In July, 122 children were rescued and joined our community care program. Almost half of the children rescued were 14 years old or younger. These rescues all occurred in one of our rescue nations in South Asia.

Coming from situations of extreme poverty and vulnerability, children as young as eight years old were being sexually abused in exchange for food or income to survive. These young lives no longer suffer continual abuse. Instead, their new reality is defined by freedom and hope.

First steps
Rescue agents canvas communities in the region to find and rescue children from sexual exploitation. In addition to finding girls in survival situations, agents occasionally discover and offer our services to child rape survivors and children at high risk because a household member is involved in the sex industry.

In the months leading up to July, agents had covered an extensive amount of ground and identified many children being sexually exploited. Next, the children’s situations were documented, verified and reviewed. This process is crucial to ensuring the integrity of each rescue and preparing suitable freedom plans for each survivor.

Official rescues
After the verification and review process, agents reconnect with children and their families and enroll each child in our reintegration programs. Since rescued survivors in this region typically remain in the care of their guardians and participate in our community care program, we wait until a child has attended our week-long trauma rehabilitation program before officially counting or announcing their rescue.

All 122 survivors rescued in July have attended our Empower program and are now working on the next phase of their freedom plans. We are so excited to see each child grow and pursue her destiny along her path to freedom.

Caring for hundreds of children after rescue requires resources and funds. Your donations make this vital work possible and provide life-changing programs to survivors and their families.