A young woman quietly approached the volunteer tent at The Scarlet Cord installation. When our eyes met, she asked, “What inspired you to create The Scarlet Cord?”
I recounted to her how at nineteen I traveled to Europe. One of the stops on our tour was the Red Light Windows of Amsterdam. This was my first exposure to sex trafficking.
As I stood in the middle of the district, window after window displayed women perched on chairs—selling their bodies. Next to each window was a door; a steady stream of men flowed in and out of each door. As men purchased sex in broad daylight in front of camera happy tourists, everyone seemed amused.
That night I couldn’t sleep; the enormous abuse and degradation of women I had witnessed earlier that day overwhelmed me.
Years later while living in Japan, the nearby red light district surrounding the US military base gate proved to be a snare for many in the military community. When sailors left the base for sight-seeing, they would have to navigate through two or three blocks of the red light district.
Some of these lonely young men—with a ready pay check in their pocket—never made it past the first two blocks.
When I finished speaking, the young woman started to say, “Because…” Then her head dropped. A moment later she picked her head back up and said, “Because I…” Her words melted into tears.
I extended my hand across the table towards her. Her hand grasped mine. But this time her head didn’t drop.
With a steady gaze, her eyes looked past my eyes, peering into my soul; she searched for a place of safety.
My eyes looked back—offering love and trust. For the next precious minutes, we held hands.
I wondered if anyone had ever touched this young woman in a healthy and compassionate way. A touch that imparted life instead of destroying innocence.
Then, suddenly, our hands released. As she turned to leave, I said, “You are a survivor. Healing and restoration are possible.”
She nodded.
For the past several days, this young woman, and others like her, have taken the first bold steps toward healing—by acknowledging the abuse in their lives and speaking up. Not allowing shame to hold them captive any longer. These brave women have inspired The Scarlet Cord.
