God is at work among rescued girls

India (MNN) ― With 55,000 children reported missing in India, they may have "vanished without a trace," but their fate is likely a grim one.
There are about 2.5 million kids trapped in India's commercial sex trade, and of Mumbai's 250,000 commercial sex workers, over a third are children under the age of 12. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 12-years-old is the average age of entry for kids in the sex trade.
"It's a huge problem worldwide, and it's the helpless of the helpless that are usually trapped up in these systems," says Jeff Palmer with Baptist Global Response.
Typically, there are three main levels of national involvement in human trafficking:

• Sending/origin - countries where children are sent from
• Transit - countries where children are moved through and temporarily kept on the journey to their final destination
  
• Receiving/destination - final stop for trafficked children

Some countries, like India, fall into all three categories. Children from origin nations like Bangladesh and Nepal are taken into India and through India to the receiving regions of Pakistan and the Middle East. Although exact figures aren't known, it's estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into India for sexual exploitation every year.
A large portion of trafficking in underage girls for the sex trade happens inside India's borders. The 2005 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Action Research Study found that a majority of victims came from low-ranking castes like the Dalits, or "Untouchables." The NHRC also estimates that nearly half of the kids trafficked within India are between the ages of 11 and 14.
Is there any hope in this story? Yes, and you can help restore a child pulled out of the sex trade.
BGR works with a shelter in India for rescued girls aged 8 to 18. The Courage Home is a transition home designed to help girls start on the path of healing and growth.
"We're looking at caring for them emotionally, physically, and spiritually," says Palmer, "and a part of that is sharing the hope that is in Christ."

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