The Obama administration on Monday nearly doubled the number of countries that may face U.S. sanctions for not doing enough to combat human trafficking, calling on those and other nations to get serious and take tough steps to eradicate the lucrative illicit practice.
In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department identified 23 nations as failing to meet minimum international standards to curb the scourge, which claims mainly women and children as victims. That's up from 13 in 2010. Another 41 countries were placed on a "watch list" that could lead to sanctions unless their records improve. Here is the full article from the AP
This list includes good old USA. Yes, we too have to look at ourselves and no longer turn a blind eye to what may be going on under our own noses. The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking in persons. At the same time there are cases of human trafficking that have been reported in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and some U.S. territories. Victims of human trafficking can be children or adults, U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, male or female. According to U.S. government estimates, thousands of men, women, and children are trafficked to the United States for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. An unknown number of U.S. citizens and legal residents are trafficked within the country primarily for sexual servitude and, to a lesser extent, forced labor.
The State Department estimates that as many as 27 million men, women and children are living in such bondage around the worlds. Sadly China was given a waiver. And that is not good, because it is beginning to become uncovered just how many babies have been stolen to go up for adoption. One wonders how many kids have been stolen to go into the world of modern day slavery. And then you have to wonder what might have happened to young women since they are treated as less than men.
In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department identified 23 nations as failing to meet minimum international standards to curb the scourge, which claims mainly women and children as victims. That's up from 13 in 2010. Another 41 countries were placed on a "watch list" that could lead to sanctions unless their records improve. Here is the full article from the AP
This list includes good old USA. Yes, we too have to look at ourselves and no longer turn a blind eye to what may be going on under our own noses. The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking in persons. At the same time there are cases of human trafficking that have been reported in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and some U.S. territories. Victims of human trafficking can be children or adults, U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, male or female. According to U.S. government estimates, thousands of men, women, and children are trafficked to the United States for the purposes of sexual and labor exploitation. An unknown number of U.S. citizens and legal residents are trafficked within the country primarily for sexual servitude and, to a lesser extent, forced labor.
The State Department estimates that as many as 27 million men, women and children are living in such bondage around the worlds. Sadly China was given a waiver. And that is not good, because it is beginning to become uncovered just how many babies have been stolen to go up for adoption. One wonders how many kids have been stolen to go into the world of modern day slavery. And then you have to wonder what might have happened to young women since they are treated as less than men.
Human trafficking is "the illegal and involuntary smuggling of a person across borders, often for the purposes of forced labor," according to Julie Clawson in "Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices."
“Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death.” (Exodus 21:16) In 1 Timothy 1:9-10 the New Testament also condemns those who would traffic in the lives of human beings comparing them to adulterers and perverts. Matthew 18, Jesus hates those who abuse a child. We are our Brother's Keeper and Should care what happens to them. If we remain silent on the issues, who will speak for us, if the nation turns it's Back on them? Report it If you know the who, where and when!
Deuteronomy 10:17-18
For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. (ESV)
Psalm 68:5-6
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. (ESV)
Job 31:16-23
“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
(for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow,
if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty. (ESV)
This is what the LORD says:
For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}.
They sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
as upon the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name. (Amos 2:6-7, NIV)
Want to know more, pray more, and do more about this?
Go to STOP THE TRAFFIK's website
or Humantrafficking.org
Check out Christie Caine's A21, which is about abolishing injustice in the 21st century. I heard Christie speak at the Willow Creek Summit in 2010 about her calling and working to eradicate this problem of human trafficking. One of the things on this website that is offered is 21 ways to help eliminate human trafficking.
Don't turn a blind eye, help be the change that God calls us to be.
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