Exploitation comes in many forms

One of the vulnerable young ladies supported by Julie’s Heart Cry just completed her undergraduate degree and is the first person in her family to complete college. I am genuinely thankful to JHC’s supporters for their faithful donations, which enabled us to provide this young lady’s college tuition.

A week ago, I received a text from this young woman. In her message, she was confiding about why she had to make a painful decision not to accept her new job, which she desperately needed. After completing her interviews, she received what she thought was good news. She was given the job and told to report for work the following day.

‘We can be good friends’

The next morning, her immediate supervisor called her into his office and told her that “the reason you were given this opportunity is that you are beautiful, and we can be good friends.” Her boss went on to say that “to keep this job, you will need to provide sexual favors anytime I want.”

“I was really shocked,” she said, “and I decided to leave. I couldn’t talk to anyone about this in my family. I’m really depressed, and I wanted someone to talk to, to let everything out; maybe I will feel at ease. I thought of you.”

Walking away from her first job was not an easy decision because this young lady counted on her income to help her struggling family. Although there are laws strictly prohibiting sexual harassment, this is the reality for many young and vulnerable girls. Our ministry is currently working with this young lady to help her decide the best course of action.

Like millions of others in developing countries, this young woman is under tremendous pressure from her parents to get married or find a job – no matter the cost – so sharing this experience with her mom and dad was unthinkable.

Parents don’t pressure their daughters to marry out of love, concern for their well-being, or because they look forward to having grandchildren. Their ultimate concern is financial compensation through dowry. Dowries often place young women in dangerous circumstances when their parents force them to live to unimaginable abuse. Dowries have also been the cause of many deaths at the hands of evil men.

Blatant abuse

This dowry issue is also why arranged marriages are the norm. For example, my childhood best friend was forced by her parents, at the age of 16, to marry a 45-year-old man; out of honor, tradition, and respect for her parents, she submitted to their authority.

The blatant abuse and exploitation of these young women take several different forms. Predators, many of them married men, prey on these girls’ vulnerability and desperation.

I have talked before about how education is the ticket out of poverty for females in developing countries. It provides the financial stability and social standing needed to have a better life for themselves and their nuclear family.

Sadly, a high percentage of hardworking female students feel they have no other option but to give themselves to a teacher or a professor; otherwise, they will receive a failing grade for their hard-earned efforts.

So, if these young ladies understand the importance of their education, why are they succumbing to the sexual temptations and pressures by their teachers or professors?

These predators purposely go after the brightest and most dedicated students since they have the most to lose. Think about this for a moment. Suppose one young lady is an average student with a substandard grade and another one puts in the effort, hard work, and grit to get good grades. She understands that her parents or grandparents sold and sacrificed everything for her to attend this academic institution, and her responsibility is to make the grades. Both girls take the same exam, and one scores a C and the other a B+ or higher. These educators will exploit the student with the highest grade and present her with the options of giving herself or receiving a failing grade.

Other students feel hopeless, knowing at some point they will be faced with an option to give their bodies in exchange for sponsorships/scholarships offered by local businessmen and women who are nothing but sexual predators.

Self-sustainability is the answer

These stories and more have caused me to add self-sustainability to our sanctity of life efforts. I believe these initiatives, coupled with the Gospel, will give hope and God-honoring options to these precious ones as we rescue one young lady at a time from the jaws of these sexual predators and pressures from their family members.

We can’t change the culture, but through the program of self-sustainability and the sanctity of life, we will continue to support, train individuals, and equip Christian academic institutions to be self-sustainable.

Last but not least, I am going to be forthright in asking for your financial support for our self-sustainability initiatives. Will you please consider donating any amount, large or small, to be used for teaching a trade to child mothers, pastors’ wives, adult literacy programs, the sanctity of life, and purity classes?

We believe in teaching people how to fish for themselves instead of providing a constant stream of cash.

Please click the button below, select Self-Sustainability, and donate $12, $35, $50 or more. You can also sign up to become a monthly donor.

Thank you for hearing the stories of these girls with your heart, praying and being willing to give sacrificially.