CHISINAU, Moldova (ABP) — Moldovan Baptist leaders recently joined forces with Baptist women from the United States to confront a subject that is still taboo among some Christians there: the sex trade in poor parts of Eastern Europe.
Alabama-based Global Women helped fund and lead what the group's coordinator called “the first Christian-backed training conference on [sex] trafficking” in Moldova's capital, Chisinau, Nov. 16-17.
Cindy Dawson, coordinator of Global Women, said the conference was a success and opened many Moldovans' eyes to the horrors of sex trafficking.
The post-communism economic travails of the tiny nation — wedged between Ukraine and Romania — has caused a large portion of its population to seek work elsewhere. The former Soviet republic has Europe's lowest per-capita gross domestic product, at only about $2,500 per person this year.
This situation “has led about one-fourth of the people to go outside the country to find jobs,” Dawson said. “The majority of those are young females, and thousands disappear, being abducted and forced to work in sex-slavery markets of the world.”
However, Christian leaders have been reluctant to discuss the issue openly.
“The U.S. State Department's spotlight on this problem brought pressure on the Moldova government to acknowledge the disappearance of females into the commercial sex industry. But the crisis remains a closeted topic for the average person, especially Christians,” Dawson said. She noted that many evangelical Christians in the region are suspicious of getting the church involved in “social ministry.”
Global Women has had a relationship with Moldovan Baptist women's leaders since 2002. Olga Mocan, the head of Baptist women's ministries for Moldovan Baptists, began in 2003-2004 to hold regional meetings to raise awareness of the sex-trafficking industry. Along the way, Mocan began recruiting survivors of the sex trade to share their stories, Dawson said.
Out of that, Global Women and Mocan formed a network of Christian leaders and groups in Moldova that wanted to combat sex trafficking. “They have been meeting quarterly for prayer and mutual encouragement, and they have begun to involve humanitarian and governmental agencies,” Dawson said.
Yulia Ubeivolc, a professor at the Baptist College of Theology and Education in Chisinau, became Global Women's coordinator for the network. The conference — attended by about 120 people and publicized on Moldovan television — was an outgrowth of that network.
Dawson said the conference was mainly attended by Moldovans but also included speakers from neighboring Ukraine, where Baptists have been promoting an anti-trafficking ministry for several years. Representatives from other nations fighting the sex trade — the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic — also spoke.
Dawson said attendees and presenters also included people from secular and Christian groups in Moldova as well as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Romania. The conference also brought together an ecumenical group of Christian leaders, including the head of the Moldovan Baptist Union and leaders from the Moldovan Orthodox Church.
“The evaluation comments from those attending were unanimous — they were so thankful that this conference took place, Dawson said. She added that “all remarked how their eyes were opened not only to the problems of trafficking in their own country, but also to the hope that they could do something to make a difference.”
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