Human Trafficking is one of the gravest human rights abuses in history, and its effects are deeply shattering to the mind, body, and soul. Victims face brutal physical, sexual, and psychological violence every day.
Rescue is only the beginning of freedom for survivors of human trafficking. We believe survivors deserve the opportunity for restoration.
Catalyst Ministries works to rescue and provide a safe haven for women who have been abused, exploited and enslaved.
““You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”
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Let’s Define Human Trafficking
“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” -United Nation’s Palermo Protocols
Forced Labor and Sex Trafficking
Human Trafficking funnels down into either forced labor or sex trafficking. Sometimes the overlap Forced labor is also known as involuntary servitude. This form of trafficking in which persons are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or by more subtle means such as accumulated debt, retention of identity papers, or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities. Victims work long hours with very little to no pay and in inhumane working and living conditions
According to estimates from the International Labour Organization, the human trafficking industry generates 32 billion U.S. dollars every year. Half of this amount comes from industrialized countries, and a third is generated in Asia. Trafficking can occur both within a country and trans-nationally. Because people can literally be sold, again and again, trafficking is the world’s fastest-growing crime.
Forced Labor
Human trafficking occurs in every corner of the globe. It occurs in every country, every city, and in many towns. According to the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report by the U.S. Department of State, human trafficking is most prevalent in North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, The Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Eurasia. The International Labor Office estimates that there are 40 million people enslaved worldwide.
Men, women, and children from every ethnicity and every fabric of society are victims of human trafficking. The International Labour Organization estimates that 25% (10 million) of victims are men, 25% are children (10 million), and 75% are women and girls (30 million).
The Commercial Sex Industry
Today, our society permits or advocates for a commercial sex industry that supports sex trafficking through its underlying attitude that it’s okay to buy women’s and men’s bodies for sex. We cannot hope to fight sex trafficking unless we fight the underlying mindset that permits and advocates for pornography, stripping, and prostitution.
75% are women and girls
In the U.S., it is estimated that between 240,000-325,000 children are at risk for sex trafficking each year. Put another way, 1 out of every 6 children who are runaways are likely victims of sex trafficking.
Prostitution
According to some studies, 89% of women enslaved in prostitution desperately want to escape. Often our society sees prostitution as a choice, but women and children are often compelled or forced to enter prostitution due to a lack of choice because of poverty or through coercion or abuse. Catalyst Ministries believes God sees all women and girls who are trapped in prostitution as equally valuable and precious; deserving of unconditional love and freedom from their bondage.
Pornography
Pornography and sex trafficking are inseparably linked. Pornography does not condemn sexual violence. Pornography does not condemn illegal, harmful sexual activity. Pornography does not condemn the sexual objectification and degrading of women.
Pornography normalizes all of these. And our American society is saturated in it.