The Defender Project

(note from Tony: there are some issues that hit near and dear to the hearts of dads.  I hope this is one of them)

guest post by Tom Perez

In less time than it takes a thief to steal a car, our daughters steal our hearts. From the moment we hold them in the delivery room, we’re hooked; the innocence of their eyes, the sound of their voice, the feel of their soft skin pressed against our coarse cheeks.

The only thing that takes less time than falling in love with our daughters is how quickly we begin to worry about them. We worry that they’ll be healthy. We worry about providing a good home for them. We worry when we leave them alone in the crib the first night. We worry when they start to crawl, we worry when they start to walk.  We worry when they begin school. We panic when they start to drive, and we shudder in horror when the first boy comes to take them on a date.

We’re dads, worrying is what we do.

But while most dads worry about everyday things, some dads carry a heavier burden. Every year in America, at least 100,000 dads watch their daughters disappear into the horror of human trafficking. In cities all across the country, girls as young as 11 are lured from their homes…from their dads, with the promise of adventure, money and freedom. What they get is torture, rape and slavery. These are little girls, just like ours. They live in nice neighborhoods and bad ones. They go to good schools and not-so-good schools. They have good friends, and not-so-good friends. Some have a little, some have a lot, but they all have dads.

Chances are you know where your daughter is at this moment, and while you still worry, at least you know she’s safe. But what if you were one of those 100,000 other dads? What if you didn’t know where your daughter was? Worse yet, what if you knew? What if you knew that she was in another city, (or another state) held against her will by a man who sold her to other men night after night? And what if you knew that your daughter, your baby girl, believed the lie that her pimp loved her more than you did?

Men are notorious for not getting along with other men. We come from all different walks of life; different politics, different religions, different races, we’re Cubs, Sox, Bears, Packers, Yankees, Red Sox…republicans, democrats, liberals, conservatives. But no real dad would wish this kind of horror on his worst enemy, and no real dad should pretend that the risk isn’t real. Every real dad needs to know that there are things we can do to end this tragedy now…in our generation. The simple fact of the matter is that men buy and sell our little girls. It is men who steal the innocence of our daughters and shatter our lives for 3 minutes of selfish gratification. Men create the demand. Men supply the demand. Now is the time for better men to end the demand!

Father’s Day is just around the corner. This year let’s forget about getting a card, or a barbecue, more chrome for our motorcycle or a new fishing rod. This year let’s not worry about presents. This year let’s take on a mission. This year, in celebration of Father’s Day, let’s do what dads were made to do; defend. Let’s defend our daughters. Let’s leverage our political will to ensure that the men who buy and sell our children are fully prosecuted; and lets make sure the punishment fits the crime. Let’s leverage our compassion (and what’s greater than a father’s compassion?) so that the daughters trapped in this nightmare can be quickly rescued and restored. And lets leverage our moral courage and take a stand against the commercial sex industry and their attempts to glamorize prostitution and traumatize our daughters.

Men started this problem. Let’s be the better men who stop it.

Tom Perez: I am the National Project Coordinator for The Defenders USA, a project of Shared Hope International. A former college football player at the University of Montana, I've spent much of the past 27 years in local church ministry and non-profits and 15 years experience coaching youth sports; primarily focused on female athletes. I've been married 27 years, and have three daughters, ages 24, 21 and 18 which should explain why this issue hits close to home. When I crossed paths with Linda Smith and Shared Hope last year, I was blown away by the realities of this situation and as a dad, I had to do something. So I began hounding Linda until she agreed to allowed me to join the fight on the Shared Hope team