Reaching Out

Anya is a 22-year-old white Russian girl offering all kinds of “erotic services” in Moscow, whose ad could be found on an international escorting website. During the World Cup, sex buyers (aka “Johns”) scoured the internet looking for women they could purchase nearby. Many came across Anya’s ad and sent her a text. Here are two actual text exchanges between Anya and prospective sex buyers. Chat #1 Chat #2 But...

The forests in and around Moscow have become “outdoor brothels” where sex buyers flock to each night. With prostitution being illegal in Russia, these locations provide a veil of separation from the more visible city environment. As we shared in a previous post, men will often drive up in their cars to a parked van in a remote forest location. This van will be filled with women, many of whom...

For the past several weeks our Director of Outreach and Intervention, Helen Taylor, has been leading a team in Moscow as they reach out to trafficked and exploited women across the city during the 2018 World Cup. Since the LuBlue: Love Russia campaign began, Helen and her team have worked with local churches to launch 24/7 prayer, train Russians in reaching the exploited, and lead outreach to women being sold...

A middle-aged Russian man drives along the outskirts of Moscow on a snowy night, the stench of vodka still on his breath. He spots a woman standing on the side of the road and immediately turns down that dark road. Driving past her he continues driving deep into the cold forest where the ambient light grows dim. His car pulls to a stop near a van with many faces peering...

The documentary film I Am Jane Doe depicts the great battle that several American mothers are waging on behalf of their middle-school daughters, victims of sex trafficking on Backpage.com. Here are some facts about this compelling and timely film. 1. It’s about sex trafficking in the US While our own documentary Nefarious: Merchant of Souls investigated the sex trade world-wide, I Am Jane Doe—directed by Mary Mazzio and recently released...

“Yesterday is not today.” Those words circled through me as we drove towards Houston. I knew I was meant to be in this car moving towards the Justice Rally outreach. What I did not know was what I was walking into and how I would be changed. As a survivor of sex trafficking I live with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) every day. All survivors do. PTSD, basically, is when...

“The question we must ask ourselves is this: if the men who buy them for sex can find them, why can’t we?” –Blaire Fraim Millions upon millions of women and children are sexually exploited for profit around the world each year. The International Labor Organization conservatively estimates that 4.5 million people are caught in sex trafficking worldwide. Reports show there are 40 to 42 million prostituted persons in the world—three...

Before the New England Patriots’ historic comeback against the Atlanta Falcons shocked the country, another historic event shook the dark corners of the city of Houston. Around 300 abolitionists gathered for the 4-day Justice Rally conference and outreach—hosted by our friends Elijah Rising, in partnership with Exodus Cry—and we pray Houston will never be the same. With unplanned poetic timing, we realized the rally marked ten years to the day...

This is a historic week for the movement to end trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation! On Jan. 9, Backpage.com, a website notorious for its facilitation of prostitution and sex trafficking finally shut down the “adult” sexual services advertising section of its website. The website, which Polaris Project calls “the world’s top online brothel,” removed the prostitution ads section only hours after a scathing U.S. Senate report concluded that the website...

South Africa. New Orleans. London. Brazil. These are places we've been that remind us of new stories being written. These were destinations for past major sporting events where, just beyond the reach of the lights and the cameras, sexual exploitation was taking place. But more importantly, these are places where lives would be forever changed. For the past few years, Exodus Cry has had the honor of mobilizing outreach teams...