The Link between Human Trafficking and Craniofacial Birth Defects
Because Every Child Matters
One of the earliest cleft surgery camps hosted by Love Without Reason was held in Bangalore, India. Among the fifteen patients who arrived for screening was a woman in her early thirties. She did not have a cleft lip or palate, but was born with scar tissue over her TMJ joints. She could barely open her mouth more than a few millimeters. Her face had been locked in silence her entire life.
The Love Without Reason staff reached out to her to learn more of her story. She had been exploited and abused from her youth. She did not complete her education and did not have a job. She did not have a family to care for her. She was sold and used, all because she was born with a different face.
If Love Without Reason had been there thirty years ago, her life would have been different. Surgery would have changed the course of her life. Because the health care resources were not available or affordable for her, she fell into a vulnerable lifestyle that made her easy prey for human traffickers.
When our team finds the patients first and can make them aware of this evil crime and provide transformative facial surgery, their life and their entire community can take on a different path – a path to success and fulfillment.
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