The eyes of
much of the general public and most church people are blind to the existence of
slavery in the world today. We are blinded to the extent sex-trafficking is occurring
right under our noses today in the good ole U.S.A. The fact is that there are 27
million slaves worldwide today, with some being shackled, abused and used right
here in America.
Blind Eyes
Opened is a 90-minute movie
documentary 5 years in the making about sex-trafficking in the U.S.A. It was
shown in 800 theaters on Thursday, January 23, 2020 only.
I was
disappointed in seeing only a smattering of people attending the Mansfield area
theater last night. Sadly, the theater was at most 1/3 full. I guess many were
unaware of the movie showing, were apathetic, or had more important things to
do such as watching the sham impeachment proceedings on TV. The church was
mostly invisible as usual when it comes to the critical social issues of the
day. I guess most of us don’t want to think about the unpleasant aspects of
reality.
SIX EX-TRAFFICKED
WOMEN
This movie
revolves around the testimonies of six women who, themselves, were trafficked
when they were just girls. Some were sold for sex by their parents, some by relatives,
some by boys or men who befriended them and later prostituted them.
Sex-trafficking
is, indeed, an ugly reality.
The following
are just some of the highlights gleaned from the movie.
·
The
fatherless home is a serious problem in America. Children seek out the love
denied by absent fathers and look to whoever may provide any affection or
concern.
·
Middle
School aged children as young as 9, 10, 11- are victims of sex traffickers.
·
11
to 14-year-old girls and boys are both sought by sex-traffickers. The
ratio is 15% to 85% boys to girls trafficked.
RECRUITING
The movie
identifies three types of traffickers: Romeos, guerillas, and professionals.
Most people think it is the guerillas who grab or kidnap victims. But what is
more prevalent is the young man or adult who befriends the child and grooms her
or him over a period of time, then enslaves them using drugs, physical violence
and/or threats to family members. The professional lurks in shopping malls or
areas where vulnerable, lone girls may be befriended and/or grabbed.
Social media is
increasingly being used to search and stalk vulnerable kids as well. Traffickers
may study the friends of a targeted child and try to get to know as much as
possible about the victim, then make contact with them, entice them with gifts,
befriending them.
RUNAWAYS
Children living
in real or perceived abusive homes or in foster home situations who may feel
homeless seek escape. Sex-traffickers target these young girls traveling alone
on bus, train or plane.
STOCKHOLM
SYNDROME
Pitifully, some
captives of sex traffickers are so beaten up and beaten down they still look at
their pimp in a favorable light. No one else cares.
"Stockholm syndrome is a condition in which
hostages develop a psychological alliance with their captors during
captivity. Emotional bonds may be formed, between captor and captives, during
intimate time together, but these are generally considered irrational in light
of the danger or risk endured by the victims." Source: Wikipedia
Stockholm
syndrome is one reason that the victims of traffickers do not run from their
masters or even try to protect them when the girl is arrested.
SUICIDE
The life of the
captive is often short-lived. Suicide is a way out for many as the only escape
form the horrors and the guilt.
CAUSES AND PREVENTION
Pornography
One solution is
to clamp down on the widespread availability and use of pornography by men,
women, and even younger and younger children. Shockingly, the movie noted that young
people are exposed to porn on the average at 11 years of age. Parents should
closely monitor social media and use online devices. The Internet, smartphones,
tablets and computers can lead be cesspools of material feeding man’s lower nature
leading people astray.
Porn is a
gateway taking a person from a fantasy world of self-gratification to the real
world of exploiting children to fulfill one’s lustful desires.
Fatherless
Homes
As stated
earlier, fatherless home and lack of a positive role model often causes
children to seek that attention, affection, and “love” from other scrupulous
sources.
Eliminating no-fault
divorce laws would make it harder for families to be torn asunder.
Crime and
Punishment
Something that
was not discussed in the movie is making males accountable by increasing penalties
fathering children and trying to walk away unscathed. Perhaps making the father
financially responsible for the child. Giving the father a choice of either
providing financially for his child for eighteen years or being incarcerated
for that same length of time.
Decreasing the
demand for young children for sex is a high priority. Instead of treating the
prostituted girl or woman as the criminal. The real punishment should be
focused on the pimps, the johns the person who buy and sell their “products.”
Can you believe that besides 17 counties in Nevada, where prostitution is legalized,
seven states in the Northeast want to legalize prostitution. This would make catching
sex-traffickers even more difficult. It would make identifying and freeing the
sex slaves even more difficult.
Interfacing
with the Health Care System
88% of all sex-trafficked
victims at some point interface with medical system. Either their pimps or the
john (customers) hurt them. Therefore, the medical system needs increased
training on how to identify, to report, or just what to do when faced with an apparent
victim of abuse. A dislocated jaw, a black eye, a broken bone in a young person
or a young woman must be better scrutinized.
Education
Schools must
include some discussion or track of instruction in the dangers of sex
traffickers to make students aware that sex traffickers are after them exists. How
to identify, how to report, and what to do when faced with a potential
trafficking situation should be included in Middle and High School curriculum. Being
fully aware of sex-trafficking is the really bullying that should be emphasized
in our public schools.
ABORTION
There is a tie,
an unwritten alliance between the sex-traffickers, part of the billion-dollar sex
industry and the equally sizable abortion industry.
Some trafficked
girls/women have multiple abortions because they are “useless” to the pimp when
they are pregnant and having a child would put a crimp on the business, a barrier
to overcome. So, the pimp takes, forcefully or otherwise his sex-slave to the
abortion mill. In other words, murder the human life growing in the mother, to
get rid of the “problem.”
Live Action and
other anti-abortion groups have pointed out this grotesque alliance and
practice, but it is virtually ignored by the #FakeNews media, dismissed by the
politicians and ignored by the clergy, lied about and denied by Planned
Parenthood. In other words, it hidden from the general public for the most part.
Part of the
abortion industries profits come from illegal sources such as revenues from pimps’
prostitutes. Statutory rapes of under-aged girls are more prevalent than
admitted.
CONCLUSION
Most of the six
women shown in the movie are now serving in various ministries or organizations
helping girls and women who have come out of the same underworld to which they
were once condemned.
Churches can
address this hugely ignored injustice. How? By getting a copy of the movie’s
DVD, which will be available shortly. A 7-week study guide to the movie will also
become available for small group study in churches and elsewhere.
Making everyone
aware of the problem and providing ways to identify signs of sex trafficking
and having the courage to report any suspected abuse would go a long way in stopping
this atrocity.
My eyes have
been opened to the seriousness and the pervasiveness of this issue. Shared Hope International and other likeminded ministries and groups are worthy of support.
I will engage my state and federal congressional representative to sponsor and
support laws that will bring about an end to sex trafficking in the U.S.A. and
elsewhere.
