Richard Hollerman

What does this mean? What is the definition? I thought that “traffic” had to do with cars and trucks on the freeway. Would this not be “traffic”? The dictionary says that this term refers to “vehicles moving on a road or public highway.” This is what I thought it mean—from my childhood. But wait! We find that this is also a definition: “deal or trade in something illegal.” This is the definition that we seek (in this article) and that deals with “human trafficking.”

How many people are in human trafficking? This is something that we find: “The number of people who are in human trafficking or living in modern-day slavery is estimated at 49.6 million, including the 22 million in forced marriages. The remaining 27.6 million is made up of:

19.9 million people in forced labor in private or state-run companies, or criminal exploitation

1.4 million people experiencing domestic servitude in private homes

6.3 million people in forced sexual exploitation (including 1.7 million children)

Estimates suggest the number of people living in conditions of modern slavery in the United States is up to 1,091,000. No-one knows exactly how many people are trafficked in or to the U.S. each year, because this is a hidden crime, but in 2021, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 10,360 reports of suspected human trafficking cases, involving 16,710 victims. This is widely acknowledged to be the tip of the iceberg.

https://hopeforjustice.org/human-trafficking.

I just finished watching an introduction to this sin by going to the internet. This one hour documentary dealt with places such as Haiti, Cuba, and Columbia—especially the latter—where the “human trafficking” is especially high.. Other nations were also involved. I recall that two million comes to mind but the number could be twice as high as this.

This is a major problem as you can see. Some 50 million victims would be an exceedingly high number—but apparently this would be the number worldwide! The movie that I watched dealt only with South America and Central America, especially Columbia, but other countries contribute to this epidemic of “human trafficking.” We are thinking of Thailand, Africa, other places in Asia, as well as Central and South America!

We must think of the lamentable situation that these boys and girls and others (such as the middle-aged) are involved in and can’t seem to be able to break free from. They are “owned” by the drug cartels and sex exploiters. They must “pay off” their debts and probably never do pay off these “debts.” And by this time, they and their bodies have been used (and abused) in many ways, making it nearly impossible to “sell” them!

We can only weep for these poor unfortunates and we know that even crying will not help them. This movie will help, perhaps. The drug cartels and sex cartels will be harmed in some measure, but still they will go on. We know that God, in Scripture, warns against “kidnappers” (1 Timothy 1:10) but this will not be enough to deter or stop these wicked people. We know that most of them are evil men but there are women involved (the ones who exploit these vulnerable people). We also know that we may pray for these 50 million souls but in a few years they will surely turn away from God and then go to Hades (from which they will go to Hell at the judgment). May God have mercy of these people and those perpetrators who would wickedly abuse and use and exploit them!

May God bless every dear boy and girl who is captivated and exploited by these wicked people and turn them to Christ for His forgiveness.