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Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Cold feet, warm heart
News
Conifer resident wearing sandals for a year to show commitment to ending child sex trade He said different rescue methods are employed. Some groups pay to get the girls out of the brothels, while others take them forcefully.
By Barbara Ford
W
Staff Writer
alk a mile in Jeff Brodsky’s shoes, and chances are your feet could be very, very cold. A Conifer resident, Brodsky is halfway through a year-long commitment to wear sandals no matter what the weather. Wearing sandals year-round may seem a whimsical statement to make, but for Brodsky, it’s a serious symbol of his commitment to rescuing child sex slaves. “As long as I live and breathe, this is what I’ll be doing,” said Brodsky, the founder of Joy International, an organization dedicated to helping rescue girls who are victims of sex-slave trafficking. Amid the pine-studded hills of Conifer, the reality of child sex slavery seems a world away, but Brodsky estimates he flew 100,000 miles in 2010 to help free children from brothels. More than 100,000 global organizations help homeless children, but only a handful of people are dedicated to rescuing child sex slaves, according to Brodsky. “It’s dangerous, it’s dirty, and people don’t want to see it,” he said. “It’s the most heinous crime in the whole world.” Last year, his group rescued about 20 girls. He said the rescue of children from brothels is a covert and dangerous operation, but that won’t stop him from righting what he considers a great wrong. Brodsky said he’s seen girls as young as 4 in brothels and, as a grandfather of a 4-year-old, the situation stabs at his heart. “Nothing will stop me if it means there’s another opportunity to get another child out,” he said. Last month, he made a trip to Cambodia, and what he saw horrified him. “It was the worst I’ve experienced,” Brodsky said. Brodsky said 2 million children a year are forced into the sex trade in a $32 billion industry that’s second to drugs in its proliferation. He said pimps can earn $50,000 to $80,000 a year from just one child. Every minute, two girls are
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A foothold on winter
Photos by Matthew Jonas | The Times
Jeff Brodsky of Conifer shows video of locations where he has rescued girls who were forced into the illegal sex slave trade. kidnapped or sold into sex slavery, he said. Brodsky isn’t sure how much he has spent to rescue the girls. “When you hear the stories of what they go through on a daily basis, you’d do anything to get them out of there,” he said. Brodsky, a big bear of a man, begins to tear up as he explains how the children are marketed. He said a child can sometimes be sold to 10 men a day. Starved, beaten and raped, the children suffer horribly, he said, and all for someone else’s greed. Brodsky remembers when he first saw a news report on trafficking in children by Chris Hansen of “Dateline NBC.” Brodsky wondered how the problem could exist without his knowing about it. “I’m a research fanatic,” Brodsky said of his efforts to find out how widespread the problem was. His research led him to some disturbing realizations. He said some parents sell their children into slavery, partly because they are seeking drug money, but others do it because they are duped into believing the child will have a
better life with an education, a good job and a future. Part of Brodsky’s mission is to educate parents and families about what really happens to the children.
A lifetime helping kids
Brodsky has spent a lifetime helping children, whether as Snuggles the Clown or as a tireless advocate of homeless and abandoned kids throughout the world. Since 1979, he has helped provide homes, basic needs, education and a brighter future for forgotten children. In 1983, he wanted to build a children’s home in India, and to raise funds, he pedaled from Disneyland to the United Nations building in New York dressed as a clown. He raised $20,000 from that ride to build that first children’s home. Through the home, the children are taught how to become self-sufficient through gardening, animal husbandry and farming. Brodsky has also sponsored an annual five-day, 101-mile walk through Death Valley to raise funds and assist families who want to adopt kids.
hope. Another image is of a shy, slight 6-year-old girl with a genuine smile. Today, the girls in the pictures are being educated as seamstresses, jewelry-makers and in other occupations. Brodsky said there is a four-step process for re-integrating the girls back into society. Rescue, restoration, reintegration and prevention are the steps that Joy International takes to bring a child from the life of a slave to a life of productive happiness. So far, there are a handful of homes for the girls, and Brodsky wants more safe havens. He said the girls are frightened when they’re first rescued, afraid they’re going to be sold again or subjected to even worse conditions. With the help of previously rescued girls, the new girls learn they are safe.
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Brodsky’s life mission takes him a long way from his home in Conifer.
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Real danger
This year, Brodsky is meeting with an international group that works to free child sex slaves. To protect the group’s covert work, Brodsky doesn’t want its name used. Brodsky’s missions to Far East countries are veiled in intrigue and fraught with danger. The brothels are loosely disguised as massage parlors and karaoke bars, and are dangerous places, and Brodsky always is with other rescuers when he enters a brothel. Brodsky points to pictures of a group of girls recently rescued, and they are lined up wearing bright colors, their faces shining with
Brodsky’s sandal idea came to him about a year ago in a country on the other side of the world. He was standing near a trash bin with a group of kids, none of whom was wearing a pair of shoes. That day was July 20, 2010. He asked himself what it would be like to go 30 days without shoes and then decided to stretch it to a year. At first, he thought it could be a good fund-raiser but quickly changed his mind. “As much as I could use the funds, it would take away from what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s my show of solidarity with these children and a way to relate to something they experience, but in a different way.” He said his commitment isn’t about their feet; it’s more about their suffering. “They can’t put a Band-Aid on their pain,” he said. “It just brought to my mind the pain they go through, not with their feet, but with the abuse they suffer with their body every day.” Back in Conifer on Saturday, Brodsky said he was worried about frostbite on a day that offered below-zero temperatures. He said he’s been teased about his black Teva sandals, but even as his rough feet take on a slightly blue tinge, he takes it all in stride. He’s rejected the idea of wearing socks because he considers that a compromise. Even after his year-long commitment ends, he’ll continue to fight to save girls from brothels, but on July 21, he’ll ditch his first and only pair of sandals. For more information on Joy International or to make a donation, visit www.joy.org.
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