sex trafficking

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For much of the past month, I’ve been getting ads between YouTube videos for a set of speakers, all of international origin, trying to get me to invite them to my church to talk about sexual trafficking. They claim that if they can come to my church, together we can help eliminate the horrible global problem of sexual trafficking. The ad shows photos of them speaking against a black background, laid over some random crowd shot that could have just as easily been a basketball game.

There are many problems with this ad. First, I don’t have a church and I did its regular attendance number would be around three, on a good day. Second, none of the names were recognizable and there was no way to check their credentials. Third, the photo felt fake. The solid black backgrounds matched too perfectly. Nothing was defining about the “crowd” to legitimize a specific location. Fourth, there were no endorsements from well-known third parties, such as UNICEF. I don’t know if you’ve worked around legit NGOs, but I assure you this is not how any of them work.

Then, one of the first things I read this morning was this headline:

Philippine court orders arrest of religious leader with ties to Duterte

The article centers around a megachurch pastor, Apollo Quiboloy, who calls himself “owner of the universe” and “appointed son of god.” He is charged with sex trafficking and sexual abuse of a Philippine woman. The Philippine court reversed a 2020 decision dropping the charges because the victim in this case continued to press the matter, making it impossible for the court to deny her charges.

Quiboloy also faces charges in the United States of sex trafficking based on accusations of coercing girls and young women to have sex with him. He is on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list.

And this is why the church cannot be trusted to actually do anything to end sex trafficking. Sure, they make a lot of noise about it, and it’s become an election-year rallying cry for right-wing congregations who are sure that governments as responsible for the problem because, are you ready… Epstein. However, churches are not in the policing business, are they? Consider a few highlights:

• In the US alone, 4,392 priests have been accused of sexual abuse.
• In 2019, a Houston Chronicle report found roughly 380 clergy, lay leaders, and volunteers had faced allegations of sexual misconduct, leaving behind over 700 victims since 1998.
• The Church has a long history of either ignoring or punishing women who bring allegations against men in the church.
• “Mission work” has been a frequent cover for funneling young women into sex work, telling the young women that this is a way of “repenting” for their sins.

And yet they want to be the ones who put an end to the very activity that has been one of their core interests for centuries? Let’s not forget that these same organizations supported slavery for over 400 years. They were adamant that by taking black people out of godless Africa they were helping to save their souls. Are we really going to fall for this trick again?

There’s no question that sex trafficking is a problem, but religion is absolutely not the way to solve it. First of all, churches have no legal authority outside the confines of their own addled minds. They can’t go running around internationally taking on the bad guys and putting them in jail. One doesn’t just walk into a sex trafficking operation and shut them down without a lot of authority, and usually a lot of firepower. This is dangerous work that needs to be carried out by professionals, not a group of folks with questionable divinity degrees.

Another huge issue is that the church’s mission of forgiveness lies in opposition to the legal need for punishment and restitution. We don’t need anyone cornering a bad guy and letting them off with a warning that “if you say 34 Hail Marys and promise to never do it again, we’ll let you go. Solving the problem of sexual abuse and sex trafficking first requires that people listen to the women and children who tell them what is going on, and believe what they’re being told. The church cannot be trusted to do that. They’ve never done it before, so why would anyone in their right mind trust them now?

Sex trafficking is rampant around the world for a number of reasons. Not only is there this long-standing problem of not listening to women, but it is far too easy to escape capture simply by moving from one country to another. There’s little cooperation between law enforcement authorities around the world, even in places where they share borders. Even if people are kidnapped in China, for example, getting sex trafficking charges in the US to stick is difficult because a) some of the people wanted to come to the US in the first place, and b) the Chinese government isn’t terribly cooperative in taking victims back or filing charges on their end.

Without a universal law enforcement agency that has the ability to make arrests regardless of a person’s country of citizenship and a court that can actually enforce international law promptly, all manner of international crime falls between the legal cracks. The bad guys succeed because international law is broken and toothless. These are the same empty laws that allow smugglers, drug dealers, and spies to get away with their horrible acts. Until there’s some stronger enforcement around the globe, there’s not a lot to stop the bad guys.

One thing that could work is responsibly legalizing sex work. I know a lot of conservatives, and especially religious conservatives don’t like having this conversation because they don’t want to understand human sexuality, but there are at least four benefits to legalizing sex work.

1. Enpowerment. Legalization can empower sex workers to report abuse or exploitation without fear of legal repercussions. This helps break the cycle of silence and prosecute traffickers.
2. Regulation. When sex work is legalized, it can be regulated safely, away from the cartels and other ill-minded power brokers. This means enforcing standards, such as health and safety regulations, and ensuring that sex workers are treated fairly. Regulation can also help in monitoring and preventing exploitation by traffickers.
3. Destigmatization. Legalizing sex work helps reduce the stigma associated with the industry. When sex work is viewed as a legitimate profession, sex workers are more likely to see help and support, including from law enforcement, without fear of judgment or discrimination.
4. Reduction of Demand. Legal sex work can potentially reduce the demand for trafficked individuals, as those seeking sexual services can access them through legal channels. This can lessen the profit for which traffickers exploit vulnerable individuals.

Other things we can do include addressing poverty, the lack of opportunities (especially being able to move between countries freely), and inequality. These are all critical to effectively combating sex trafficking and abuse.

Several states now require that signs be posted in businesses that say something to the effect: “If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in an activity and cannot leave, whether it is prostitution, housework, farm work, factory work, retail work, restaurant work or any other activity, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline.”

Human trafficking isn’t only about sex work. The high demand for farm work and low-wage warehouse work are perfect conditions for human trafficking because there’s little public interface or knowledge of the situation. I am aware of one instance from two years ago where traffickers attempted to push warehouse work that required a lot of walking and lifting onto a 74-year-old Senegalese woman who could barely walk without assistance, couldn’t lift, and had severe breathing problems. The argument for human trafficking was, in my opinion, one of the most obvious I’d ever seen. Yet, the management at the warehouse didn’t want to report the incident because of the high number of “good” workers the “agency” provided.

We don’t need the church involved in solving human trafficking. We need real laws that stick and the international clout to enforce them. Until we have that, poor and desperate people around the world remain in danger.