“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou. Sourced from the REST website.

May, the month of Mother’s Day. We all have or had a Mother. Some more loving and supportive than others. Some role models and some we have tried to model the opposite of what was shown to us. Many of us fall somewhere between the two. Most mothers-to-be start off wanting very much to do their very best for the child they bear. Then challenges and obstacles and sleepless nights and all kinds of life’s trials come along. So hats off to Mothers, we are doing the best we can!

Not Your Usual Mother

Although indoor and outdoor sex work is for the most part illegal in this country, it still exists. Called prostitute/sex worker/street worker/escort, the women who trade something of value for sex have one thing in common. They sell their bodies. And it is common for these “working” women to have children. There are many reasons why women become sex workers. This article is not an attempt to judge but to bring awareness, and always to offer hope and a healthy future (see below, REST). Audrey Baedke, with REST, responded to our inquiry, offering the following information: most of the women “in the trade” have children. The children are all ages. The number of women who work the trade only during the day varies widely. When the mothers are working at night, the children stay with extended family, other friends, or at home by themselves. Most of the women are single moms, with only a few being married, and even fewer of those married to a non-pimp while working in the trade. Many of the moms grew up in a faith household and many consider themselves as having a faith, Christian or otherwise. Many of these women have had their children taken away from them by the courts or the other parent. Ms. Baedke also states that it is common for the children who grew up with moms in the trade to go into the trade themselves both because it is normalized and because they experience high levels of vulnerability and traffickers prey on vulnerabilities. There are groups that work with the children of moms in the trade. REST makes referrals to agencies such as King County Sexual Assault Resource Center and Harborview Trauma Center on behalf of these children.

Real Escape from the Sex Trade (REST) exists to expand pathways to freedom, safety, and hope, in order to end sex trafficking. Founded in November 2009, REST is driven by the belief that everyone is worthy of love and worthy of a life without exploitation. REST offers holistic, survivor-centered services, seeking to walk alongside survivors of sex trafficking no matter where they are in their healing journey.

A Christian organization, REST provides respectful services to individuals of all faiths. Together with their partners, including the City of Seattle and several organizations, they work to prevent human trafficking and collaborate to provide a full continuum of care, fill gaps in services and provide advocacy for mutual clients. Through this, they aim to offer support for survivors to identify and accomplish goals to transition from entry to stabilization to independence. Ninety percent (90%) of survivors have experienced homelessness and REST provides emergency shelter, transitional housing and help with permanent housing services. For more information, see: https://iwantrest.com/ or (425) 395-4691. Also: National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888; Human Trafficking Hotline Website: https:///wwwhumantraffickinghotline.org

In the News

One final thought – we here at Christian Coalition for Safe Families want to acknowledge that the news of the recent passing of O.J. Simpson might have reactivated some difficult feelings in those of us that were in abusive relationships or are the friends and family members who were. Maybe you are the one that felt like justice was never served on the abuser who yelled, screamed, slapped, kicked, punched, choked, stabbed or shot at you. Maybe you are the one who the tables were turned on and the Protection Order was taken out against you as you fought back. Maybe you (or your loved one) is the one who was brought back in memories to the court room fighting for child custody, back to the meetings with your lawyer standing up against lies, back to the mediation proceedings seeing the abuser charm their way to awards that stunned you. We see you, and we stand with you and continue to pray for your full recovery from the past and look forward to the fulfillment of the great future that you have chosen for yourself! Good Job! CCSF Team

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

As we mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, learn about this lesser-known aspect of history—sexual violence toward victims of the Holocaust. May we never forget what happens when hatred and racism reign. Facebook: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, posted 3/29/24

Scripture Promise

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you … Isaiah 66:13

(Your mother may not have comforted you when you needed it, but the Lord surely will.)