These Nuns Go Undercover As Prostitutes To Save Sex Trafficking Victims
A group of nuns dresses like prostitutes to infiltrate brothels and save victims of sex trafficking and slavery.
Founded in 2004, Talitha Kum currently consists of about 1,100 nuns and works undercover in at least 80 countries including Africa, the Philippines, Brazil and India.
Talitha Kum, Aramaic for "arise child," rescues prostitutes, as well as children who are sold into slavery, FOX News reports.
The nuns often walk the streets and dress like prostitutes to get into the brothels.
The money the organization raises is used to buy child slaves, many of whom are sold into slavery by their parents.
John Studzinski, an investment banker and chairman of Talitha Kum, told the Trust Women Conference on women's rights and trafficking hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation the nuns believe they are completely on their own in their mission.
He said,
They do not trust governments, they do not trust corporations, and they don't trust the local police. In some cases they cannot trust male clergy. They work in brothels. No one knows they are there.
Studzinski spoke of one sex slave who was denied food for a week and forced to eat her own excrement because she could not satisfy her assigned quota of 12 clients.
Another woman was reportedly forced to have sex with 10 men during a single session.
Studzinski went on to say,
I'm not trying to be sensational, but I'm trying to underscore the fact this is a world that has lost innocence... where dark forces are active.
According to Daily Mail, the nuns earn as little as 2 cents an hour to expose mistreatment and were hired by several companies to detect wrongdoings within the slavery supply chains.
Talitha Kum estimates approximately 73 million people to be victims of some sort of trafficking, half of whom are reportedly 16 or younger.
The group is currently in the process of expanding its presence to 140 countries, Studzinski said.
Citations: Nuns pose as prostitutes to rescue victims of human sex trafficking (FOX News), The undercover nuns posing as prostitutes in brothels around the world to rescue sex slaves held prisoner by human traffickers (Daily Mail)
