I’ve often wondered with regards to human trafficking, “How do you measure the effectiveness of prevention?”  It seems as if there is no metric to know if efforts on the front end have prevented the feared atrocity from occurring in the first place.

On a prevention outreach near the Myanmar border a few months ago, I witnessed first-hand encouraging evidence of the ZOE Prevention Team’s effectiveness at stopping a horror before it begun.  In front of an audience nearing a thousand refugee children, The Prevention Team performed a powerful drama. Absent any dialogue, the play showcased how children are often lured into human trafficking and the many subsequent forms of exploitation.

The story began with three happy siblings enjoying their family when tragedy befell their father, now no longer able to care for his children.  On stage arrived a well-dressed couple, clearly appearing at a higher socio-economic level than both the pretend children on stage, as well as the actual children in the crowd.  The audience vocally cheered at the arrival of these well-to-do folks on stage who appeared as reputable heroes to the tragedy-stricken siblings.  The siblings left with the well-dressed duo, in hopes of a future filled with opportunity.

Unbeknownst to the siblings, the couple were paid for introducing the crestfallen kids to an elegant woman in a beautiful, bright-red dress.  With make-up, high heels, bundles of cash, and poise, she entered the stage to roaring applause and cheers from the audience.  Her presence, demeanor, and attire conveyed power, wealth, and sophistication; attributes seemingly unattainable to the children in the crowd.  As the story unfolded, the woman in the red dress was revealed to be not the hero the audience expected, but rather a beautifully dressed monster in disguise.  She sold one of the sisters into sexual slavery.  The brother was forced into hard labor.  The other sister had her eye’s removed for black-market organ sales, was beaten, and forced to beg for money on the street.

It was an emotionally powerful story.  While it is a fictional depiction of the real-life terrors experienced in human trafficking, none of it was exaggerated.  As powerful as the drama was for me, the most memorable part was the shift in reaction from the audience.  The children in the crowd were incredibly poor.  Their lives have been devastated by war, poverty, brokenness, and difficulty.  Tragically, pain and hardship are much of all they know.  Seeing the classy, well dressed, and sophisticated actors on stage garnered an immediate reaction of ovation and approval.  But as the story unfolded, the true character and motivations of those face-value heroes was unveiled and the audience’s adulations diminished.  Their former applause turned to silence.  Their cheers switched to gasps.  Children looked away and others covered their mouths in astonishment.  The apparent heroes were the actual villains.  I was able to watch these children recognize there was more than meets the eye.  

The truth remains, it is incredibly difficult to objectively measure the effectiveness of prevention.  But if what I witnessed was any indication, those school children are now far more aware of the real-life predators actively looking for them, seeking to cause harm and destruction, desiring to take advantage of their innocence. 

The rest of the outreach was filled with fun training, resources and techniques to help keep those kids safe.  As the adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.  

Helping these kids navigate life with the cards they’ve been dealt is worth all our efforts and attention, while simultaneously praying they’re never in a position requiring rescue.