House of Truth fights sex trafficking

What William Wilberforce did to abolish the slave trade, the House of Sojourner Truth is trying to do to end sex trafficking. This year, it’s one photo at a time.

As part of their annual City Engagement Project, women of the House of Truth sponsored a photography exhibit last month at The King's College, showcasing the work of a team of photographers that traveled the world with Youth with a Mission and Photogenx. The exhibit, titled “Sex + Money: A Global Search for Human Worth,” featured compelling photographs of the victims of sex trafficking. In addition, Photogenx showed a short film clip and explained its mission of preventing the abduction, sale, and harboring of persons for exploitation.

Krissa Webb, a senior from Orlando, FL, coordinated the exhibit. “We’re trying to learn what’s happening and what’s being done,” she said. “We’re trying to learn what the problem is so we know how to approach it.”

The House of Truth, one of nine student-led organizations in the King’s House system, has engaged the issue of sex trafficking for three years. “Fighting sex trafficking is a way to live out Sojourner Truth’s model as an abolitionist in this, which is a modern day slavery,” Webb said.

Consistent with its mission, The House of Truth also volunteers at Restore, a local shelter for battered women who have left the sex trade. Restore provides food, shelter, health care, job training and legal services to these women.

Rachel Deal, a sophomore from Williamsport, PA, said that the House is passionate about raising awareness of the global sex trade because awareness will lead to the abolition of the trade. As Christian women, Deal said, “We have enough respect for our sex to get involved. So many women are not aware of the problem until they’re slapped in the face with it. We don’t realize that the sex trade is all around us.”

The House hopes to continue raising awareness of the issue by screening a documentary film about brothels and the sex trade in New York City later this year.

The House System at The King’s College allows students to develop relationships, cultivate their spiritual lives, enrich their intellectual lives, and hone their leadership skills. Every year, each House executes a City Engagement project which aims to put feet to the concepts studied in the classroom (e.g. liberty and bondage; truth and falsehood; poverty and prosperity) by engaging the city through targeted projects. More than just service, the projects require a long-term strategy intended to influence New York City and a business plan for the idea’s implementation. Every student is placed in a House upon enrolling at the college.

Other City Engagement projects this year include the coordination of seminars for biblical financial planning and stewardship, volunteering at organizations that aid immigrants in adjusting to American life, and working with battered women in the city.

The King’s College is located in the Empire State Building in New York City.

For more information about The King's College please contact: Kathy Leedy
Media Relations
212-659-7200