Why Is Modern-Day Slavery So Rampant?

Why can’t sex trafficking just slow down or stop altogether? What is the common denominator between sex trafficking and today’s culture?

It is tempting to let our minds remain untaught, to believe that slavery is not really that bad, or that it only happens in faraway countries. But that is not true. It happens in small towns. It happens in big cities. It happens in developing nations and modern societies alike. Slavery is everywhere.

So why is it such a big issue? Sadly, we are the problem. We are the common denominator. Slavery continues because of the ripple effects of our own choices.

How?
Simply put, we live in a sex-crazed culture. Society promotes objectifying others.

From a young age, boys are taught that it is acceptable to look at a woman and see her as nothing more than an enticing figure. Girls are encouraged to flaunt their bodies for attention. This teaches both sides to accept objectification as normal. When women choose to dress revealingly, men are told they have permission to stare.

According to the thesaurus, the word ogle can be replaced with the phrase to undress with one’s eyes. Think about that. As a culture, we are teaching children that people can be viewed as objects, and it is sickening.

But what happens when these children grow up? They become adults conditioned to admire bodies rather than value people. That mindset becomes a stepping stone to pornography.

Think of it this way: you are reading this online right now. Your computer remembers what you click. Each visit shapes what appears next. The same is true for sites that exploit victims. The more clicks, the more the numbers climb. Porn sites thrive on this demand, and many of those videos feature victims of trafficking.

Research reveals that nearly one hundred percent of sex-trafficked victims had their abuse documented and filmed. Those recordings often become porn. Survivors have testified that they were tortured, beaten, or even threatened at gunpoint while being filmed. One survivor said, “Porn is nothing more than documented abuse.”

Yet people keep clicking. They become addicted to the images flashing across the screen, blind to the invisible chains and silent cries for freedom. One video becomes five. Five becomes fifty. Fifty becomes endless.

But this creates the demand.
If there is a demand, there must be a supply.
And that supply is human lives.

Traffickers, driven by greed, target the vulnerable. Through manipulation, coercion, or deceit, they trap victims in a cycle of abuse to feed the ever-growing appetite of consumers.

Many justify it, thinking, “I am not hurting anyone.”
But every click fuels the cycle. Every view increases demand. Every act of consumption deepens the chains of another’s bondage.

It is a lie that viewing porn does not hurt anyone.
It is a lie that the girls in the videos want to be there.
It is a lie that men can ogle women without consequence.

These are the lies our culture teaches, and they destroy lives.

But we can choose differently.
We can stand against the tide and see others as human beings, not objects.
We can stop clicking on sites that exploit others.
We can speak the truth and expose the lies.

People are valuable.
People are not objects.
Together, we can decrease demand and help set captives free.

Written by Lena Parriera