The illegal logging trade, believed to be worth up to $100 billion worldwide, poses one of the greatest threats to the safety and freedom of the communities indigenous to the Amazon. Reports suggest that this year, the illicit industry will make victims of tens of thousands of people living in poverty in remote regions of rainforest, people like Josefina.
Josefina is a mother of eight from a remote village in South East Peru. Like the majority of the victims we work with, she grew up without a formal education. In her village, it is the role of mothers to care for the children and community while the men work, often far away from home for long periods of time.
Josefina’s husband was an alcoholic. When he did not return home one night, she knew that something was terribly wrong. The next day he was found dead, drowned in a nearby river, leaving her the sole supporter of her family.
Still grieving and desperate to feed her children, Josefina knew she had little choice but to leave the safety of her village in order to find work. A friend told her that a nearby logging camp paid good money to women who could cook for the male laborers. This was her chance. Nervous but hopefully for an opportunity to earn, she left her teenage daughter Lydia at home with her children and set off for the camp.
The truth about the job she had been offered was revealed when she arrived at the camp. Women working there were not only expected to cook but were being forcibly prostituted to the male workers. Josefina was raped and repeatedly sexually abused. She was forced to work long hours and received almost nothing of her promised wages.
Having once hoped that the job would be the key to keeping her family together, she was now being held captive, with no means of getting back home to her children. She was too frightened to leave her exploiters, and there were no law officials to help her.
Fortunately, Not For Sale found out about Josefina’s situation and facilitated a process of intervention through leaders from her community to restore her to safety with her family. After some time in recovery, Josefina decided to move her family to a small city where her children could study under one of Not For Sale’s educational programs. They are among the first from their village to go to high school.
Along with many other people in vulnerable situations, Josefina just wanted the best for her family. She is now able to see this dream come to fruition with the help of Not For Sale. This, however, is still not the case for the thousands enslaved worldwide.
This Mother’s Day, stand with us to break the cycle of exploitation for mother’s searching for ways to support their families. Become a Not For Sale partner today, and join us in working to ensure that mothers around the world are Not For Sale.
