#SpotlightOnCLT: Love146
Written by Grant Stimmel
Like animals in a zoo, but worse.
You wait for your number to be called.
17. 34. 92. One by one the other girls leave…
Then it is just you. Number 146.
Nameless, alone, you await your bidder. Then, finally, you are called. Escorted from the glass room, your dress hangs loose. You are 11-years-old, and only beginning the worst night of your life. Only this happened last night, too. And the night before that. Tomorrow, there will be more of the same.
You are a child sex slave. Not 1,000 years ago. Today.
You are who Love146 is trying to help.
Love146 was founded more than 17 years ago after an undercover trip to a child brothel in Southeast Asia. Co-founder Rob Morris witnessed in horrific detail the scene described above. Men ordering young girls from a literal menu, and forcing them to have sex 10, 15 times a day.
Such acts feature unimaginable evil, but they are very, very real. This is the daily reality for an estimated 4.5 million children around the world. From the Philippines to Philadelphia, children are being exploited and sold into a life of torment that we simply can’t imagine. But with your help, Love146 will continue to change all that.
While their work has touched every corner of the globe, Love146’s Charlotte office is dedicated to helping victims of modern day human trafficking begin to heal with a three-pronged approach. By offering preventative education, comprehensive survivor care, and professional training for caregivers, Love146 is making a lasting impact in the lives of these survivors.
But they can’t do it alone. They rely on volunteers, donations, and your help to aid these at-risk children fight for freedom.
These children have been given numbers, yes.
But Love146 gives them names, and now you can too.