Winter 2023 Report
Young girls like Damini in rural villages
around the world are vulnerable targets
of human traffickers.
“I kept a smile on my face, but inside I was crying,” shared 15-year-old Damini* of India, who recently enrolled in a Junior She Is Safe Group
for teenage girls.
Each week, as the group met, some of the girls began to open up about their problems. Many were experiencing physical or sexual abuse. Some were worried about being sold into marriage. Several were terrified at the disappearance of some of their friends and the rumors they were sold into sex slavery.
Damini listened but was cautious, wary of contributing to the conversation. Over time, she began to realize it might be a safe place.
Vulnerable girls find safety —
thanks to YOU!
One day while the other girls were all praying for one another, Damini burst into tears.
“I could no longer hold in my sadness,” she said. “I shared with the group that I had no peace at home. How every single day I got beatings and abusive
words from my family. But I was afraid to seek help. I was fearful for my future and didn’t know where to turn.”
Immediately, Damini’s fellow group members gathered around her and prayed for her.
The following week when Damini came to the meeting, she had a glowing smile on her face.
She told the group, “I don’t know how, but this week I did not get even a single beating or abusive word from my family! I think God listened to our prayers. Thanks be to God and this group for this change in my life!”
God works through your giving to change everything for Damini
This first answered prayer was just the beginning for Damini.
“How abundant are the good things that You have stored up for those who fear You, that You bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in You.”
(Psalm 31:19).
Answered prayers and blessing for Damini . . .
Today, through your generous support of this Junior She Is Safe Group, Damini is receiving an education, learning vocational skills so she can contribute income to her family, and being empowered to protect herself from human traffickers.
Best of all, she continues to learn of the power of prayer and God’s great love for her.
Please pray for girls like Damini who are vulnerable to traffickers. God is using your generous giving to provide them with a safe future.
Message from Our Founder
When God calls, we respond in obedience.
For 2023, we believe the Lord is calling us to 1) expand our ministry in the red light districts of India and Nepal and 2) launch She Is Safe groups with one of the most despised and rejected people groups in the Middle East.
The women and girls of this outcast people group face unimaginable horrors as a result of warfare in their area. They are . . .
- among the most vulnerable females to trafficking in the Middle East/North Africa region.
- at extreme risk of repeated abuse and early or forced marriages due to poverty, severely deficient living conditions and community norms.
- tortured, killed and taken as sex slaves.
Many have children from these horrific acts.
With your help, we can provide the weekly opportunity for these women and girls to learn their true value and to develop essential vocational and business skills to build lives of freedom and faith.
Your support for this work is critical for lifting these girls and women to dignity and purpose.
Thank you for making
all the difference,
Michele M. Rickett
Founder & CEO
New Life for Nadia — thanks to YOU!
Nineteen-year-old Nadia* has been a refugee in the Middle East for the past six years. She was married at age 14 and has three children.
Prior to attending She Is Safe’s sewing school, she had to work in the fields, leaving her young children in the tent alone.
When she worked in the fields from 6am to 9pm, she would only make $7 each day. To make matters worse, she was routinely raped and beaten.
The life-changing support YOU make possible . . .
Today, thanks to the vocational training you make possible through She Is Safe, Nadia is now a seamstress, making clothes to sell and for her children. She is no longer away from her children all day and receives the support she needs to protect herself and her family. You helped make this possible for Nadia and her family!
*She Is Safe uses representative names and photos to protect the dignity and security of those we serve.
Trafficking isn’t just a “far away” problem
Though most human trafficking victims are in the developing world, it happens in the U.S., as well. And is often “hidden in plain sight.”
Recognizing trafficking signs is the first step in identifying victims. No single indicator is proof that human trafficking is occurring. The indicators listed below are a few examples that may alert you to a potential human trafficking situation:
WORK CONDITIONS
Does the potential victim . . .
Experience verbal or physical abuse? Work in unsafe conditions? Put in excessively long and/or unusual hours? Appear to be living at his or her place of work?
BEHAVIOR
Does the potential victim . . .
Act fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense or nervous? Avoid eye contact? Defer to another person to speak for him or her?
PHYSICAL STATE
Does the potential victim . . .
Show signs of physical and/or sexual abuse or confinement? Lack food, water, sleep, medical care and other life necessities like ID, a passport, money or a cell phone?
Contact She Is Safe to book a speaker who will share ways to combat human trafficking.
Report suspected human trafficking to the Homeland Security Investigations Tip Line at 1-866-347-2423 or https://ice.gov/tips.
She Is Safe works across Africa, the Middle East and Asia in communities that sell their daughters into sexual slavery. Your partnership with She Is Safe holistically transforms these lives — for about $1 a day.
Since 2002, She Is Safe has worked to address the root causes of modern slavery and employ best practices with local partners, providing:
- Prevention — equipping women and girls who are at extreme risk of slavery to be free and self- sustaining. Women and girls gain awareness of how traffickers lure and entrap victims. They gain literacy and business skills, generate income and learn God’s view of their worth.
- Rescue — working with local teams in places where girls are likely to be trafficked: slums, red light districts, source villages, conflict zones and refugee camps. We befriend girls and help them go from being used as a commodity to becoming victors on a new path.
- Restoration — bringing girls to a restoration home sponsored by She Is Safe where they experience love and physical healing, spiritual nurture, counseling and job training to build new lives.
Each month, as little as $35 provides these services along with a shift toward God’s view of each of these image-bearers.
