Dr. Jeff Brodsky Plans a 2600-Mile Barefoot Bicycle Ride to Raise Awareness to Human Trafficking

Dr. Jeff Brodsky has proven over the years that he will do just about anything to bring awareness to important causes. For the past nine years, he has gone barefoot-all over the world, in any weather-to bring awareness to child sex trafficking. He has led ten, 101 mile walks across Death Valley, performed as Snuggles the Love Clown, and in 1983 rode a bicycle from California to New York City.

Today, at 67 years of age and after two heart attacks, Brodsky has decided to take another bike ride. This time, he will be riding a bicycle barefoot from Disneyland in California to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, there is no record of anyone attempting this before, and Brodsky says he had to get permission from four people to even consider it.

"First, my wife Gail had to approve," says Brodsky, "then my family doctor, my cardiologist and my chiropractor. After being given several tests and seeing the entire plan of working with a Physical Trainer, they all gave the go-ahead. So, on April 1, 2020, I will be bicycling from Disneyland to Disneyworld barefoot. It will be over 2,600 miles and probably take me about two months. I chose Disneyland to Disneyworld because they are the happiest places on earth, and the children that are trafficked are in the most evil places on earth. They may never see a Disneyworld park in their lives or anything like it because so many of them will die young or commit suicide."

Human trafficking has overtaken arms trafficking to become the second-largest black-market industry behind drug-running. It is also the fastest-growing global industry. According to a recent study funded by the Department of Justice, the average age of young girls forced into the sex trade in America is approximately sixteen years old. According to the FBI, girls that are trafficked for sex have an average lifespan of 5-7 years, typically dying of disease, suicide or murder.  It was these facts, along with an encounter at a garbage dump in Cambodia, that first motivated Brodsky to begin his barefoot journey which is chronicled both in his memoir, "The Least of These: One Man's Remarkable Journey in the Fight Against Child Trafficking," and in his new children's book "Why Are You Barefoot?"
  
Brodsky and his team at JOY International have rescued thousands of children from sex trafficking-some as young as four-years-old- as well as conducted various undercover operations to aid law enforcement. The efforts of JOY International, along with their partners have helped to move Cambodia from a Tier 3 country (no efforts against trafficking) to a Tier 2. The U.S. is considered Tier 1 due to its aggressive laws and enforcement against trafficking. JOY International employs a Director of Global Police Training and Tactical Operations who has trained Special Forces Anti-Human Trafficking Police and SWAT teams. Their training techniques for airport personnel to spot potential human traffickers recently resulted in the rescue of a 9-year-old in the parking lot of an Alaskan airport. 

"On the one year anniversary of my decision to go barefoot, I was in my living room about to put on socks for the first time in twelve months," says Brodsky. "But God wouldn't let me do it. I mean, the sock would, literally, not go on my foot! I cried out to God and asked Him what He wanted from me after I went barefoot for an entire year. I heard Him speak these words to me- 'Keep going, those children are still out there.' I knew in that moment that as long as my going barefoot could motivate just one person a year to take action in a way that will help us rescue even one more child each year, I'll go barefoot the rest of my life."   

About Dr. Jeff Brodsky:

Dr. Jeff Brodsky is the founder of Joy International, a non-profit organization which exists to be involved in, or help to coordinate, the rescue, restoration, reintegration, and prevention of the commercial sexual exploitation of children, teens, and young women, both domestically and internationally. For over 37 years, to raise funds and awareness, he has performed as Snuggles the Clown, ridden a bicycle solo from California to New York City, led ten, 101-mile walks across Death Valley, and spoken in 50 nations. He and his wife, Gail, live in the foothills above Denver, Colorado and have three children and eight grandchildren. For more information, visit http://www.joy.org or http://www.thebarefootmile.org. 

 

 

 

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