Hear Her Cries

OVERVIEW

In a country where religious minorities are treated as second-class citizens, following Christ puts girls and women at risk of being targeted for sex by predators who force their victims to marry them and convert.

“

Can you imagine what it is like being a mother and knowing these terrible things are being done to your daughter? What is perhaps even worse is realizing there is absolutely nothing you can do about it − and all because of the faith you profess.

These are the words of a Christian mother speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about the kidnapping, forced marriage and forced conversion of her daughter ― a girl barely in her teens. Deeply distressed by the sexual enslavement to which her daughter was subjected, the woman begged us not to reveal their identities or whereabouts for fear of retaliation from extremist groups. This is just one of many reports we at ACN receive Àrst-hand from project partners and other sources in key countries of concern. Week in, week out, cases are reported to us where girls and young women from Christian families are forced into sexual slavery and religious conversion ― often on pain of death.

”

4 | HEAR HER CRIES