I’ve written about modern slavery, or human trafficking, before. I’ll continue to do so, because fighting slavery is important to me. There are many different actions we can take in the fight against slavery. The most important thing we can do is to value victims and survivors of human trafficking.
Stop Blaming People Who Have Been Enslaved
We shouldn’t blame people who have been enslaved for their situations. We should blame those who have chosen to enslave others.
Kanye West was speaking about historic slavery — not modern slavery — when he said that slavery was a choice, but that statement insults both people who were enslaved in the past and those who are trafficked now. When people view slavery as a choice or embrace the notion that people “create their own reality,” they show a lack of respect for those who have been used by people who are ready to oppress others for their own gain. Victims of human trafficking are people who are struggling. They try to make the best choices they can with the resources available to them. They choose whatever they think will help them survive. That’s not the same as choosing slavery.
We also frequently fail to support victims of trafficking through law enforcement. Although the United States is getting better about not charging people who are coerced into prostitution, there are still far too many instances in which these people are jailed. Sometimes they are imprisoned to force them to cooperate with an investigation, or even because appropriate help is not available.
And because many victims of human trafficking are undocumented workers, the recent crackdown on illegal immigrants in the U.S. can discourage people from seeking help.
Start Thinking Beyond Escape
It’s important to think beyond helping people escape slavery, wonderful as that moment of freedom may be.
As one human trafficking survivor points out, people who have been enslaved lack resources. They may need education or access to counseling, health care, and financial assistance. They certainly need jobs. And they need to be fairly compensated for their contributions toward fighting slavery.
Entrepreneurs might want to start businesses that are designed to provide new job skills to survivors of human trafficking. The rest of us can help out by buying from businesses that employ these survivors.
Listen to Survivors
In 2016, the U.S. government released its first-ever report on human trafficking based on significant input from survivors. The U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking put together a list of ways to fight slavery, including improving anti-trafficking training, increasing awareness of human trafficking, providing comprehensive services to survivors, and protecting vulnerable workers.
Survivors of human trafficking have escaped situations in which their human dignity was not respected. We dehumanize them again when we take the attitude that we know better than they do. Survivors are not poster children to be trotted out when we need a good example of what slavery looks like. If they choose to be involved in the fight against trafficking, we need to invite them to be full participants in our discussions about slavery. And when they speak, we need to respectfully listen. (Much of what I’ve written in this paragraph was inspired by a resource from The Advocates for Human Rights, which includes advice from women who are survivors of sex trafficking.)
It’s easy for those of us who are privileged to think we’ve attained these privileges solely due to our merits. It’s a simple step from there to placing ourselves in a “savior” type of role. I know I’ve done that many times. But when we try to solve people-centered problems like human trafficking (and other forms of oppression), we need to be humble enough to take an approach that is not centered on ourselves and our own ideas — no matter how good they may be — but instead take an approach that focuses on the people we wish to serve.