Blind Eyes Open: Human Trafficking in America

 When one thinks of Human Trafficking, we often believe that it's a problem in Developing Nations, but not so much in America.  We also think that the only places in America that are vulnerable to trafficking is around the Southern Border, or in the Big Cities.  However, this is wrong.  Human Trafficking is happening everywhere in America.  It's in the Cities, the Suburbs, Rural Towns, chances are it's happening very close to where you live, and you don't even know it.  The United States of America is one of the largest consumers of Human Trafficking in the World.  It's a nation-wide epidemic.  

With an annual revenue of $150 billion, it is one of the largest illegal enterprises in our nation, second only to the Drug Trade.  Trafficking victims come from all walks of life, but of the number of people trafficked in our nation, 80% are female, and 50% are children.  Of all the victims, forced labor accounts for $51 billion of trafficking revenue annually.  Many of the victims are people from other nations, immigrants who entered America legally or illegally only to unknowingly end up in the new "American Slave Trade."  People from nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are often lured to our nation under the guise of "excellent employment opportunities" only to be locked up in sweat shops and farms, or forced to work as slaves in restaurants, hotels, or domestic staff where they are forced to live and work under brutal conditions.  Traffickers take advantage of their lack of cultural knowledge to keep them prisoner and threaten them with violent reprisal against them or their families overseas if they try and seek help.  Traffickers also use the tactic of "Debt Slavery," telling the migrants that they must pay for their passage to the U.S., food, and shelter, and that they cannot be freed until their labor pays their debt.  Of course, this debt is never considered paid.  The lure of free labor leads many individuals and businesses to run the risk of arrest and obtain slaves from the illegal trafficking industry, but as terrible as it is, life of a labor slave is often preferable to that of a sex slave.  

It is estimated that the Sex Trafficking Trade in the U.S. grosses over $91 billion.  It is a horrific epidemic that is everywhere in our nation.  Though it is true that many of those who fall victim to the sex trade are migrants, the sad truth is that anyone in our nation can become a victim to this terrible epidemic.  Pimps throughout the nation lure young girls and women into the sex trade.  They'll use any variety of tactics: seduction, the promise of easy money for simply things like dancing with or dining with their clients, or they target victims with drug problems and use their addiction to control them, they'll even resort to threatening their families to keep their victims in line once they have them in their grasp.  Young girls are targeted by fake agents posing as recruiters for the Movie Industry and pressure them into doing Hardcore Porn under the pretext that it's what's necessary to get noticed by the industry.  Once they're in, they reveal that they've been conned into signing a contract forcing them to pay them back for all the expenditures, and the only way out is to do Porn Flicks, Private Party Orgies, and any number of Sexual Exploitation to pay back the Debt.  

Children can be targeted on the streets, at their schools, even through the internet.  The internet & social media has made it easier than ever for predators to troll for victims.  Traffickers comb through social media pages, seeking vulnerable children to con into their deadly web.  Some have even testified that they're taken to discreet locations, locked away in "Secret Houses" and used every day for years.  Many lured into this sex slave are very young, often between ages 11-14.  Runaway children are particular vulnerable.  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimate that over 100,000 children are trafficked each year.  

A friend once asked me: "Where is God in all of this?"  However,

the truth is that God is asking us: "Where are you?"  We are compelled by scripture to rescue the innocent from the hands of the wicked.  So where do we start?  You can start with education.  Watch documentaries like this one: Blind Eyes Open.  Listen to experts in the field: Tim Ballard-Human Trafficking Expert.  Read books and examine the tactics and methods to held: "In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America."  Once you've become aware, you can learn how to fight.  You can learn how to get involved with anti-human trafficking organizations, they're everywhere in our country!  You can raise awareness in you schools, houses of worship, and community.  You can campaign your government representatives to take effective measures against trafficking and to push them not to pass measures that would further enable traffickers, such as Open Borders or Legalizing Prostitution.  Ignorance is the most powerful weapon that the Traffickers have right now, and all that they want us to do is nothing.  If we do nothing, they they've won, and they know it.