You may have noticed that my blogs have been quite focused on human trafficking recently. I'm not going to apologise for this. It is something I feel passionately about and desperately want to see eradicated. But rather than writing another fact-filled blog of protest, this week I decided to write a poem from the point of view of a trafficked woman.
Perhaps poetry isn't your thing, and I realise I can only imagining what it must be like to experience such horrific circumstances. But maybe it will help you do the same. Feel free to let me know your thoughts.
Traffik stoppers
He came and gave my father money;
promised a land of milk and honey
He guaranteed a better life;
I’d learn a trade, I’d be a wife.
This had always been my dream;
this cat had always chased the cream
I’d see the world, I’d fall in love;
this man was sent from God above!
But far away from friendly faces
I serviced men of many races
This is how I earned my bread;
my life suspended by a thread.
I’d never felt such utter shame;
they cut my hair, they changed my name
Kept under the hand, not just the thumb;
my heart so uncomfortably numb.
Every night I turned that trick;
They made me sore, they made me sick.
I didn’t dream, I couldn’t sleep;
My hope was gone, I dared not weep.
I longed for sunshine on my skin
but day and night I was kept in
Mastered by a tiny key
I prayed that God would rescue me.
Some vowed they’d take me out of there
but once fulfilled they didn’t care
My jailor locked me up with fear;
his words a curse, his smile a leer.
One day I managed to escape
but I was found and tamed with rape
To my throat he held a knife
until I begged him for my life.
If ever again I ran away
he said my family would pay
He covered my face in black and red;
no dignity left, no single shred.
Three times I found myself with child
after I had been defiled
But even they from me were taken;
my babies stolen, lost, forsaken.
Why did I ever leave my land
for a language I didn’t understand?
Why had I sold my soul for this;
the stolen sex, the stifling kiss?
And then the men in blue they came;
I opened my legs for more of the same
They locked me in a metal cage;
I knew they’d make me earn my wage.
Instead they sat and questioned me;
they brought me endless cups of tea
Trapped behind another door;
with words I’d never heard before.
But then a stranger brought me light;
she fought for me with all her might
She risked it all to rescue me;
to cut me loose, to set me free
She told me I was no one’s slave;
for me a man his life he gave
To give me hope, a destiny;
this man named Jesus paid my fee.
It sounded an unlikely tale;
I had no faith in any male
But she spoke from a melted heart
and offered me a brand new start.
She helped me overcome my fears;
she gently wiped away my tears
Free to laugh, to sing, to dance;
I gladly seized that second chance.
But I am not the only one
to live a life without the sun
To suffer ever new disgrace;
ensnared within a cruel embrace
It won’t take one, or two, or three
if we’re to set the captives free
If we’re to make the traffic stall
to block it off: for once, for ALL.
If you want to know more about human trafficking, visit A21 Campaign's website. It offers plenty of information and ways to get involved.
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