Human Trafficking Next Door
by Anna Grace Carrick
“Human Trafficking” – a term that is often met with an uncomfortable shift or perhaps it conjures up an image of creepy white vans and people bound in chains inside a dark building. The harsh reality, however, is that trafficking happens outside of a stereotype. Often, human trafficking looks like a middle school girl with gorgeous blue eyes that answered the wrong social media message or a blue-collar man that cannot seem to pay off his debts.
It is estimated that there are more than 40 million people trapped in slavery today. That is more than any other point in human history! While slavery is dark and can be preceded by abduction, it most often looks like a vulnerable person being exploited by a trafficker that gained their trust, passed their boundaries, and further exploited their person.
Human Trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, and/or coercion to obtain either a type of labor or commercial sex act from the individual being trafficked. There are numerous sectors of human trafficking, but sex trafficking and labor trafficking are the most common in the United States.
Human trafficking can happen to anyone. However, there are people with vulnerabilities that make them more susceptible than others. Individuals more susceptible to being trafficked would be homeless men or women, runaway youth, mentally impaired individuals, as well as transient or relocating individuals and people relying upon the welfare system. Considering the plight of the aforementioned individuals, it is easier to understand how traffickers will leverage their specific vulnerability to create dependency on the trafficker.
Traffickers will often initially draw their victims in with elaborate stories of a great future and great wages if the individuals will “just do this one thing” for them. Once a trafficker has gained a victim's trust they will use threats, manipulation, and isolation among other tactics to continue to exploit the victim. Human Trafficking is the second most profitable illegal industry, with the drug trade being the first. While drugs are sold in one transaction, human beings can be sold over and over again. The “costs are low” and the trafficking profits are extremely high.
Why does this matter and how can a young girl just out of college make a difference in fighting this evil? I’m glad you asked! It matters because trafficking victims could easily be your sister, neighbor, daughter, or nephew. Every victim has been or is currently that to someone. Each person that is affected by human trafficking is an image-bearer. Everyone has a soul that needs to be freed from the bondage of sin. What better way to preach Jesus than showing these victims what His true love looks like! It matters and just as I can make a difference in this fight, so can you.
Now, here are some ways to be involved in this fight to end Human Trafficking:
1. Be Informed
Learn what the red flags look like for traffickers and victims. Learn to see the people that you pass by every day. Learn to ask intentional questions. Become trauma-informed. Go to PolarisProject.org and read the reports. Attend The NISSI Project Training on January 15, 2022.
2. Use Your Platform
Trafficking is one of the largest criminal enterprises in the world. It will take more than a Non-Profit Organization or law enforcement officer to fight this human-destroying act. Start the conversation at your kitchen table, in your office, or at your church. Tell others the red flags, ask the hard questions, share the statistics on social media, and educate your children. It will take all of us leveraging whatever platform we have to fight against trafficking.
3. Volunteer Your Time
Everyone can do something. Consider your gifts, educational background, or social influence. A well-equipped sports team consists of widely talented players! Do you have skills in writing, photography, event planning? Are you gifted to pastor, teach, counsel? The fight to end human trafficking needs you! Please consider volunteering your time, gift, and passions.
4. Pray.
Pray for the victims. Pray for the traffickers - they need Christ, as well. Pray for the officers. Pray for the lawmakers. Pray for the service providers. Pray for all of those that are behind-the-scenes fighting this evil. Below are some verses that I use to pray through:
Pray for justice. “I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.” Ecclesiastes 3:17
Pray for the victims. “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10
Pray for the lost. “And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20
5. Care for the vulnerable
We must care for the vulnerable. We must provide a space for the runaways, for the mentally ill, for immigrants, for foster children. What is the greatest way you can help? The greatest way you can help is to begin. Begin to love people as Jesus would. Begin to listen to people's stories. Begin to be hospitable to those in need.
If you are local to Pensacola, The NISSI Project would love your help. Email us today for ways you can join the fight. There is no better time than now to join; January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
If you suspect trafficking the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733)
Anna Grace Carrick is the Administrative Coordinator for The NISSI Project. The NISSI Project exists to bridge the gap for survivors of human trafficking from rescue to restoration. For more information about The NISSI Project or any questions email annagrace@thenissiproject.org or visit thenissiproject.org
*Statistics and data from the Polaris Project