A critical conversation on sex trading and trafficking
By Kristena Morse
In Minneapolis, Kwanzaa’s Northside Women’s Space is reaching some of the most marginalized in the community—women and children who are facing homelessness and precarious housing, poverty and unemployment and those struggling to break the chains of sexual exploitation, prostitution and sex trafficking.
“On the north side of Minneapolis, we see poverty, violence, sexual exploitation, food scarcity and hunger on a daily basis. At Northside Women’s Space, 46 percent of the women we see exchange sex less than once a week. This is important—this isn’t a way of life for these women, this is a means of survival,” noted Alika Galloway, co-pastor at Kwanzaa Community Church.
During one of two sessions of her workshop A Critical Conversation on Sex Trading and Trafficking, presented as part of the 2015 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women in Minneapolis on June 19, Galloway addressed more than 150 Presbyterian from all across the country and shared stories of her personal experiences working with women and children who are struggling to break free from sexual exploitation.
“My husband and I were called to Kwanzaa in Minneapolis from Atlanta, and at the time I didn’t know what we would do. The church here was a new church development and I didn’t know what God had in store for me . . . or for us. When we were called here, I knew we were also called to do community engagement, but I didn’t know where to start. While I didn’t know what to do to lead a new worshiping community, I did know how to listen to women’s stories and that was a critical piece for our community engagement work. Women hold the history of the community, but they also hold the current knowledge of the community and the heartbeat of the community. I knew that’s where I needed to start when we arrived here.”
Hearing God’s call to community engagement, Galloway began spending time in the early morning hours—often between 4 am and 5 am—working to build relationships with the marginalized women who were struggling on the north side of the city. “For some time, I got up early while my husband and babies were still in bed and I would travel to the north side of the city and just sit outside on the steps and watch these women. Finally, one morning a woman walked by and she just looked tired. I invited her to have a seat with me and as she sat, we began to talk. Slowly, we began to build relationships and we shared conversations about the struggles they were facing. I began to analyze what I was hearing, trying to figure out how I could begin to serve.”
The ministry of Kwanzaa’s Northside Women’s Space grew from Galloway’s engagement with these women as they sat together on the stoop. Today, Northside Women’s Space provides respite, short-term intervention and safe connections to help the women and children they serve get from wherever they are in life to where they want to be.
Galloway urged workshop participants to take what they have learned back to their individual congregations and communities. “I hope the stories you hear at this gathering today are just an appetizer for you. Go home. Do your research and learn more about what’s happening in your own community. Take what you find to your church, to your synod and your presbytery. Sexual exploitation and trafficking is happening all across the country and this is a ministry that every church should be part of.”
Learn more about Kwanzaa Community Church of Kwanzaa’s Northside Women’s Space.
