Does Slavery Still Exist?

Many people do not know the seriousness and dangers of modern slavery that is human trafficking, and those that do know may have misconceptions about what it really is or how it could affect them or those closest to them. An actual definition of human trafficking is given by the U.S. Department of State as “the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion." One common myth of human trafficking is that to be trafficked means that someone is taken out of the state that or across borders, but actually Human trafficking can happen with little or no movement at all. People can be trafficked within their hometowns, and children can be trafficked while living under their parents’ roofs.

Another common misconception of human trafficking is that it really isn’t a problem here in the U.S. when in fact, it could be happening right under our nose. People may picture third-world countries when they think of human trafficking, but it does indeed happen in developed nations. Since December 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has documented more than 40,000 human trafficking cases in the United States. Texas alone saw 455 cases reported in 2018. The unfortunate reality is that there are more slaves today in our world than at any other time in history. While this is a sobering truth, we have the opportunity to do something about this terrible injustice. The issue of human trafficking is complex, stemming from things like the pornography industry, runaway teens, and worker exploitation. As we work to tackle these issues and raise awareness about the dangers, justice will prevail. If you are a parent of a teen or work with teens, encourage them to learn about this issue of human trafficking. Not only will this help teens see what modern day slavery looks like, they will be warned about grooming behaviors that lead to teens being exploited!