3 Phases of Human Trafficking
January is Human Trafficking Awareness month with the official day January 11th. It’s a topic that I’m passionate about shining light on – not only to raise awareness for but to prevent it in children with trauma histories.
It’s estimated that internationally there are between 20 million and 40 million people in modern slavery today. Assessing the full scope of human trafficking is difficult because cases so often go undetected, something the United Nations refers to as “the hidden figure of crime.-
dosomething.org
human trafficking as a theme
Because four of my children were adopted from the former Eastern Bloc Country of Poland, I took an interest in human trafficking and how it affected orphans aging out of the system. As I researched, I decided the best way to share the information was through a novel and so began the “Defining” series. The “Defining” series follows the life of Adelina, a fifteen-year-old orphan who potentially could age out of the system. She is the prime target for human traffickers who love to scout teens aging out of the system, luring them with promises of love, a job, or whatever they desire. But I’m getting ahead of myself -I’ll share the three phases of human trafficking.
The Republic of Poland, located within central Europe, is one of the many European countries that human trafficking has affected. Human trafficking is a complex global issue that is extremely difficult to eliminate as it is often invisible and difficult for authorities to track. In Poland, children and women are common targets for traffickers. Victims often come from low-income areas and have little legal protection, making it easier for traffickers to transport victims to and from Poland. In order to eliminate human trafficking in Poland, the country must address underlying issues, such as poverty.
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https://borgenproject.org/human-trafficking-in-poland/
As the realization of what could have happened to my kiddos and after talking to other Moms who adopted from other Eastern Bloc countries (East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania), I knew I had to act. Because writing is my action I wrote Defining Home. I gathered a group of teens and they walked Adelina’s story with me as I wrote, revised, edited, and published. As one teen said, “I learned more about human trafficking from Defining Home than I ever would have from a pamphlet (which I wouldn’t have read).” at one of our round table meetings. I inwardly cheered and jumped up and down. Outwardly I smiled. If you want your teen to learn about the dangers of human trafficking through a non-confrontational way without an infographic – start with Defining Home: Adelina’s Adventures Volume 1.
defining home
Grab your free copy today!
“Told from the voice of a Polish orphan, Defining Home brings to light the horrors of the sex trafficking industry while also hitting important nuances in older child adoption. The characters are endearing and the plot keeps you on your toes.”-Melissa Corkum, The Corkboard Online
furthering my human trafficking education
As the realization of what could have happened to my kiddos began to sink in – I researched human trafficking more. After joining forces with SHIELD I learned about familial trafficking in our area. Familial trafficking is when a family forces a son or daughter to exchange sexual favors for drugs, money, goods, etc…
familial trafficking – a form of child abuse
- Worldwide, the Counter Trafficking Data Collective reported that 41% of child trafficking involved a close member or relative of the child as the perpetrator. ·
- An analysis of familial sex trafficking published in the Journal of Family Violence in 2018 shows that when trafficking occurred by family members, children were most often exchanged for illegal drugs. The children studied “demonstrated a high severity of abuse as measured with the Sexual Abuse Severity Score, with higher severity of abuse for children living in rural communities.”
As my knowledge of the world of human trafficking grew so did my concern as well as the urgency to shout warnings to families. So I did what I know best – I wrote another book – Kill the Librarian which delves into the definition of “family” and trafficking foster teens.
Finally, in the “Defining” Series, I tackle the terrorist side of trafficking in Defining Family, and the cult side of trafficking in Defining Marriage.
three phases of trafficking every parent needs to know
Scouting. This phase can be likened to hunting. The scout often gathers information (intelligence) via social media. This information including loneliness, unmonitored social media activity, and the desire for a “better life” is used for the next phase. *This phase can also be accomplished in person!
Manipulation. The trafficker supplies what the teen wants which can range from new tennis shoes (true story) to the promise of a new life. Often traffickers promise love, freedom, a career, or fill-in-the-blank. My niece was promised a singing career if she met a man at a truck stop in the manipulation phase. She did go to the truck stop. Thankfully, with her mom, aunt, and cousins calling and texting her, the police were able to rescue her before she got in the truck.
*Middle-class teens can be targeted. No one is immune as per my niece’s harrowing experience.
Trapping. Enslaving or trapping can be accomplished in various ways -drugging the victim and kidnapping her/him. Or the threat of exposing sexual activities. Or the threat of killing family members. The list is endless really. Although we see images of chains in our minds when we think of trafficking – there are other ways of enslaving that are not visible.
human trafficking is a worldwide problem
It’s hard to accept the fact that human trafficking may be going on in your neighborhood, or one of your family members may be a potential target (like my niece), but it’s true. We can’t turn a blind eye to the issue. The underlying theme of trafficking is the devaluing of human life. It’s not an issue we can deal with simply by applying stricter laws and rules.
Evil is overcome or displaced by good as surely as dark is displaced by light.
Lisa Bevere, Girls With Swords
One of the first steps in ending human trafficking is awareness, then action (in our own families and communities), and education. The most important action we can apply is prayer – evil isn’t dispelled because of a new law. There must be a change of heart. Lisa Bevere shares a powerful truth in Girls With Swords in reference to 2 Timothy 3:1-5:
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
“Our difficulties arise from a darkened condition heart”- not economic collapse, wars, or earthquakes. We need to humble ourselves and pray for a revival and refreshing awakening of the human heart.
conclusion:
This is an excruciating post to write. I weep for the overwhelming expanse of human suffering and the potential for more if we don’t rise up and do something.
I’m using the gifts God has given me and writing (and podcasting) about the subject. Just a moment of honesty here – marketing is not my strong suit, so could you share this post and the books listed here. I wholeheartedly believe my books have value and contain the power to change the potential path of readers!
One last note, even if you don’t want a free chapter of Defining Home, sign up if you’re interested in knowing about more of my books including an upcoming release of America’s Future– the sequel to Kill the Librarian which focuses on trafficking preying on foster youth in a treacherous way that threatens the foundation of the future of America.
*Just note to you dear parent, if you’re reading this and thinking, I don’t want my teen to read graphic content full of F-bombs, don’t worry. You can rest assured that my books are PG and G rated. Feel free to read the book yourself first!
defining home
Grab your free copy today!
“Told from the voice of a Polish orphan, Defining Home brings to light the horrors of the sex trafficking industry while also hitting important nuances in older child adoption. The characters are endearing and the plot keeps you on your toes.”-Melissa Corkum, The Corkboard Online
other resources
National Human Trafficking Hotline- 1(888) 373-7888
Human Trafficking Hotline Website