During some of the plenary sessions at the 2009 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women, preachers are bringing the message from the Bible — fiery, humorous, challenging, heartfelt. And at other times, speakers talk about things they think Presbyterians ought to know.
Here’s some of what they have shared.
Women at seminaries. The offering from this Gathering will be used to create scholarships for women, particularly those of color, who will be attending seminaries related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
In part, that’s because of Presbyterian Women’s long-time commitment to meeting the needs of women around the world “whose lives have been devastated by circumstances beyond their control,” said Louise Davidson, Presbyterian Women’s vice moderator for justice and peace. And as Presbyterian Women looked at discrimination against women in other countries, it also turned attention to its own house, and found that too often women of color “were not at the table when decisions were made,” Davidson said.
So the organization has made deliberate, intentional efforts to become more diverse, including in its leadership roles. At its business meeting July12, for example, representatives voted to add a new immigrant representative to the organization’s Churchwide Coordinating Team.
“Institutionalized discrimination is racism,” Davidson said. And such discrimination “is alive and well in this country. Racism is definitely still with us.”
In response to that, Presbyterian Women plans to establish scholarships for women pursuing theological education at PC(USA)-related seminaries, with an emphasis on grants for women of color. “Women of color are the least-represented group on our (seminary) campuses,” Davidson said.
Of the 2,300 students now enrolled at PC(USA)-related seminaries, 184 are women of color, she said. Five of the 75 students in doctoral programs are people of color, and Davidson said she was not able to determine how many, if any, of those are women.
In addition, 82 of the 277 faculty members at PC(USA)-related seminaries are women, Davidson said. Just 20 are women of color, and seven of those teach at Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary and the related Interdenominational Theological Seminary, traditionally-black institutions based in Atlanta. The other nine PC(USA)-related seminaries have only 13 women of color on their faculties, Davidson said, and two have none at all.
Sex trafficking. Carol Smolenski, executive director and a founder of ECPAT-USA (Ending Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking) gave a quick tutorial on the economic conditions that feed human sex trafficking; on international child sex tourism; and on child sex trafficking in the United States.
“Three depressing subjects,” she said, but also issues on which people aware of the problems can organize to take action.
Estimates are, Smolenski said, that 2.45 million people are trafficked across international borders each year, half of whom are under age 18. Some may be trafficked for forced labor or sexual exploitation, sometimes with no pay at all, “literally a modern form of slavery,” she said. Some may be drugged or physically confined for transport; some are sold by family members; some don’t realize until they get to their destination that they are being deprived of their freedom. Among the forces feeding this kind of trafficking, she said, are poverty, the demand for cheap labor, and the desires of the sex trade.
Since the early 1980s, globalization has brought tremendous change in the economic climate — with companies investing where operations are cheapest and easiest, and other places losing jobs as a result, Smolenski said. Often people cannot migrate easily to where the jobs are. Internationally, 1.2 billion people live on just $1.25 a day. There are countries where people without enough food or medical care, short on hope – “will grasp at any chance” at a job, even if it means sending their daughters off to work in strange places for people they do not know, she said.
When such a girl ends up far away from home, often “it’s easy for her to get caught up in human trafficking,” Smolenski said. “Her passport is taken away, she is threatened or frequently beaten,” forced into the sex trade or to work in a factory for almost no money. The trafficker, the person who took her away, may threaten to harm her family if she does not comply.
Some “sex tourists,” including Americans, travel abroad intentionally to take advantage of the sex trade, usually going from wealthier countries to poorer ones. Organized tours go to Thailand, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and elsewhere, and UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children across the world are being sexually exploited. Internet sex tour companies don’t specifically advertise offering sex with children, but travelers “know that when they get to a destination, anything goes,” Smolenski said.
Not all of the men who take advantage of these tours are specifically looking to have sex with children, but they also don’t care if the girls are underage, she said. Some will say, “I’m actually helping these children because they are so poor and I’m giving them money” or they’re not doing anything illegal in that country. Some don’t care, as long as the girls are attractive and they get the sex they want.
In the United States, it’s estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are at risk for sexual exploitation, Smolenski said. Under federal law, any child under 18 who is involved in a commercial sex act is considered to be a victim of sex trafficking. But often the system still treats them “as bad children” if they’re caught, she said, instead of offering them support to get out of the sex trade.
Smolenski said her organization has tried to find out, “How do American teenagers end up in the hands of pimps, and why do they stay there?”
That investigation has found that many of the children involved were sexually abused before they entered the sex trade, typically by someone close to them, often by members of their own family. “Unaddressed sex abuse contributes to girls’ feelings of self-loathing and low self esteem,” Smolenski said, and “pimps search the streets looking for vulnerable girls. One pimp said that some girls have been raped so often “they feel they might as well get money for it.”
So what can Presbyterians do to help?
– The first step, Smolenski said, is “be willing to talk about it.” She asked each of those in attendance to speak with at least 10 others about what they had learned.
-Buy fair trade products that allow greater opportunities to make a living for families in economically-deprived areas.
-Mentor a child. Many girls who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation don’t have role models or adults with whom they can talk. Presbyterians can do a lot, she said, by “giving your time as a volunteer” to work with children and teenagers.
-Patronize hotels and travel companies that have signed a code of conduct through which hotels and others in the travel and tourism industry promise to train their staffs to recognize sex trafficking involving children, to raise awareness about it, and to take other steps to try to protect children.
