Rend Your Heart, by Jan Richardson
Day 6 : Lean in and Learn | Human Trafficking
"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know."
William Wilberforce
God calls us to take up His work of justice. To “be fair to the poor and to orphans. Defend the helpless and everyone in need. Rescue the weak and homeless from the powerful hands of heartless people.” (Psalm 82:3-4) As followers of Christ, the One who sets the prisoners free, we join Him in a work that makes His heart bleed.
As we were reminded yesterday, an estimated 50 million people are held in slavery today around the world (International Justice Mission).
That’s more people than the combined population of Texas and New York. 50 million lives stolen, identities ripped away, souls disregarded by the horror that is modern day slavery.
An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked in the US each year
Canada suffers somewhere between 250 and 460 annual trafficking cases.
802 trafficking cases were reported in Mexico last year according to a German platform that specializes in data gathering.
That doesn’t mean those are the only cases in which trafficking has occurred: they are the only times it has been reported. But we can all be trained to have eyes to "see" and uncover what is hidden in darkness. "Vulnerability" is the key term; the greater the unnoticed and unaddressed vulnerability, the more likely victims and their predators are hidden.
Good News! Anglicans are making a difference, like John Nehme who is the Executive Director of Allies Against Slavery. Allies is a Texas and Louisiana-based organization that fights human trafficking through data platforms, partnerships, and resources, partnered with the University of Texas to publish Human Trafficking by the Numbers: the Initial Benchmark of Prevalence & Economic Impact for Texas.
In this research, they discovered that there were an estimated 313,000 trafficking victims in Texas. They also found that 88% of victims report that they interacted with a professional (nurses, child welfare workers, school counselors, juvenile justice personnel, etc) who missed the chance to recognize their situation and help them escape. Allies equips people with the tools to identify and aid trafficked victims. Allies have over 1800 field professionals in these various organizations screening people across two states.
Let's separate trafficking facts and vulnerability factors. The first points to dire consequences that wreck us and angers God. The second speaks to prevention and obstructing horrific damage and delights God. Wouldn't we a million times over prefer prevention and protection over rescue and restoration of victims? We who are ordinary citizens and parishioners can make a huge difference by interrupting the downward spiral of susceptibility to predators. Consider these two categories of "facts."
TRAFFICKING FACTS
• One in four victims of forced labor trafficking is a child.
According to stopchildexploitation.org, 15 million children in the US are estimated to be physically exploited each year. 8 million cases are officially reported, but some experts believe it is a staggering 24 million.
• One in six endangered runaways reported in the United States are likely to become victims of sex trafficking.
• A supposed 90% of labor trafficking takes place within the private economy: homes, businesses, and supply chains, where people can be swept under the rug, exploited, forgotten, trapped.
• Only 3% of annual reported victims in the US receive temporary safety through government programs, and an estimated 2/3rds of victims never have their exploitation recorded in the United States.
VULNERABILITY FACTS:
Understand these statistics as "the age of unprecedented vulnerability" (John Nehme, Allies Against Slavery) in the US, especially for kids.
The poverty rate in the U.S. more than doubled last year -- from a historic low of 5.2 percent in 2021 to 12.4 percent in 2022. That’s the largest rise in the poverty rate in the previous 50 years.
The US Surgeon General released an advisory saying we have an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” in our country. One survey found that 61% of 18-25-year-olds reported feeling lonely “frequently” or “almost all the time or all the time."
The Financial Times reported that one in 25 American five-year-olds today will not make it to their 40th birthday. The majority of those deaths are not health-related. Instead, they are called “deaths of despair” – gun-related deaths, suicide, homicide, and overdoses.
May the resources linked below help you as you continue to learn the horrors of modern-day slavery and consider the ways you can help.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline