Week 4 - Analysis

Human trafficking is more than an issue of poverty, it is also an intricate combination of economics and power. That does not mean that trafficking only occurs when the originating country is poor. It occurs frequently in affluent nations like the United States, a destination country for many trafficked persons. Part of the reason for this is that potential victims believe that they may have more opportunities to live a better life in an affluent nation. Why is this the case?

Victims who agree to the terms of slavery do so because they believe that once in the affluent nation, they will be able to find a better life. But they are misled into thinking that they will be able to repay the debt they owe their “sponsor.” Victims that are deceived, as the majority are, believe so implicitly that life is better in a nation that has money, that they leave everything they know to reach their goal. For many, this is done to benefit their families as well as themselves.

Traffickers on the other hand have a lot of money. They do not engage in that industry to survive. Rather they choose to build their own wealth by enslaving and deceiving others. It is a scenario where those involved are trying to make a living because of their desperate situations. Traffickers clearly have power—and abuse that power at the expense of others to increase their own financial situations.

In several affluent countries, the problem of trafficking continues. In the U.S. and Japan, there is a high demand and therefore a supply of trafficked peoples for forced labor and the sex trade. Again, the economic situations of traffickers here are not about getting by but rather increasing wealth and making more money.

What can Christ-followers do in light of this? How can we not only prevent those who are suffering from poverty from being in situations where they must make choices to sell themselves but address the misuse of power in traffickers?

Yes, we can call for more legislation and stricter penalties for those who are caught but we must find a way to do more. How can we convince those who are profiting the most from this industry that what they are doing should end? Perhaps some of it is addressing the way women and children are viewed in a particular society. Perhaps it is also making the people more personal to those in power, rather than allowing them to be pieces of property. Perhaps there is a way to make a financial point as well. Whatever the answers, they are complex. But it is evident that Christ-followers must devise a way to influence those who have the power and misuse it for transformation to occur.