A charity based on the Sunshine Coast is bringing attention to the horrors of what young women and girls face to access basic necessities such as feminine hygiene products in Africa.
Paul Mergard, the CEO of Destiny Rescue Australia, which has its international headquarters at Warana, recently returned from a mission to Africa, where he and his team learned just how many girls are trapped into sex trade in order to afford basic items such as sanitary products.
“In many African nations, feminine hygiene products are viewed as a luxury and not a necessity due to the level of poverty they experience,” he said.
“Many girls who reach their teenage years end up having to miss a week of school each month because of the sheer embarrassment of not being able to manage their monthly period.”
Mr Mergard said to provide for this basic need and to ensure they don’t fall behind in their education, girls as young as 11 or 12 years old are sexually exploited so they can attend school every day of the month.
“Most of us could never imagine this situation being a reality but for many girls in Africa this is the choice they face. Many miss 12 weeks of schooling each year or are forced to have sex with men to provide funds to purchase female sanitary products,” he said.
To help combat this crisis, Mr Mergard said Destiny Rescue runs four key projects across Africa, from rescue through to reintegration. These projects ensure that not only are children removed from the exploitative environment but they are also supported and equipped so that they don’t end up back in the same predicament.
The not-for-profit organisation has conducted raids in 12 countries around the world, regularly working with international authorities to expedite major raids.
Its holistic approach to rescue ensures the children it helps are provided with a safe and nourishing environment with appropriate counselling and medical care. They are also offered the tools to realise their potential and fulfil their dreams and destiny, in the form of education, vocational training and support.
“Once the girls have been rescued, Destiny Rescue find them a place of safety, enrol them in our Empower Program, and then look into enabling their parent, guardian or foster carer to start or expand a small business to ensure that the children have enough money so they can eat each day, attend school and have their basic needs met,” Mr Mergard said.
In 2022, Destiny Rescue recovered 806 girls across Africa and helped them start or expand many small businesses.
In Lake Victoria, Kenya, one of the hundreds of small businesses that has been created to resolve the feminine hygiene products issue is distributing reusable cloth pads, which enable girls to not only generate an income but also provide for their own sanitary needs.
Mr Mergard said once this business has made a pack of seven reusable pads, they are packaged and sold to families across the region and each of these pads can last up to a year.
“For the cost of 450 Kenyan shillings ($4.50) a girl has her sanitary needs sorted for a whole year. It’s an incredibly simple idea but it has far-reaching economic, social and health benefits for the local community,” he said.
Since Destiny Rescue was first formed in 2001, the charity has rescued more than 11,000 children from the sex trade around the world.
“$99 billion is generated by sex traffickers globally each year, that’s $11 million every hour. It’s a massive issue and through the partnerships built with Australian mums and dads as well as businesses and corporations, we are able to continue our work and change so many lives,” Mr Mergard said.
He explained that there is still much work to be done and is calling on the Sunshine Coast community to support its life-changing work.
“On average it costs us $1800 to rescue a child and get them onto a pathway to freedom. This includes executing a rescue, providing training and counselling and, in some of our projects in Africa, funds to start or expand a small business and break the cycle of poverty and abuse,” he said.
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