Engedi Celebrates Great Women
In honor of Women's History Month, Engedi is celebrating some incredible women who have made history and ones we feel are making history as we speak! Enjoy the blurbs and snippets of each of the incredible women below.
Cheers to celebrating women today and every day.
“Rosa Parks (1913—2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. Her actions inspired the leaders of the local Black community to organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Led by a young Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the boycott lasted more than a year—during which Parks not coincidentally lost her job—and ended only when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional. Over the next half-century, Parks became a nationally recognized symbol of dignity and strength in the struggle to end entrenched racial segregation.” (from: www.History.com)
Courage, in the face of injustice, is what it takes to initiate change. Great women throughout history have challenged oppression and cruelty with incredible courage and faith that inspires us all, and has changed our world. Engedi Refuge is led by women who are giving everything to save American women who are oppressed and abused in the commercial sex industry of our Country. Their courage and faith is changing our culture, and providing hope that was almost non-existent just a few years ago.
“Christine Caine is an Australian born, Greek blooded, lover of Jesus, activist, author and international speaker. She and her husband, Nick, founded the global anti-human trafficking organization, The A21 Campaign. They also founded Propel Women, an organization designed to activate women to fulfill their God-given passion, purpose, and potential. Christine is the author of several books including her most recent updated and expanded release: Undaunted: Daring to Do What God Calls You to Do.”
(from: christinecaine.com/content/about/gk1h4w)
Taking on the Global enterprise of trafficking Human beings is a daunting task. Women like Christine Caine are not afraid of that challenge. Her life is wrapped up in the message of her initiative called Propel Women: ‘Propel believes in the passion, purpose, and potential of every woman everywhere. Propel exists to activate every woman to make an impact in her world for the Kingdom.’ This is a direct challenge to the abuse, enslavement and disempowerment of the Global commercial sex trade.
She inspires all of us at Engedi Refuge to keep fighting, and to keep working for the restoration of every woman we serve.
“Coretta Scott met her husband, Martin Luther King Jr., while the two were both students in Boston, Massachusetts. She worked side by side with King as he became a leader of the civil rights movement, establishing her own distinguished career as an activist. Following her husband's assassination in 1968, Coretta founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and later successfully lobbied for his birthday to recognized as a federal holiday. “
(from: www.biography.com/activist/coretta-scott-king)
To change a nation is not easy; someone must carry the message to the masses, and wield incredible influence on the government. Coretta Scott King was just such a woman. Today, many courageous women are challenging gender-based violence against women in the commercial sex trade, and even taking the case to government agencies and legislators. This is tremendously hard and tedious work in the public sector, and aimed at changing a nation by personal conviction, not violent intimidation.
Engedi Refuge is part of this movement in a very significant way.
“Melissa Farley is an American clinical psychologist, researcher and feminist, anti-pornography and anti-prostitution activist. She is the founder and director of the San Francisco-based organization, Prostitution Research and Education. Farley, a clinical psychologist for over 45 years, has consulted with agencies, governments, medical centers, advocates for women in prostitution and trafficked women. Farley has 49 publications in the field of violence against women, most of which address prostitution, pornography and sex trafficking. Her research has been used by governments in South Africa, Canada, France, New Zealand, Ghana, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States to craft policy on prostitution and human trafficking.”
(from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Farley)
Knowledge is power, and Melissa Farley has a lot of power when it comes to influencing policy makers, because she has dedicated her life to understanding and explaining the realities of sexual abuse and commodification in modern societies around the World. We owe her a great debt of gratitude for her research and influence.
Engedi’s staff, volunteers and policies are greatly influenced by Melissa Farley’s work. Through us, she is helping prostituted women find safety, healing and new life.
“Rebecca Bender is a thought leader, advocate, and consultant who equips individuals and organizations to identify and fight human trafficking in their own back yards. She was appointed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regularly testifies as an expert witness in court, and has trained over 100,000 professionals, including FBI, Homeland Security, regional law enforcement and medical personnel. She works closely with the Oregon Department of Justice and is a leading voice in the fight against trafficking nationally.”
(from: www.rebeccabender.org)
The most powerful arguments against human trafficking comes from the very survivors of it. Rebecca is just such a woman; passionate, fearless and committed. She is taking on sex trafficking in America, and helping other survivors overcome their personal setbacks and become advocates and spokes-persons in our society against this great injustice.
Engedi Refuge partners with Rebecca Bender, and provides the very therapeutic, residential program that she recommends to women escaping prostitution and sex trafficking.