Rescue Ministry on Front Lines 'Hopeful' after Passage of Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill
On Tuesday, May 19, the U.S. House voted 420-3 to pass the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act – a bill which cleared the U.S. Senate by a remarkable 99-0 vote on April 22. To be enacted as law, the anti-trafficking bill now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Sam and Sherry Pollinzi understand these societal problems at a personal level. Leading a Celebrate Recovery class at a Dallas-area megachurch for years, they came to know story after story of women abused and families broken by issues prevalent even in America's "Bible Belt": sexual slavery and trafficking.
In 2012, the Pollinzis ventured into downtown Dallas to launch a safe house for women trapped in this destructive cycle. Through Restored Hope Ministries, they teach practical life skills and counsel women every day – Sam speaking from his years in prison, and Sherry having dealt with abuse and alcoholism.
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Dozens of women have graduated from their program, going on to productive careers and to start families.
Following up from their recent in-depth interview, they respond to the new bill currently moving in Washington… and urge the faith community to become invested in what they know to be vital, difficult and rewarding work.
Bound4LIFE: While many groups (including yours) are still analyzing specifics of this anti-trafficking bill, what is your initial response to the bipartisan votes in Congress?
Sam Pollinzi: We are glad to see Washington lawmakers prioritize the issue of human trafficking, which we have seen wreak havoc on so many lives right here in North Texas. The Dallas area has a strong prostitution diversion initiative, and we are hopeful this legislation will only increase efforts like this.
As churches and local communities rise up alongside government efforts to take a role in caring for these hurting people – mostly women and children– we can see hope restored in our cities.
Bound4LIFE: In discussing the Dallas initiative, why is a coordinated effort needed between law enforcement and local non-profit groups?
Sherry Pollinzi: Everybody is starting to see this issue is bigger than they expected. It's always been the women who go to prison; they're the ones who get caught. They don't go after the pimp, because the pimp is not around. The woman gets arrested, put in jail, prosecuted for prostitution – then the pimp just finds another one.
Now, here in the Dallas area, the Prostitution Diversion Initiative is attempting to reverse this situation: recognizing that the woman is the victim, and the pimp is the one we need to go after.
We are working in tandem with law enforcement to see pimps prosecuted to the extent of the law, often giving women this opportunity to commit to our program and bypass jail time. We say, "If someone's crime put you in this place, let's see justice."
When they turn it down, a lot of times fear motivates that: He'll catch up with me once I get out, she thinks. The pimp has brainwashed the girl to make her think he is her ticket to survival, to have food and a roof over her head.
"If you don't have me, you'll be on the street – homeless and poor," he says. The minute she thinks she has everything, then he takes control and takes all that away.
Bound4LIFE: How does the life of a newborn baby play into this dynamic?
Sherry Pollinzi: Usually the child becomes a weapon for the pimp to have greater control of the woman. "If you don't do this, then you're not going to see your child," he says. He threatens violence against the baby, who often ends up being something the pimp uses to get what he wants.
Sam Pollinzi: The pimp sometimes tries to bond the woman to him by having a child. Yet clearly there are a lot of abortions going on in the sex-trafficking trade industry – we've counseled women who have had two, three, or even four abortions.
Bound4LIFE: How does Restored Hope Ministries help women in these situations?
Sherry Pollinzi: If they come here and they're pregnant, we cannot currently allow women with children here at this safe house. We will one day, we believe with faith, have an apartment complex where we can host moms with their children.
What we do is help them find a place where the baby will be born, and a program that can help her see the truth that You are good enough to raise a child.
A lot of times women have abortions because either she's afraid to bring the baby into the world – because they don't know how – or they're afraid that their pimp (or whomever the father is) will abuse the baby. Or, she does not see any way of raising a child because of the profession she's in.
We speak to that woman and say, "Look, there are people out there who will help you. It wasn't a mistake that God brought this child into your life. It's never a mistake."
If they come here, we do everything to help them realize – even if they get to that place of saying, "I just can't do it," then we connect them with a group like Mercy Ministries in Nashville who specialize in finding a mom and dad for that baby.
Sam Pollinzi: Our mission in those situations is to keep the child together with his or her mother, though it is not always possible. Nearly 70 percent of calls we receive involve exploited women with children, rather than single women. Right now, we have to refer them elsewhere.
As Sherry mentioned, we are still waiting to complete the vision of Restored Hope Ministries here in Dallas with an apartment complex. Then we can invite those women in with their kids, allowing them to grow together and heal.
Bound4LIFE: What are some ways that people can get involved with Restored Hope Ministries and others like it throughout the nation?
Sam Pollinzi: Day to day, any ministry needs financial resources – to pay for food, water, electricity, gas, all those things. That's a key way to be involved. You can't do this work without money; no use trying to hide that. We have a food pantry here, and churches often do food drives for us.
Church members have come to mentor on Monday nights, or teach Bible studies. They may come in and work the clothes room. They'll take the girls who have no one to come for visits, and bless them with a shopping day. There are many things churches can do.
We don't care if you're Baptist or Presbyterian or Catholic or Assemblies of God, it's about the Body of Christ doing what God calls you to do. We try to go to a different church every Sunday, so that they can get their own worship experience and not ours.
To have all these young women sitting on the first or second row, it runs the snobby people off.
Sometimes the pastor won't even know who we are, and he'll say, "That row right there – I want you here every Sunday!" Because these women are just worshipping and praising, raising an Amen!
In this outreach that is so needed, we invite the Body of Christ to be the Body of Christ.
Restored Hope Ministries, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is funded primarily by donations.
Reprinted with permission of Bound4LIFE International.
