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Let’s talk movies

Let’s talk movies and human trafficking.


Millions of people this summer flocked to the screening of Sound of Freedom, a movie telling the story of a hero rescuing children from sexual assault and entrapment in the sordid underworld of sex trafficking. Of course we cheer the hero and rail against the injustice. Who wouldn’t? And we are in good company. As Jesus said, 


…whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6 NASB


The film has certainly made trafficking a topic of conversation in churches, homes, and other places where it had once been off the table. I’m grateful for that. Increased awareness and informed conversations are necessary to bring about change. At the same time I’ve been grappling with a concern, something that—if heard at all—is drowned out by the overwhelmingly positive reviews this film has attracted.



Knowing the truth helps fight the darkness. 


Well-crafted movies draw us into the storyline, create strong emotional attachments to the characters, perhaps even move us to action. But what if the storyline doesn’t tell the whole story? And what if that means that the emotional urgency to act that we feel at the end of the film has misled us?


I doubt that one single movie could fully represent the many horrific facets of this heinous injustice, but if we don’t go home after a movie like this and do our homework, we can end up misunderstanding how to fight this issue. One source of good information is Enough is Enough, an organization that helps kids and families stay safe online. On their website, they address ten misconceptions about trafficking. Let’s talk about three of them.



Three Misconceptions 


The first misconception is that child sex trafficking only impacts those living in foreign nations. Currently, we do have foreign national children crossing our border, and being exploited, a massive problem. But, most of the victims are already here in the United States. About every 4 out of 5 victims of human trafficking in the United States are U.S. Citizens, primarily adolescents. For a trafficker it is easier and cheaper if you lure and sell children in your backyard, than transporting them from elsewhere. We must understand our kids are targets.


Misconception two is kids are first kidnapped by their traffickers. This does happen, but we need to understand it’s not just that. A study was done in Florida that found 90% of victims live at home, sleep in their own beds, and go to school daily. Another estimate says “25-47% of trafficking is by a caregiver and 50% of those cases are mothers trafficking their own children.” Many victims know, love, and trust the family member, or so-called friend, who abuses them. Often, in court cases they choose to stay with the abusing parent. That is the life they know and a trauma bond attaches them to it. 


Misconception three is that it only happens in impoverished communities. Actually, traffickers target teens from anywhere, whether inside or outside of a city. No place is immune from exploitation. Traffickers are creating the demand by filming exploitation and putting it online in addition to selling children. Who would buy a child? Surely someone in their wrong mind.


Did you know that the #1 buyer of sex with a minor in the U.S. is a male who makes over $100,000 a year, is married, and has two children? Shocking as this is, it’s symptomatic of the larger breakdown of the family unit. Here’s a father with a seemingly “dream life” trashing it to defile innocence. Part of the explanation among others, lies in the drug called pornography, which literally changes the brain.


Dr. Lawrence V. Tucker says “even to the untrained eye, the brains of pornography addicts are visibly depleted, worse than even the brain scans of heroin addicts. Even more alarming, the region of the brain most depleted by addictive pornography consumption is the prefrontal cortex, the region that “makes you human.” This is the area of decision making and you don’t make right ones on porn.


Anywhere. Any town.


The internet not only makes pornography available on demand but gives traffickers a means of access by which they can find, recruit, and target victims 24/7. It’s estimated that at any given time there are 750,000 child predators online. To put this in perspective, while a device is turned on, the traffickers could be in your your child’s bedroom. Handing a child a cell phone is putting them at risk for being seduced by pornography and/or coerced by a trafficker. A trafficker “befriends” a child through gaming or social media and exploits simple needs they have to feel loved and valued. In the child’s innocence s/he thinks “here’s my friend.” The human trafficking report from 2020 reported 55 percent of victims were recruited online. Today, I’m sure those numbers are higher. That means a trafficker can be anywhere recruiting a child in Anytown, U.S.A.


So if you think it’s only in impoverished areas, you will miss the children in your neighborhood. If you think it’s in motels or only cities or a kidnapper alone, you’ll miss the middle class teen falling asleep in class because he’s exploited by a relative. We need the facts to educate jurors, health workers, law enforcement, and all of us. Please check out the websites in the links above or below. They have some excellent resources and information to keep kids safe online and to learn more. 


Enough is Enough Sex Trafficking in the United States: What every parent needs to know. Webinar


https://enough.org/

Learn more for parents, grandparents, and caregivers.


jacobooyensministries.org 

Excellent information in a concise, easy format. Check out their Impact Report.