slavery | Ain't Complicated

Slavery USA?

I’ll admit it. That this goes on in the USA boggles my mind.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “sex trafficking?” Brothels in Cambodia? Abducted women in South Africa? The 2008 film “Taken”? Whatever your thoughts may be, they are likely focused in impoverished countries filled with women who have no other options.

Yet, this heinous crime and organized trade goes daily unnoticed when it occurs in the United States. That is: unnoticed or unrecognized for what it is.

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The United States is no virgin when it comes to the exploitation of its own children. Modern-day abolitionist York Moore with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship says, “We’re all seeing the evolution here in the United States. Ten years ago, when we talked about human trafficking, we were primarily talking about a phenomena that existed outside of the United States. Back in 2001, there was an estimated only 45,000 – 50,000 slaves in the United States.”

As shocking as those numbers were ten years ago, they are not nearly as disturbing as the rate at which the crime has grown. Pat McCalla of a ministry to sexually enslaved minors known as “Streetlight” in Phoenix, Arizona says the problem in the U.S. has grown to “anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 underage women being trafficked every year.”

Human trafficking is now the second-largest criminal industry in the world after drug trafficking, and it has become the fastest-growing criminal movement. The United States is no exception.

Not only is the degradation climbing higher in sheer numbers, but the ages of victims seem to be getting lower by the year. “We’re definitely seeing an evolution in the United States not only in terms of the raw numbers, but also in terms of the appetite for young flesh,” says Moore. “It’s very disturbing.”

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Whether minors are used by family members, abducted by clever traffickers, taken from their suburban beds on a nightly basis, or blackmailed into a life of unending agony, the problem exists all over. “In the last three years, I’ve visited Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul, San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver. Every one of those cities has a problem,” explains McCalla.

Source: The U.S. sex trade flourishes: number of enslaved minors increasing

Slavery USA

In the “Land of the Free” and the home of Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution?!

According to the International Justice Mission, human trafficking is the third most-profitable criminal activity in the world after drugs and weapons. Seldom do people stop to notice the implications of that statistic for the United States.

The number of trafficked victims in the U.S. is rising quickly. Ten years ago, there were approximately 50,000 slaves in the U.S. Now there are over 300,000. Modern day abolitionist and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship evangelist York Moore says people know about the issue, but few see it as a real problem.

“What’s most concerning to me is not the proliferation of the persons involved or the profitability of this illegal enterprise,” says Moore, “but specifically the increasing tolerance that I think I’m seeing in people.”

Source: Mission Network News

Restaveks in Haiti

God bless those who help these children:

Unprecedented levels of poverty have driven almost 225,000 Haitian children into slavery. According to Eva DeHart of For Haiti With Love, parents desperate to feed and clothe their starving children are easy victims for child predators.

“Most of those parents are not deliberately selling those children into slavery,” she explained. “They’re selling them to people who promise that those children will eat regularly and have a better life.”

The enslaved children, known as “restaveks,” are taken from poor homes to the homes of families that are less poor. The family takes responsibility for raising the child in exchange for unpaid domestic service.

Source: Poverty forces kids into slavery

The Trokosi

The Trokosi: Religious Slavery Today

Slavery in the West has largely become a shamed subject of history. Most Westerners are unaware of the thousands of slaves still suffering and dying in various locations around the world. One such group are the Trokosi slaves of Ghana.

Guayo was never told why her family gave her to the fetish priest when she was a young child. Raped by the priest from the age of 12, Guayo gave birth to four children over the years. The priest had no obligation to provide for Guayo’s basic needs or for her children, who were also considered his slaves. The young mother has lived in constant despair, seeking to feed herself and her children while working hard long days for the priest. Now Guayo is 30 and has few skills and no education. Yet, since the priest has died, nobody will dare to help her, since the community believes she is owned by the gods.

Guayo’s situation is typical of the Trokosi slaves in Ghana. In the ju-ju religious system in Ghana, the local fetish priest is the mediator between the villagers and the gods. There is great fear among the villagers that if they do not abide by the priest’s demands, they will be cursed and die. If the priest says there must be a payment made for some sin in the family, families will give a virgin daughter to become his property and she will go to live at the shrine in the service of “the gods” – often for the rest of her life.

Click the link to see what some Christian groups are doing to liberate and restore these women and their children.

Jesus came to set the captives free!