Tag Archives: NightLight Bangkok
Trafficked Once, Trafficked Again, and Again
“Leena,” an Uzbek, was first trafficked when she was 16. A neighbor sold her, and a few others, for $100 each to an agent. They were then smuggled across the border of Uzbekistan into Kyrgyzstan. After waiting for a few months in Kyrgyzstan, they were sent to Dubai. The opportunity to work in Dubai sounded […]
The Chain that Links Africa to China to Thailand is Breaking
We were far away from Africa, but as we followed “Penny” through the alleys and back streets of Guangzhou China, African voices, fabrics, and smells transported us to the African continent. We made our way through the markets selling everything from electrical supplies, wholesale clothes, African foods, African movies in various languages, and African hair […]
A Prostitute’s Humanity on The Bargaining Table
“She’s not a human being! She sells her body!” The fruit vendor on the street spoke with disgust and her words left me shocked. I felt anger rise up in me. She was justifying her attack of a young Uzbek woman earlier that evening. We were winding up our outreach where young Eastern European […]
Hope for Natasha
I thought she was a child. Beng and I were walking to the hospital to visit a friend, when I saw a blond, white girl sitting under a sign. As I got closer, I realized she was a grown woman and probably Russian. I guessed she was a streetwalker, but her hair was disheveled and […]
Losing A Child
Losing a child is a mother’s greatest fear. Women will do almost anything to protect their children, and trafficked women are no different. A mother’s love for her children is probably one of her greatest vulnerabilities to being trafficked. Mothers risk taking a job in another country in hope of giving these children a better […]
Ask Her Name
“I need talk you!” The tiny woman called to me from the beer bar as I was passing by. Lek stepped out from the noisy bar and pulled me to the side. “NJ is dead.” What? I was stunned. “She kill,” Lek drew her finger across her neck to illustrate. Confused, I asked her for […]
A Beautiful Rescue
A SWAT team waits in full gear at every corner surrounding the brothel. An undercover agent is inside wired for surveillance. At just the right time the SWAT team rushes the scene, there are a few gunshots, and the agent is saved from death and becomes a hero. A bad guy is killed and girls […]
Explosion of Joy in the Red Light Area
“This bar is weird!” exclaimed a Japanese sex tourist. He had been walking through the red light area when the activity inside our outreach center caught his attention. A room full of people joyfully singing and dancing didn’t fit the usual bar scene and he couldn’t quite figure us out. In partnership with Iris Ministries, […]
Annie Dieselberg 