In this episode Mimi and Kim interview Stephanie Midthun of Courage Worldwide about their healing homes for girls rescued out of Sex Trafficking, both in the USA and in Tanzania. She discusses the root causes that make girls vulnerable to sex trafficking, as well as the healing girls experience that break the cycle of exploitation, causing a transformative ripple effect in the larger community. 

Trigger Warning: This episode contains details of trauma, sexual assault, rape, and abuse. Listener discretion is advised.  

Guest Bio 

Stephanie Midthun is trained in both Bible and music, serving as a music director for twenty-five years. In 2008 when Stephanie Midthun heard about the intense fight against human trafficking in her own backyard of Sacramento, she began writing music and leading concerts that benefited the fight against sex trafficking with Courage Worldwide who was opening safe houses for girls rescued out of sex trafficking in California and Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.  She eventually joined Courage Worldwide’s staff, and in 2017, after raising three boys, she and her husband took over as Executive Directors of Courage Worldwide Tanzania.  Since that time, the work in Tanzania has exploded from four residents and five staff at Courage House to sixty residents and children, fifty-five staff, two safe houses in the Kilimanjaro region, and a safe house in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, opening May 2023.  She is now the Courage Worldwide regional director of East Africa. 

Contact Information 

Email: Stephanie Midthun at [email protected] 

Learn More  

Courage Worldwide Tanzania 

Other Resources  

Learn more about Courage Worldwide Tanzania. 

Read about the link between porn and sex trafficking in Porn's Complicity in Abuse by Mimi Haddad or listen to Pornography for Profit: The Link to Sex Trafficking by Sandra Morgan. 

Read about how to recognize and do something about human trafficking in The Selling and Buying of Souls (Part 1) and The Selling and Buying of Souls (Part 2) by Sherry Schwartz. 

Leveraging Mujerista and Womanist Theologies for Ministry Among Victims and Survivors of Sex Trafficking by Valerie Geer. 

Why Men Who Oppose Trafficking Must Fight Patriarchy by Rebecca Kotz. 

Disclaimer 

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.