“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”
Proverbs 31:8a
Have you ever read a bible verse and it rocks you to your very core? Almost as if God himself had penned this verse specifically for you in this moment? Well, Proverbs 31:8 is that verse for me. I read this verse and immediately I thought “I need to use my voice; I need to stop staying silent.”
So now I probably have you all wondering, what is this thing that I can no longer stay silent on, what is it that I feel this verse so specifically applies to? The short answer, is the exploitation and sale of underage children, commonly known as child trafficking.
Now to give you the long answer, first I need to give you a little backstory on my life right now. I am a stay-at-home momma to a sweet toddler boy, and I love Jesus with all my heart. But I am also someone who stays quiet amidst turmoil. I rarely use social media for my own gain, I prefer posting family photos and coffee art and pretty things. I have never once shared a political post and I doubt I ever will, I usually scroll by anything that seems moderately controversial. But then one day, I stopped my scroll on an article about child trafficking. I clicked on that article and my eyes were opened like never before. My stomach churned and the swells of fear rose as I continued to click on article after article, researching and studying whether or not the things I had read could possibly exist, especially here in America, what I thought to be the safest country in the world. Each and every story I read made my anxious momma heart crumble, identifying each little life to that of my own son’s. Statistic after statistic kept popping up:
There are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking currently
Nationally, 4 in 10 human trafficking victims are underage children, yet in the US almost 6 in 10 victims are children
Human trafficking profits 150 billion dollars yearly, and is set to become the #1 criminal enterprise in the entire world
Most human traffickers know their victims and are trafficking them within their own countries and even within their own cities.
Every day, there are 30-50 million files of child pornography being traded online, specifically in America.
The average person who views child pornography is 60-75% more likely to become a hands-on child abuser, if they are not already.
1 in every 9 children in the US will be sexually abused or exploited before they turn 18, 1 in 3 before the age of 12.
1 in every 3 abused children are exploited by an immediate family member.
Most non-familial abusers meet their victims online via social media and virtual gaming platforms.
For so long I have followed the simple rule of staying silent to avoid controversy. But recently, I have started speaking up. I have started speaking out about the fact the child trafficking exists, not just in third world countries but right here in America. And child trafficking isn’t just children being kidnapped in the middle of the night and sold into sexual slavery. It is parents and family, sexually exploiting their children and recording it to sell to pornography websites to make a profit. It is adults being complacent in questionable behaviors between adults and children, refusing to question what is happening right before their eyes. It is the narrative that has been sold to us that children are more “safe at home” right now, when in fact their homes might be the most dangerous place of all. And if their abusers are not at home with them, they may very well be meeting their abusers online this very instance in a seemingly harmless relationship via social media or online gaming that is not being supervised by a loving adult.
So now that I have given you just a glimpse at the hours upon hours of research I have done on this topic, why did this verse from Proverbs strike such a cord within me? Because of this statistic right here: less than 1 in 10 sexually abused children will ever tell anyone what is happening to them. And of those children who speak up, almost none of the abusers will every face charges due to the fact that children cannot prove what is happening to them on their own. So, while I may not know for certain who God was directly speaking about in Proverbs 31, I do know this: if these children cannot speak up for themselves, who will? Will you? Will I? How can we?
The first and most simple answer is this, do not take my word for it on these facts. Go research and study this issue for yourself so that your eyes may also be opened. Websites like ourrescue.org or the childrescuecoalition.org are great places to start. Both of these websites provide accurate facts as well as resources to educate yourself and others with. There are also trainings available that can teach you how to spot and report suspected victims of trafficking which I feel is truly important for all adults to learn. And lastly, talk about it. Be open with friends and family about this topic. Child trafficking and abuse is such an uncomfortable topic that so many people want to sweep it under the rug or not think about. But being uncomfortable is the first step in moving forward. God hasn’t called us to live comfortable, easy lives. He has called us to “speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves”, and He never promised us it would be comfortable, but it could mean the difference in even just one precious young life when you allow yourself to be their voice.
