Injustice
Forced Labor & War
Yes.Thousands of children are still being used in forced labor. Often whole families are in bonded labor.
It’s simple. One people group gains control of a region and either enslaves or diminishes the rights of another people group to the point that fathers can not provide for their families. To pay for debt that is incurred, the family is placed in bonded labor. This family is then given a quota. Almost always it is beyond what is realistic for them to make. At first they receive threats, then their owner acts on the threats. It is not unusual for men to be beaten and have bones broken, for women to be raped, or for daughters to be sold into brothels to meet the quota.
Yes. This is happening, right now. Currently the most enslaved people are the Christians in Pakistan. It also happens extensively in Africa to provide for “clean” batteries in cars, for elements of cell phones, for diamonds, and to grow the cocoa beans.
And then there is war. There are roughly 46 wars on earth right now. Of those, 40 are jihad initiated, as of the writing of this link. Some of these make the news. Others don’t. The average stay in a refugee camp is eighteen years. In many situations a refugee camp becomes a sudden city without infrastructure and the criminals who traffick people know where to go to steak children, rape women, and kill more men. Take a look at Sudan, for instance. Note the DRC. Burkino-Faso has half a million displaced people. Boko Haram, ISIS, Mujahideen, Al Queda, and other jihad movements keep sparking new war zones, just to mention a few. This type of unstable situation creates fresh refugees, unrest, and poverty. The issue is complicated. Cross Cultural Connections specifically seeks to empower the local church in areas where there is war to meet the needs of refugees and equip them to rebuild their societies.
Sex Trafficking
When a person is either lured into or drugged and sold into human slavery with the goal of providing sex for the profit of another person, sex trafficking has occured.
In some cultures there is no limit on the age of the victim. Recent voices are trying to call pediophelia just another sexual orientation. Children are disappearing in increasing numbers. Where war is present, a common tactic is to kill the men and use the women and children as sex slaves. Please take a minute to protect your children.
The torture of sex slavery can not be emphasized sufficiently. Almost always the traffickers learn enough about their victim to hold them by threatening to kill another family member. Or they are drugged. Almost always they are so beaten that their will is broken. This is intentional and makes them easier to control.
Porn is intertwined in sex trafficking. Women and children are lured in, or lied to, or sold into this arena. This industry is demand based. If we unite and remove the DEMAND, human trafficking would stop.
Cross Cultural Connections has a response team that is networked globally to provide a safe haven for women and children who have been trafficked.
Also, if you are in America the
National Human Trafficking Hotline
1 (888) 373-7888
Available in 200 languages.
SMS: 233733 (Text "HELP" or “INFO”)
Societal Norms
In some societies there is toleration or encouragement of certain types of sex trafficking. Although outlawed, there are still child temple prostitutes. Although not known about widely, temporary “marriages” are one of many kinds of “marriages” in Islam. Also, in Islam, child marriages are encouraged, making it openly favorable towards pedephilia. But Muslim women should guard the purity of the home. Therefore men are encouraged to view the role of prostitute as something to be fulfilled by an “infidel”. Infidels are best collected through jihad, as we see modelled by ISIS and Boko Haram.
In some regions incest is normalized. Girls are threatened with death if they expose the truth. In some cultures men and boys must commit these “honor killings” to remain members of their tribe.In war, incest is permitted and sactioned. If a woman is widowed, she becomes highly vulberable. In war zones children are frequently taken as child solider slaves or as sex slaves for the soldiers. It is a common tactic of jihad to kill the men, making the women and children easy targets. Widows fleeing with children often find men pursuing them to take their little girls.This is because young girls are preferred for brides, polygamy is encouraged, divorce of older or useless wives is accepted, and women have few personal rights. Being knowledgable and wise about realities is crucial to address these issues at their roots.
Not all victims are set in a culture of violence and war. One of the most vulnerable populations is shown right here, in this video:
“Solving Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking should be fought by the government and all law enforcement at every level. Having active Christian lawmakers, policemen and women, teachers, and social workers is crucial. But solving HT is an issue of the heart.
Not everyone realizes that dopamine was designed by God so that when a husband and wife met for the first time they would bond for life and it would strengthen their marriage. When dopamine is abused through exposure to sex in media, education, or practice the victim is wounded at a level that needs inner healing.
Also, whenever a person engages in sex with someone, there is a soul tie that is formed. They “become one”, as is meant to happen in marriage. When that is torn apart through multiple partners and divorce, a splintering takes place. This also needs inner healing.
The reality is that there is no secular solution to what victims of HT suffer. Only Jesus can provide that. This means that there has never been a more important time for churches to stand up and unite to meet this need as a community.
Parenting, teaching and grand parenting can and should include protection of the child from all forms of media, even advertisements. Media violence has been shown to be the number one cause of real life violence. The same is true of sex. A 1980 (pre-internet) study showed that of those exposed to porn (for even a short time):
Male subjects demonstrated increased callousness toward women.
Subjects considered the crime of rape less serious.
Subjects were more accepting of non-marital sexual activity and non-coital sexual practices such as oral and anal sex.
Subjects became more interested in more extreme and deviant forms of pornography.
Subjects were more likely to say they were dissatisfied with their sexual partner.
Subjects were more accepting of sexual infidelity in a relationship.
Subjects valued marriage less and were twice as likely to believe marriage may become obsolete.
Men experienced a decreased desire for children, and women experienced a decreased desire to have a daughter.
Subjects showed a greater acceptance of female promiscuity.
Men who consume pornography are more likely to adopt rape myth ideology, which is that women cause rape or actually enjoy rape or sexual assault.
Human Trafficking happens because there is a demand for it.
That demand has been orchestrated at a global level so that there is more demand for it. In other words, porn is created so that men will want prostitutes. This creates a market that is now second only to weapons. ”