A Difficult Topic

The other night we went to dinner with Katie, a woman who is a missionary in the nearby city of Barahona.  She has been in the DR for 10 years in various roles, but her most recent one is the creator and head of an organization that serves abused and trafficked women.  Her insight into this side of the DR was eye-opening.

Sex trafficking in the DR is some of the worst in the world.  Girls are trafficked both for tourists (it’s a huge business in the resort areas, and brings in more money than traditional tourism) and also for local men all over the country.  Even in Barahona, which is completely off any tourists’ radars, there’s an area of town hidden away behind a stretch of houses where it’s known that you can find sex for sale.

In addition to trafficking, abuse inside families is a huge problem.  The actual prevalence of abuse is probably no higher than anywhere else in the world.  However, there is no recourse for women or children who are being abused here.  There in no foster care system in the DR. The only orphanages are private, and there are not very many of them. There is absolutely no system in place to remove kids from dangerous situations, unless a family or community member steps in and offers to house them instead.  But this is rare.

Katie told us about a girl whose father had threatened to kill her with a machete.  (This same father regularly beats the mother and all the children, and has a child with his oldest daughter.) The aunt wanted to go to the authorities, but all they would do was write a letter telling the father to stop threatening his daughter.  Katie’s organization has an emergency shelter set up, so the girl was able to stay with her for a week, but eventually went back to her house.

All this makes me think about how, even though the foster care system in America could use a lot of improvement, at least it exists.  At least there’s a system in place to remove children from abusive situations.

There is also no system in the DR for orphans.  A few years ago a boy in Bombita lost his mother to AIDS.  He was HIV positive, 7 or 8 years old, and living on the street.  Volunteers with COPA fought to get him into a private orphanage run by nuns in the capital city, which is 4 hours away.  It took them an entire year.  Once there, the orphanage was a wonderful place for him.  But what would have happened to him if there hadn’t been people living in his village who advocated for him?

Katie started her organization to try to help some of the women trapped in violent relationships or who have been trafficked.  She works with 8 women who come to her workshop for the day, where they make jewelry using a local gemstone, larimar, that’s only found in the DR.  The jewelry is sold online and at shows.  The goal is to give the women a feeling of self-worth and personal power (many of them can’t read) and also job skills such as accounting and keeping track of their supplies.  

At the workshop, there’s also a shower, clothes closet and toiletries available, and Katie says the women use the shower each day.  There’s a nanny to take care of their children while they’re working, and a nurse to meet any healthcare needs.  They also receive reading and English tutoring.  There’s an emergency overnight shelter, if needed.  The women are paid a small check every 15 days, and Katie said she can tell that the husbands don’t take it from them because the women come in and show her things that they’ve bought with their checks.  Katie’s hope is to teach them that they are worth something and can make a living on their own, and she hopes that eventually they will move away from their abusive husbands and into one of the houses that another organization she works with has built.  At this point, the program with the women is less than 2 years old, and none of the women have left their husbands yet.  But Katie says she can already see improvement in the women’s confidence in themselves and their ability to earn a living.  She hopes to expand and eventually graduate these women and welcome new ladies into the program.

I know this is a very difficult topic for only my second blog post from the DR, but these women and children need prayer.  Also, more workers are needed to help set up ways to help people who are trapped by trafficking and abuse.  Pray that people (foreigners and Dominicans both) would come to serve the least of these.  One very specific prayer is that Katie’s organization (Batay Girls) is looking for a Program Director to come and live in the DR full time.  Pray that God would bring the right person here.