Today is human trafficking awareness day, and we need to know what this subject is about and how we can protect people in society from being trafficked. One lady, who has recently made headlines this week, is Cynthoia Brown, who was granted clemency by the Tennessee State Government, after she had served almost 15 years from her life sentence in prison, for murdering her pimp (she claims he bought her for sex) when she was 16 years old.
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Why many may argue that she knew exactly what she was doing since she killed her perpetrator in his sleep, we also have to consider that she was being abused repeatedly, and at the time thought that was her only way out. It was a kill or be killed situation for her. She wanted freedom, but it wouldn't come for another 15 years, and thanks to the government, who decided to show her mercy. She would be released in August of this year and will be under parole for another ten years.
Because of her case and the spotlight it carried, the juvenile sentencing guidelines in the state of Tennessee has been amended. So if a 16-year-old were to be tried today, for the type of crime she committed, the teenager would be viewed as a sex slave.
Human trafficking according to antislavery.org is defined as the recruitment, harboring, or transporting people into situations that exploit them, through the use of violence, deception or coercion and forced to work against their will. The victims can be pushed into the sex industry (prostitution and pornography); hard labor, marriages, begging and have their organ removed forcefully. This can happen on a regional, national, and international scale.
The perpetrator often promises their victims a better life. They target people with low self-esteem, vulnerable teenagers, people in low-income areas, and make all sorts of promises to them. And since the conditions these people currently live in, are not favorable, they tend to buy into what they are sold. Sometimes the perpetrators offer to borrow them money, in exchange for working for them. The victims usually don't know what these jobs entail, until they find themselves in situations, worse off than where they started. According to the United Nations Office, for drugs and crime, 51% of these victims are women, 28% are children, and 21% are men.
How then can we fight Human trafficking?
By joining forces with organizations like antislavery.org, naptip.gov.ng, and A21.org or those in your local communities to keep fighting to rescue victims. We can also serve in our local communities, by helping the people in need, through healthy programs, like skill acquisition, education, and mentorship programs, so these vulnerable people don't feel the need to follow those, who make false promises to them for a better life. If we properly educate them, they will be able to discern what is right from what feels evil, not regarding their present circumstance.
We can also fight trafficking by not feeding into industries like the sex industry or hiring child laborers. It might be easier written than accomplished, but we can start somewhere by spreading the word. If people don’t patronize the porn industry, that industry will crumble with time. The more people watch pornography; the more people are trafficked into that industry. Again, it must not happen on an international scale, for it to be a problem, it happens every day and around us.
If we come together to fight poverty, then we can also engage this industry, which is a multibillion-dollar industry, that is robbing people of their purpose and life.
My hope is for everyone who can, to rise and be of service to their communities because people are waiting for those who can rescue them. And remember, when you do good to those who can’t fend for themselves, you are actually of service to God, and He always rewards.
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