Skip Orth, Owner and Founder of Father and Son Pest and Lawn Solutions in Navarre, Florida, became interested in the problem of human trafficking after what he calls a “divinely inspired dream.”
Shortly after his dream, Skip watched a documentary on human trafficking which piqued his interest even further. After much research, Skip decided to write a book about the problem and is actively working to open a local safe home for women in our area rescued from prostitution trafficking.
Here is Skip describing the problem for us:
“Human trafficking is not just a Third World problem. It takes place in every state, every community and every ZIP Code [ yes, even in the Pensacola area].
Young women and girls as young as 12 years old are sold for sex every day all over the United States, mostly through the Internet, without the rest of society ever being aware of it.
The girls and women who work as prostitutes in the dark, unsavory underworld of the sex industry are rarely ever willing participants. They have been manipulated, threatened, lied to and coerced into selling their bodies by circumstances and predators who take advantage of their vulnerability.
Once they enter prostitution, statistically speaking these girls and young women will be dead in seven years if they do not escape.
It is extremely difficult for a trafficking victim to escape the sex industry once they are in it.
If they do escape, the prostitution experience leaves them indelibly scared with very deep emotional, physical and psychological trauma that requires intensive effort to heal from so that they can move forward to live a productive life.
Refuge for Women was started in 2009 to provide safe homes where victims of human trafficking can stay free of charge and receive counseling, PTSD therapy, substance-abuse therapy, life skills and training to heal from their human trafficking experience and move on to live a productive life.
Currently an effort is underway to open a Refuge for Women safe home on the Emerald Coast.
If you would like more information about this effort or on human trafficking in general, go to www.refugeforwomen.org or check out their Facebook page at http://m.me/refugeforwomenemeraldcoast
If you would like to order a copy of Skip’s book, “If I Could Talk to You About Human Trafficking, This is What I Would Say,” please call his office at 850-240-7935 and he will ship you a copy free of charge.
