CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT
"Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?” Mahatma Gandhi asked. The apostle of non-violence would have been appalled by the extreme violence endured by sex slaves.
Our anti-human trafficking charity is named after a 4-year old girl who was sold into prostitution by her own mother for just £50. She was discovered in a Delhi brothel, hidden in a water tank; so much misery was condensed in such a small girl that our imagination fails to grasp it. Girls like her exist in lonely islands of extreme poverty and violence that exist in the midst of great wealth and prosperity. Their constitutional rights to justice, liberty and equality are denied to them.
One sex slave can bring in a profit of about $30,000 annually to the brothel, and costs just $2000 to maintain. Globally, human trafficking is valued at $32 billion annually and is fast growing. There are an estimated 2 million children in brothels in India alone, burning in the heat of violence, injustice and slavery.
No community, no country and no religion are safe. For example, Indian girls are sex slaves in the Middle East, East European girls have been rescued from Indian brothels, Philippine girls could end up in the flesh trade in Britain. The buying and selling of human beings is a trade without boundaries, without heart or conscience. By its very nature, it is the source of great tragedies. The girls get diseases, are beaten by customers and tortured with blades, cigarettes and chillies. Tricks are used to hide their wounds and make them up for sale again.
LILY supports grassroots NGOs in London and in India who work to prevent trafficking of children in the first place. But if the worst has happened, they lead dangerous rescues into brothels that quickly turn violent. The long process of healing traumatised girls requires years of patient medical care, psychological counselling, education, skills training and employment.
The destiny of these girls is tied up with our destiny. Their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. They too are part of our world. In a world driven by violence and strife, Gandhi’s message of peace and non-violence is the key to human survival in the 21st century. He said: “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
Lady Mohini Kent Noon
Chairperson LILY Against Human Trafficking
Read our 2017 Annual Report