Human trafficking may seem like an unusual and even off-putting topic, but bear with me. In 2009, the Mennonite church, on whose behalf I write this column, voted to bring awareness on the issue of human trafficking after a resolution presented by Mennonite Women USA executive director, Rhoda Kenner. (I am indebted to timbrel, the magazine of Mennonite Women USA, July/Aug. 2010 issue for information on this topic.)
I went to high school with Rhoda back in the day, and let me tell you, she is not a rabble-rouser kind of woman, out protesting every cause that comes along. In her quiet way, she has served the church and the broader world by working to educate and, hopefully, bring change on this and other issues.
To make it personal, wouldnt all of us as mothers do anything in our power to see that our daughters (and sons) grow up to be free from ever being a sex slave? Those of us in North America can feel relatively secure in not having this on our list of daily worries for our kids. But not so if we happened to be a mom in many parts of the world. It is worth noting that in small part the products we buy can make a difference. More later.
Like many issues, human trafficking is more complex than just kids or women being coerced into selling their bodies for profit. If you saw the 2009 movie, Slumdog Millionaire you got a picture of one kind of modern child enslavement. Ta My Ngan, a doctoral candidate on this topic who has worked for the Research Center of Social Sciences of An Giang University in Vietnam, wrote in timbrel, Trafficking sometimes is more complicated than the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons as defined by the United Nations.
Ngan tells the story of a 19-year-old woman whose family was heavily in debt due to their tenement house being demolished; forcing them to build a small house. They had to borrow at 20 percent interest per month; when the parents couldnt even pay interest, the money lender harassed them. The mother convinced the young woman to sell her virginity for a high price. The mother, who has a gambling problem, also coerced her daughter into other relationships with a price tag. This young woman is not uneducated, naïve and helpless as we often assume of such victims, but is trying to survive in a difficult situation and honor her relationship with her mother. (timbrel, p. 5-6)
Another author, Karen Lehman, offers ways to help regarding this complicated and unwelcome issue. In the U.S., the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that from 14,500-17,500 people are trafficked (into the U.S.) each year for the purpose of enslavement for sex. Half of these people are kids. East Asia and the Pacific area are the regions that are the largest source of people who are trafficked. The top designation is Washington, D.C., where my own daughter lives and works. Sex trafficking, according to Lehman, includes prostitution, pornography and selling brides. She goes on, Labor trafficking, while not as lucrative as sex trafficking, is also widespread and includes domestic servitude, small to large-scale labor operations (farms, sweatshops) and major multinational corporations.
Lehman says that while poverty and being relatively powerless are some factors in the vulnerability of certain populations of people to being enslaved, the real reason for trafficking is that it is highly profitable and the risk is low. (timbrel, p. 8)
This comes back to how we can help, especially in the area of labor trafficking. Too often we care only about low prices. But we should take care to become informed about whether any slave or cheap labor is involved in producing the products we buy. We can support stores and organizations that help provide fairly traded products, where people earn a fair wage. Two of these are Mennonite Economic Development Associates and Ten Thousand Villages, but many faith groups have their own similar organizations and fair trade programs.
It may not seem like much, but we can also pray, especially for those exploiting human bodies. It may seem like such a huge problem our efforts cannot have impact, but think of other social issues that have changed through public pressure (i.e. laws on smoking). Our bodies, our children and our lives are precious gifts of Godwe can be sure such violation and aberration of Gods plan for humans horrifies our heavenly Parent.
To read more about this topic and find additional resources, you can access this issue of timbrel online at http://www.mennonitewomenusa.org/timbrel/Pages/timbrelarchives.aspx
Or comment at our comment page, http://www.thirdway.com/aw.
Another Way is a column from Third Way Media by Melodie Davis. She is the author of nine books, most recently Whatever Happened to Dinner and has written Another Way since 1987. She is also the producer and co-host of Shaping Families radio program, airing nationally.
