Slavery Still Exists

Every single human being on the planet is God's good idea. ~ Steve Bell

Steve Bell spoke these words before playing a song at the Mobilizing Men Against Human Trafficking event tonight. No one deserves to be a slave and no one deserves to feel worthless. He also told the story of how his former foster daughter ended up needing to be rescued from a man who was keeping her a prisoner in BC. If we think that human trafficking cannot happen to us or to someone we know, we need to think again. Sadly, slavery exists today. It does not only exist in places where the sex trade flourishes like in some Asian countries, but it happens here, in my province, in my town, and maybe even in my neighbourhood. Twenty-seven million people globally are victims of human trafficking. That is an insane number.

I went to hear MP Joy Smith speak about the work she is doing nationally. Steve is just one of the people she assisted. Grand Chief Ron Evans also spoke tonight. We know that the number of murdered and missing Aboriginal females in Canada is high. We can only speculate how many of them have been tragically lured into the sex trade.

At the end, Joy called on the men (and women) to take a stand and commit to working to make the world safer and to take action to combat modern day slavery. I forget all of the suggestions but some were to not participate in purchasing or watching pornographic materials, another was to speak out when someone puts down women and children sexually, and a third was to create a safe environment in order to protect our families. She suggested praying for the policemen like her son, who had the emotionally brutal job of watching the pornographic videos made by perverts in order to charge the perpetrators. You can fast and pray. You can take action to change the demand of the sex trade.

What are you willing to do?

Peace,

Suzanne