Ladies and Gentlemen!
In the beginning, Deveraj placed the girls that he had rescued into Jubilee Homes, and there are now four Jubilee Homes caring for rescued daughters of prostitutes including those with HIV. There is even a shelter within the Kamathipura district itself. The extensive work of our partner also operates a small “village” known as Ashagram, which means village of hope. But the extremely lucrative nature of the sex slave trade in India means that they can never hope to rescue more than a fraction of slaves from a lifetime of horror into a new life living in the mercy and grace of God.
Child from shelter home in Kamathipura praying during a Jubilee Campaign visit
Bombay Teen Challenge has declared that enslavement of women and girls cannot continue, and they have used the attention garnered by their 20th anniversary to launch a new campaign, Stop Sexual Slavery. It is simple and to the point and absolutely necessary to save the countless thousands for whom suffering daily brutality is their lives.
The fundamental wrongness of the brutal suffering many girls and young women endure reaches out and grips us all, and that is the desperate importance of this campaign, and why we at Jubilee Campaign are fully behind this campaign launched by Bombay Teen Challenge.
We encourage you all to go to their new site SupportSSS.com. We encourage you to donate or buy the beautiful worked leather goods, that these valiant survivors have made. Similar leather goods as well as some beautiful jewelry also made by these women can be purchased at our site Jubileecampaign.com.
But above all we urge you to pray for India, for their lawmakers and politicians who tolerate this practice, for those like Deveraj who are rescuing the weak, and for the sex slaves themselves who most desperately need the love and power of our God. In an effort to quash outside attention during the 20 year anniversary celebrations, India declined to issue a visit visa to U.S. Congressman Todd Akin, a personal supporter of the Jubilee Homes and Devaraj since he visited them in 2005. Their press release on the subject is below.
in HIS grace,
Ann Buwalda
Executive Director
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 Photo shows K.K. Deveraj and Congressman Todd Akin
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| For Immediate Release | Contact: Bethany Haley or Ben Carnes at 202-225-4576 |
Franks and Akin Commemorate 20th Anniversary of Bombay Teen Challenge
November 8, 2010 – Congressman Trent Franks (AZ-02) and Todd Akin (MO-02) today issued the following statement in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC), a human rights organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating vulnerable children in danger of being abused, exploited, or enslaved in sex trafficking; abandoned, orphaned, or HIV-positive children; and women trapped in prostitution or addicted to drugs and alcohol. The Congressmen were joined by Reps. Joe Pitts (PA-16), Chris Smith (NJ-04), and Frank Wolf (VA-10) in sending the attached letter congratulating BTC on its 20 years of invaluable service.
“After visiting Bombay Teen Challenge myself and witnessing their amazing program firsthand, I have been deeply touched to meet several of the innumerable precious souls whose lives have been transformed and made whole again by the work of this remarkable organization.” Franks stated. “K.K. Devaraj’s commitment to rescue, love, and rehabilitate those whom the world might otherwise ignore or forget has made an eternal difference in the lives of countless children who were given healing and a deep, unwavering hope that was previously absent in their lives. Bombay Teen Challenge should serve as an inspiration to all of us and a model to those who might doubt how great a difference a single life can make, when it is lived in service to others.”
Akin stated, “Bombay Teen Challenge is one of the most outstanding ministries that has ever come to our attention. They are people who have by their good work shown tremendous love and concern. They have shown tremendous courage in defending the rights of children and women to be free from those who would exploit them. Bombay Teen Challenge is a very bright spot in this region of India and deserves the full support of the true friends of freedom.”
Estimates place the number of children in India who suffer from commercial sexual abuse between 300,000 and 500,000. Approximately 20,000, or 20%, of women in prostitution in Mumbai are under the age of 18. The Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) states that approximately 200 girls and women in India enter prostitution every day, with about 80% doing so against their will, and with girls between the ages of 10-12 receiving the highest price. In Mumbai, India, it is estimated that 90% of the 100,000 women in prostitution are indentured slaves. At the current rate of growth, it is estimated that one out of every five Indian girls will be a victim of sexual slavery by the year 2025.
Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC) was established in 1990 in Mumbai, (Bombay) India by K.K. Devaraj to reach the poorest of the poor who roamed the streets of Bombay. It has evolved into an organization that rescues sex slaves in the brothels of Mumbai, caring for the victims and their children, and provides a safe house for the children of sex slaves, juveniles roaming the streets, addicts and runaways. The BTC is furthermore committed to holistically meeting the needs of victims by satisfying their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs: the organization establishes medical clinics within the red light district, distributes food to the hungry on the streets of Mumbai, and provides day schools to the street children and homes outside of Mumbai for the men, women, and children who are rescued.
Congressman Franks is serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is a member of the Committee on Armed Services, Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee, Military Readiness Subcommittee, Committee on the Judiciary, Constitution Subcommittee, and is Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.