If one day you woke up and found yourself sold by your relatives, what would you feel? Isn’t human dignity priceless? How can other people put a price tag on a person and sell him/her as a commodity, subject to the owner’s exploitation?
Martha (obscured) spent her early years with her mother who worked as a sex worker in the red-light district of Mumbai, India. ‘At the age of 16, my mother met a man when she was in Nepal. He said he could refer her to work at better places in the cities, and she ended up being sold to work at the red-light district in Mumbai.’ With the help of a generous woman from her hometown, Martha was spared from having to suffer the same fate as her mother’s.
Whether it’s our overseas partners serving trafficked individuals in Asia or our frontline workers engaging with sex workers in Hong Kong, they unanimously tell us: ‘Any one of us could potentially become a victim of human trafficking; it’s only our circumstances that differ.’
Many victims of trafficking, like Martha’s mother, initially made choices in search of a better life. Unfortunately, due to a lack of awareness about trafficking, limited access to employment and education, as well as the influence of the caste system, gender inequality, traditional social norms that disregard children, and prevailing local beliefs that devalue human life, many poor people in developing Asian countries—especially women and children—are vulnerable to being trafficked as ‘commodities’, subjected to sexual slavery, forced labour, or other forms of exploitation.
CEDAR supports multiple Christian organisations and church partners across South Asia in the fight against human trafficking. This includes community-based prevention education, rescuing victims, prosecuting traffickers, and providing trauma counselling and life restoration. Today, human trafficking and forced labour have become major global issues, growing at an alarming rate. According to the 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), it is estimated that 27 million people worldwide have been trafficked. Furthermore, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), approximately 28 million people globally are victims of forced labour. Faced with countless lives being oppressed, the fight against human trafficking is urgent. We invite you to join the ‘Remove Price Tag, Free Body & Soul’ campaign, to say no to human trafficking, and to help restore both body and soul, allowing people to live out the value and dignity that God has given them.
ministry approach
Our partners combat human trafficking via the following aspects:
- RESCUE: Reach and rescue victims in red light districts and sweatshops
- PROSECUTION: Arresting traffickers and ensuring convictions
- REHABILITATION: Protecting, counselling, and training previous victims
- PREVENTION: Raising awareness and establishing support networks
ministry report
your response
Join our’Remove Price Tag, Free Body & Soul’ Donation Campaign through monthly donation and prayers to support our anti-human trafficking effort. Let us act justly and love mercy, and look after vulnerable women and children!
Operating community centres, offering anti-trafficking training and livelihood support to residents (based on half month’s expenditure).
Assisting a Nepali woman or child who has been trafficked abroad to return to her country.
Offering medical support, trauma counselling, and food to three victims of human trafficking (based on a year’s expenditure).
Tracing the crime of online sex trafficking, with a team of
professional investigators collecting evidence and helping the Thai government to prosecute traffickers.
donation method
(Please specify: Remove Price Tag, Free Body & Soul)
After donation, please send a completed Donation Form, enclosing with cheque, bank-in slip or screenshot of successful payment along with your name, contact phone number and mailing address to us via mail, email or WhatsApp.
Address: CEDAR Fund, G.P.O. Box 3212, Hong Kong
Email: sharing@cedarfund.org
WhatsApp (for donation matters only): 5160 7549
- CEDAR is an approved charitable institution and trust of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please visit Inland Revenue Department website for details.
- CEDAR Fund will issue a receipt for a donation of HK$100 or above for tax deduction. For a donation of less than HK$100, please get in touch with us to issue a receipt.
- Please DO NOT fax any donation information.