Human Trafficking- Seeing What’s In Plain Sight
For the full series visit the Human Trafficking page
If you or someone you know is the victim of human trafficking, there are resources, and supposedly, this helps. I hope it does.
National Human Trafficking Hotline:
Call 888-373-7888 Text “HELP” or “INFO” to 233733
What is Human Trafficking?
According to the Department of Homeland Security,
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide – including right here in the United States. It can happen in any community and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality. Traffickers might use the following methods to lure victims into trafficking situations:
- Violence
- Manipulation
- False promises of well-paying jobs
- Romantic relationships
Language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime.
Traffickers look for people who are easy targets for a variety of reasons, including:
- Psychological or emotional vulnerability
- Economic hardship
- Lack of a social safety net
- Natural disasters
- Political instability
The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.
The National Institute of Health defines trafficking as, “the exploitation of a person or persons for sex or labor using “force, fraud, or coercion.” They further explain that consent is the difference they perceive between trafficking and smuggling.
(Before we continue, I must assert that coerced consent isn’t consent. These entities overestimate personal choice, and we’re going to get to that.)
I’m sure that we can all agree that human trafficking is bad. It’s appalling, and sickening. It’s twisted and perverse. It’s terrifying, and it’s something that people don’t examine because it feels pretty icky. Cognitive dissonance feels pretty icky too. So, grab some tissues and an emotional support blankey because this is something we need to see inside of to understand my story.
Commercial
…”the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act…”
Can you imagine any reason why the government would phrase this the way they did?
Use of force- straightforward
Fraud- straightforward
Coercion- straightforward
Labor- vague, but relatively straightforward
Sex act- also straightforward
Why does it only apply to commercial cases? Why is it not equivalent if someone uses force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or sex act?
If we were in a lecture hall, I would pause and wait for people to really think about it.
What do we call it when someone uses force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or sex act that isn’t commercial?
Marriage?
Family?
I want to be clear though.
I am not saying that ALL marriages are human trafficking.
I am saying that the American conception of a marriage is a human trafficking model.
Our government has a vested interest in protecting domestic human trafficking. They rely on it and they always have. The experience of the victim is no different.
American Marriage
The American legal system is derivative of the English system which was largely influenced by Christianity. The bible was thrown around a lot back then, and although the framers rejected the role of religion in government, there was a lot of religious pressure. Really, the “freedom of religion,” in the constitution was more like the freedom to pick which Christian cult you wanted to belong to without punishment. We were not supposed to be a Christian nation, but it seeped into our cracks. Ew.
So what does Christianity say about marriage?
Ephesians 5
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
6
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Genesis 2
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Matthew 19
1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”
11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
Colossians 3
18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,6 not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.
1 Peter 3
3 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
1 Corinthians 7
1 Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. (The books written by Paul always crack me up.
8 Now to the unmarried[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
Funny not funny
The apostle Paul was quite a character. He really dedicated his whole life to spreading the word of Jesus, and he had loved him dearly. In his extensive travels to spread the word, he encountered a lot of behavior that felt ungodly to him, with his understanding of his buddy’s sacrifice. I can only imagine what a punch in the gut that must have been.
He was also trying to lead the beginnings of a church with other men, who acted like men. It must have been so hard. So hard.
He took every opportunity to develop gospel to restrict this debauchery. Within his contributions, you can see a clear effort to control the destructive egos of men. The control of women was already a given that was culturally in place. Émile Durkheim said that “religion is society worshipping itself,” and this is how we see that in action. Women were already assumed to be in service of men, so this codified it’s justification in the gospel. This is only one instance.
It’s also interesting that he admits openly that this isn’t the gospel of Christ, but rather his concession. That would make sense had he been the first Pope, but that was Peter’s role. Paul was to go out and spread the preexisting word, but we see him here making it up.
So, yes, his zeal cracks me up, but the long lasting effects of his Puritanistic work isn’t very funny.
Bible Marriage Summary
I get it if you really don’t want to read the scripture above and you just skipped it. I’m going to summarize it here, but it’s up there if you don’t believe me.
Ephesians
Woman is meant to submit to her husband as the head of her house.
Man’s holiness can wash clean an unbelieving wife.
Men are instructed to treat their wives as an appendage that they wouldn’t harm on purpose.
Men are told not to antagonize their children, but raise them in the WORD.
(The submission of women was already widely accepted. The scripture instructing the behavior of men has no mechanism for enforcement. I argue that it is gaslighting for the purpose of grooming girls to be cooperative property. The goal becomes to find a man who can regulate himself, who is gentle, who is kind, and who can provide for you because you won’t have any access to any of that.)
Genesis
Woman is regarded as an afterthought.
Use of the term “helper” gives MAN purpose of his own, and woman’s purpose is man.
Woman is from him/for him.
Woman is created as disposable property at the beginning of the origin story. It’s foundational. Christianity stands on it.
Matthew
Matty’s being interrogated by the Pharisees, and explains that marriage bonds are unbreakable, except if you’re a mean powerful Pharaoh, then God is willing to make a one-time exception. Matty does tie that exception back down by explaining that if your divorced, and your wifey didn’t cheat on you, you don’t get any more nooky, because then you’re an ADULTERER.
Matty’s a real cock blocker.
So the guys were like “Hey Matty, you’re a real cock blocker. Why would anybody get married then? That really sounds like it blows!”
Matty was like, “look, some people can be eunuchs, some can’t.”
He was a real straight shooter like that.
I do notice historically, men continued to notice that getting married seemed like a bum deal.
Bummer.
Collosians
Paul sums up the rules, then says that there is no exception. Here he demands a buy-in. Here he says that everyone is bound to this, and that they should mean it with their whole hearts, not to impress each other, but in service of God.
I told you he was fun, and I didn’t fib a bit.
Let’s stop for a moment though and just think about what he does here.
If you’re a wife, and your husband is NOT a good husband, you have to continue to be a good wife to be in favor with God. Technically, it does the same for men, but THAT is left then to the discretion of men. What could go wrong?
Peter
This is our first Pope y’all!
Peter makes piety the wife’s priority. If her husband isn’t following the word, she is to win him over through her piety and service to the Lordgodghost. She’s supposed to attract him using ONLY her piety, and not any physical temptation. He requires fearless piety.
(He really knew how to get a man going if you know what I mean.)
So, Paul said “no pleasure outside of marriage, but live it up once you get the ring on”, and Peter said “wives shouldn’t act like sluts.”
These guys are a blast.
Peter tells men only that “they should be understanding to their weak wives.”
But that was a long time ago right?
That was roughly 2000 years ago. But the tenants remain to this day. Let’s look at a little history.
March 31, 1776: In a letter to her husband, Founding Father John Adams, future first lady Abigail Adams makes a plea to him and the Continental Congress to “remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
January 23, 1849: Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to graduate from medical school and become a doctor in the United States. Born in Bristol, England, she graduated from Geneva College in New York at the top of her class.
May 29, 1851: A formerly enslaved worker turned abolitionist and women’s rights activist, Sojourner Truth delivers her famous “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at a women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio. “And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne 13 children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?”
Dec. 10, 1869: The legislature of the territory of Wyoming passes America’s first woman suffrage law, granting women the right to vote and hold office. In 1890, Wyoming is the 44th state admitted to the Union and becomes the first state to allow general women’s suffrage.
October 16, 1916: Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the United States. Located in Brownsville, Brooklyn, her clinic was deemed illegal under the “Comstock Laws” forbidding sharing information about birth control, and the clinic was raided on October 26, 1916. When she had to close two additional times due to legal threats, she closed the clinic and eventually founded the American Birth Control League in 1921—the precursor to today’s Planned Parenthood.
February 16, 1945: The Alaska Equal Rights Act is signed into law. The act is the first state or territorial anti-discrimination law enacted in the United States in the 20th century. Elizabeth Peratrovich, a Tlingit woman who was Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, spearheaded the effort to end discrimination against Alaska Natives and other non-white residents.
May 9, 1960: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first commercially produced birth control pill in the world, allowing women to control when and if they have children. Margaret Sanger initially commissioned “the pill” with funding from heiress Katherine McCormick.
June 10, 1963: President John F. Kennedy signs into law the Equal Pay Act, prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination between men and women performing the same job in the same workplace.
July 2, 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson, signs the Civil Rights Act into law; Title VII bans employment discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or sex.
June 30, 1966: Betty Friedan, author of 1963’s The Feminine Mystique, helps found the National Organization for Women (NOW), using, as the organization now states, “grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.”
June 23, 1972: Title IX of the Education Amendments is signed into law by President Richard Nixon. It states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Jan. 22, 1973: In its landmark 7-2 Roe v. Wade decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Constitution protects a woman’s legal right to an abortion. In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling.
July 7, 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor is sworn in as the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. She retires in 2006, after serving for 24 years.
June 18 1983: Flying on the Space Shuttle Challenger, Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.
A lot of history kept women confined to the institution of marriage.
In 19th-century Colorado, settler women had few rights to property or money despite working to support the emerging state. In mining communities, women were far outnumbered and were essential in supplying miners with food, cigarettes, and companionship. In local Native cultures, women were often the ones to prepare skins, quill work, and other materials for trade with the influx of settlers from the East as well as other tribes.
Although many women engaged in labor at the time, few benefited from the wages they made. Similar to some places today, wages for sex work went to a pimp or madam who required women to meet daily quotas to obtain lodging and meals. Many women engaging in sex work died in poverty.
The path to property ownership was very gradual and complicated.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act didn’t grant women the national right to a bank account until 1974- 6 years before I was born.
Child marriage was still legal in most states inn 2024. If you don’t feel that a 16-year-old getting married is child marriage and should be stopped, I want you to go back up and start reading from the top. You missed something.
When our nation was being formed, boys entered marriage at 14, and girls at age 12. Colonial marriages were usually arranged to ensure political and economic alliances.
Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or sex act.
The girls in these marriages were forced into marriages for the duration of their lives for their labor, sex, and fecundity. They were legally barred from having any options outside of marriage that allowed them to still participate in a full life in their society, and without bringing shame to their family.
Historically, women have been prostitutes, teachers, maids, nannies, bookkeepers, and servants as an alternative to marriage (and frequently in addition to marriage).
Civil Rights- A History in Human Trafficking
Whether we look toward diaspora history, women’s history, lgbtqia+ history, border history, immigrant history, the “struggle” for rights is a struggle to dismantle the continuing system of trafficking. It is the lack of rights that enables trafficking.
As long as any group of society can behave with impunity, they will enslave others.
There has to be some mechanism of regulation.
Survivor Literacy 
What do you think?