stop it?
The bust stayed in my mind all day. My colleagues had heard of it, but hadn’t made the connection to what we do with the sports events. Some were outraged, thinking that anything they did tied into the sex trade, but some were dismissive.
“What can we do?” one of the events managers asked. “We keep away the kerb-crawlers, but if a famous player has a high-class escort on his arm, we can’t stop him!”
“We do PR,” I reminded her. “We can at least get the message out that this is wrong, and we don’t condone it.”
“Like have a campaign against it,” Jimmy, a fellow account manager, backed me up. “Like that whole Responsible Sports theme we had two years ago. We were talking about drinking, but it could just as easily be about not using prostitutes!”
“Like that campaign actors are doing in Hollywood,” I said. “We could get some big name players to say how it’s wrong to hire prostitutes!”
“Let’s get some of those anti-trafficking charities in on this,” Jimmy suggested. “And the ones that fight for children’s rights. They’d be glad to help, and probably even know some athletes who would be only too glad to do this.” He went off to contact the charities, while I worked on the campaign, coming up with slogans, arranging appearances and photo calls. We’d have to bring in some companies as sponsors, as the charities only had so much to spend on advertising. Seeing as this was a hot topic, with the recent bust and all, food, and drink companies and retailers were only too glad to jump on the bandwagon.
I was in the middle of brainstorming catchphrases for slogans when Cara called. “Niamh told me to tell you your Red Light Prayer is working,” she said. I nearly dropped the phone. Niamh said to tell me? I pulled myself together.
“I told you prayer works,” I reminded Cara.
She was still sceptical. “Well, now we’re seeing proof of that. But I think 100 children is just a drop in the ocean.”
“It was over 100, and just think of those lives that have been saved,” I stressed. My jaw felt tight, and I concentrated on the things Kate said to her students to encourage them. “Every journey starts with a single step. When you feel like giving up, think of the goal you set, and why it’s worth it! In life-“
“Okay, okay!” Cara interrupted me. “I get it – every success, no matter how small, counts.” She sighed.
“How’s Niamh?” I asked.
Cara sounded confused. “She’s fine.”
I think we both knew how meaningful it was that she thought of the Red Light Prayer and me. It wasn’t often I got to be a good example (meaning, it wasn’t often that I was effective!) “I’m glad she remembered me,” I said finally. “Tell her thanks.”
Cara snorted. “It’s not like she’s going to go to bible studies with you or anything!”
That jibe rankled, but I didn’t respond to it. I said goodbye to my sister and hung up. In my mind, an image was forming. An international football player’s face was smiling up from a photo. Prostitution is not my game was the caption beneath him.