The EVIL of Human Trafficking
By Trayce Bradford, CE Vice President, Eagle Forum Human Trafficking Chair, & Former Texas Eagle Forum President
From out of the shadows to the forefront is one of the most horrendous issues facing our nation today: Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (SEOC). In the United States alone, trafficking and sexual exploitation of children is at least a $9.5 billion industry. Families from all walks of life are losing daughters and sons to this ever-growing industry. The only way for this to come to an end is for an engaged citizenry to understand this present evil and speak out.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:
Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.
Labor Trafficking: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another for the crime to fall within this definition.
Here are some vital facts to help understand the current situation:
Roughly one-third to one-half of sex trafficking victims are children.
The average age of entry is 11-14 years.
Only two percent of victims being trafficked are rescued.
A trafficker can easily make $100-250 thousand per year exploiting just 4 or 5 children.
The average life span of a trafficked victim is 7 years.
Many believe those being exploited are runaways and children in already precarious situations. Sadly, that original demographic is still heavily targeted because of the ease of access, as well as low self-esteem issues that often impact minor children.
The various apps that pre-teens and teens use to share their daily lives are actually very effective tools for traffickers to gain access to a particular target.
Most teens walk through a vulnerable stage of life seeking affirmation, and savvy traffickers know this. They “hunt” on social media, befriend their target and groom the child to trust them. Before long the young teen has been betrayed by her “new friend” (a “groomer”), abducted, and branded (tattooed).
The stories and testimonies of children trafficked in this fashion have risen noticeably. Even law enforcement agencies say traffickers are changing the way they solicit potential victims faster than officials can adapt.
Another approach is to send a young, attractive woman or teen (a “recruiter”) to find their next victim at malls and/or invite them to parties via social media where drugs and alcohol are served and then stalk them.
Traffickers do not discriminate based race, religion, education or economic levels.
And finally, there is the misconception that victims are kidnapped and taken to another country. While some of that still does take place, traffickers learned quickly that selling drugs, weapons, and trafficked laborers are a one-time sell, while the sex trafficked victim can be sold over and over again. Traffickers no longer need to traffic or buy from other nations; they can find easy access in this Nation.
In 2016, a University of Texas report estimated over 300,000 Texans were human trafficking victims and nearly 80,000 of those were minors and youth victims of sex trafficking. And more recently, the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) data showed Texas had the second-highest number of human trafficking cases in America in 2019, with 1,080 cases reported (most cases are not reported). The Lone Star State is currently ranked second behind California for the number of child sex trafficking cases in the U.S., with Houston and Dallas among the top ten cities in the Nation for trafficking.
Last year, an analysis by the Polaris Project tracked the impact of the COVID pandemic and subsequent quarantine by comparing the NHTH activity in 2019 and 2020 and found trafficking had increased by 40 percent.
Researching where Texas stands on this issue, it is clear we have a way to go. There have been some strong efforts to make impactful change, especially in the private sector, non-profit organizations, and faith-based ministries.
But accountability and transparency have to be at the forefront in regard to how and where taxpayer money is spent. SEOC legislation needs harsher penalties for sex traffickers, and “protective response laws” for minor victims, which protect against prosecution for prostitution or other crimes they may have committed while in slavery.
In closing, there are many opportunities to make a difference in the war on Human Trafficking/Sexual Exploitation of a Child. This evil of human trafficking/sexual exploitation of children won’t go away until we, as a people, a State, and a Nation, say NO MORE.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.
Educate yourself. View Be The One at https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/initiatives/human-trafficking, and a documentary https://www.contralandmovie.com for information.
Share this information with others. The more aware we are, the less access predators and traffickers have to our kids.
Make sure the children in your life have accountability when it comes all their social media devices and apps. Talk to your kids about ways predators recruit and groom kids online. This is not about panic or living in fear; this is tactical and practical.
Get Involved this legislative session on several human trafficking bills Texas Eagle Forum and other groups may be advocating. Your voice counts!
Most importantly of all, PRAY! Pray for the child victims, families, and those on the front lines fighting to free these children! Pray for the heart of the traffickers and those involved in trafficking find God, turn their lives around and combat this wickedness.
Do you have an interest in fighting against human trafficking? Learn how to engage in activism through our On-Ramp to Political Activism online course.