Human trafficking: A just and biblical response - GotQuestions.org Podcast Episode 14

God questions podcast.

I'm Kevin Stone.

I'm the managing editor of God questions ministries and with me today is Dax

Lewis.

Dax is one of our volunteer writers for God questions.

We'll talk a little bit about his writing experience with us.

And then he is also a member of law enforcement for a state agency.

We'll talk a little bit about his work Combating human trafficking and get some insight there as

well in just a few minutes, but Dax welcome to the podcast.

Thank you.

I'm honored to be here.

I'm so glad that you could join me today.

And let's start with talking about your writing for God questions.

You're a volunteer writer, which means you help to answer the many questions that come in to

got questions website.

You'll you we send you an email and then you take that and you answer the question and send that

back.

And so how long have you been writing for God questions?

It's just been under three years that I've been that I've been participating.

Yeah, and we really appreciate your work.

How many questions do you answer per week?

I only answer one pretty busy schedule with work and a kid still in high school and

also doing seminary on the side.

So.

One takes up as much time as I have to give.

Yeah. Yeah.

I don't even know how you get it all done with with a schedule that you've got.

But how do you.

Let's walk us through the process a little bit with answering a question.

So you get an email and you know, it's from got questions.

So you say this is my my question for the week and so I'm going to

Tell us how that happens.

You go from email to formulating an answer and then getting that back to us.

Sure.

Yeah, I get an email Comes to my phone as most people these days do and as soon as I get as soon as I see it I

try to look at the question you know and I want to be able to read it and Then put my phone away

and I kind of just try and think about it for the next day or so while I'm working.

You know if I'm on break or or when I'm at home in the evening I try and run that question through my mind and think about

what scriptures Do I know off the top my head that I can bring to that question as part of an

answer or even?

What's in the question or behind the question that maybe has a flawed?

Category on how they're looking at something and sometimes just addressing The

things that are in the question themselves.

Helps clear things up.

So.

Once I once I think about it for a day or so.

Then I get out scripture again and confirm the things that I thought probably the Bible

talked about in a proficient and a Good manner, I guess for the question

and then I get out some commentaries.

Study those make sure I'm tracking right and then write my answer and submit it back to got questions through

email.

Okay, and then at that point the editors that got questions will it will take your answer that you've

sent in and just proofread it very briefly check in first spelling and whatever else and then and then

send that on to the questioner and so the loop is completed and so the original questioner has

an answer.

And I appreciate so much you mentioning the The fact that you put scripture in your answer.

It's one of the things that we always want to do it got questions is provide biblical answers to scriptural questions and if the Bible

doesn't, you know directly address something.

We we try to always mention that and Say we can give informed opinions on some

things.

But there is so much that the Bible does speak directly to and we always want to use scripture and our

answers.

Yes.

Yeah.

Well, there are other questions that I would like to ask about the the writing process.

It's fascinating to me.

But I do want to get into the other issue today that I brought you on the podcast for which

is human trafficking you've.

I Guess I should ask the question.

How long have you been in law enforcement?

I've been in law enforcement.

This is my 20th year.

Okay.

Wow, very good.

And so you've probably seen a lot of stuff through the years and I'm sure that you know Human trafficking

has been part of of your of what you've seen.

Yes those years as well.

So how big of a problem is it?

Well, let me back up because we need to define our terms.

When people hear the term human trafficking they may not even have a clear idea of what it is,

so give us a Definition of human trafficking so we know what we're talking about.

Exactly.

Sure.

So human trafficking is.

Is forcing somebody to participate in labor or services?

For the profit of someone else and that's done by fraud force or coercion.

But what we typically think about is when people are smuggled from another country over our

borders and come here or.

The.

Old guy in the in the big white van that shows up and snatches people off the streets.

Both of those things happen.

But those are not always human trafficking and that is not solely human trafficking.

So when people are smuggled across a border While it could be human trafficking it's most

certainly human smuggling and smuggling is a crime against a nation's sovereignty and Trafficking

is a crime against a person.

So when they get smuggled over here That's typically smuggling like I said.

But the vulnerabilities that that presents showing up in a new country and maybe having to pay somebody could translate into a trafficking

situation.

But your typical pimp prostitute relationship Is by definition human

trafficking.

The pimp is forcing the prostitute as we typically use that term

To go provide sexual services to somebody but the traffickers the ones making the money.

So it's a it's a it's a forced servitude.

It's a it's a slavery in an impression.

Modern -day slavery in it and it involves more than just the sex trafficking to

it involves the.

Just you know labor out people out in the labor force could be yeah, absolutely.

And we see that in a couple different ways and again, it's all about vulnerabilities.

So the Asian massage parlor business is another area where there's a lot of forced labor.

Trafficking and a lot of times that turns into sex trafficking at the same time.

But people are brought here to this country and maybe they don't speak the language very well.

They're not given their their official documents such as passports or IDs or even

their their money when they get here and those are held and they have to try and work off their.

Their trip here or whatever those those traffickers lay out as their terms.

But then they're forced to provide massages all day or maybe in the construction company.

Maybe you get a a workroom.

That is some undocumented Illegal aliens basically.

Well, they're here and they're working, but they're probably working for substandard

wages.

And they're being forced to work.

They're not even making their money.

They're out working to pay off their.

They're smuggling across the border, but they don't ever know when that that payment ends.

And I don't mean that in every every ethnicity either, you know, there are people out there working of all

ethnicities.

But when people are vulnerable.

From being smuggled into this country and they're not from here and they don't know people and they're not given their documents that makes them very vulnerable.

What would you say to somebody who says?

I human human trafficking may be a problem, but only in the big cities

and it doesn't affect me.

I'm in a more rural area suburban area and I I'm sure it's not in my

it's not in my neighborhood.

What would you say to somebody who has that mindset?

It is more prevalent in the bigger cities, but it does happen in these in these smaller communities in the rural areas.

And and some of its happening.

Online.

So I'll give you an example like there's a there's a page out there called only fans and

People can pay a monthly subscription to basically have a peep show at these girls.

So they're not even meeting these people.

But they're paying a let's say they're paying a $25 a month subscription to this one person's page.

Well every so often this person puts out new videos or pictures of

You know sexual things going on or just nude photos in general

and a person's paying for that in a subscription.

The problem is is Those people are often being exploited behind the scenes.

You don't see the trafficker in the video.

But those people aren't doing that in so many of the instances because they want to and so even

sitting at home.

And in a little town of a thousand people somewhere you could be exploiting somebody that's being trafficked for sexual

services.

It may not even be physical contact, but it's electronic exploitation.

So.

It happens everywhere.

The the market is obviously bigger and the anonymity of meeting these people in the bigger cities is more prevalent.

But it happens it happens everywhere.

Yeah.

What makes a person vulnerable?

What do traffickers look for in a victim?

Well traffickers look for vulnerabilities, and that's that's what they exploit.

So you may have a teenager that's unhappy at home or has a terrible home life and begins

seeking.

Begins seeking a relationship or friendship or some support or a

fatherly figure?

Somewhere else.

Well traffickers gonna morph into what they need to morph into to provide that.

At least.

That's what it appears.

And then once they're caught in that they're isolated control starts being exerted.

Maybe they lose their cell phone.

For not a lot of go see family and friends anymore, and they're caught.

But any vulnerability makes a person subject to being trafficking or to being trafficked.

So sending a nude photo is a perfect way to start the process of being trafficked or at least exploited.

Because once that photo is out there now they've got you.

You're either going to continue to send them or have to pay a ransom.

Or they're going to try and expose you and publish it and just absolutely humiliate you.

Well, let's bring scripture to bear on this issue of human trafficking.

Dax if you received a question through the got questions website about human trafficking.

Wanting to use scripture in your answer.

How would you bring scripture into?

The discussion I think I would start with Genesis 127 and the man is made in God's image.

I think that is ultimately the most important thing because these people are human beings.

They're not units of production and and they're being victimized by both sides of the equation

especially sexually.

The trafficker thinks of them as a unit of production and.

Their property.

The buyer thinks of them as an object.

To be used and discarded.

So these people are not being treated with any dignity in any of their any of their contacts

while they're in this world.

So I think understanding that they are people they're made in God's image they're loved by others in their family.

They're not to be oppressed to be objectified to be used.

I think that's the first thing because of who they are.

They have a soul and that and that God created them.

Luke 19 10 says that Jesus came to seek and to save those that were lost.

They're lost people to.

The buyers are lost.

We we have got to bring the gospel into conflict with this with this world.

Including the human trafficking world.

Hearts have got to be regenerated for us to solve this problem.

So those are two of the things I would bring.

Also, you know, Matthew 25, I think it's verses 35 to 45 Jesus talks about hey.

If you've if you fed the hungry or gave a drink to the thirsty or took in a stranger, you've done that to

me.

So many people are disgusted by the lifestyle that a prostitute leads, you know, there's they're often

thought of as kind of just dirty filthy.

They're in need they're victims and we've got to look past that and take them in and love

on them.

I.

Think a lot of times about the scriptures many Admonitions to

help the helpless to stand up for the the innocent that are being

exploited and a lot of times it's framed in the Proverbs and the Psalms as you know helping the

Widow and the orphan, you know the the marginalized forgotten and victim often

victimized segments of society and The scriptures full of that how God looks out

for the Those who are vulnerable.

I also think of Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan and the the many

messages that are there but The one that we have to pull out is that we need to

help people in need.

Can't just walk by can't just ignore them.

And.

There's somebody who's in need who's been victimized doesn't matter who they are.

That's my neighbor and we must love our neighbors Jesus taught and so.

We are.

We're admonished in Scripture over and over to be Doing something to to help

the victims of crime and and of exploitation in our world.

So what is being done Dax and I'm talking about in law enforcement in?

Non -government organizations nonprofits in the media.

To combat human trafficking.

Well, it's a great question and and this is a this is a crime and a criminal

enterprise even that is slowly.

Kind of rose to the surface of one of the big needs of our day in law enforcement.

Law enforcement is trying to catch up with what's been going on behind the scenes with

with the prostitutes.

We're trying to catch up and and Push training out to people so that they can see these things that most of the time these people aren't

in this lifestyle because they want to be.

Nobody nobody dreamed of growing up to be a prostitute or a sex worker.

Undoubtedly, there are people that are in it on their own volition, but the majority of them are not and.

And so pushing the training out interdiction for the protection of children is one of the courses that is being taught across the

nation.

It's to it's to help officers on traffic stops or when they're in a house taking a call for service.

To recognize indicators that somebody's being exploited or trafficked and also to recognize people while

there may not be a trafficking situation going on.

They're a high -risk threat to a child to a child.

And and.

To.

Research that situation maybe make contact if they don't live in your area and pass their name on say hey.

Here's what I came up with and I think they're high -risk threat to children.

Somebody may want to Take a look at this person or this situation or try and find some of these people that he's in contact

with.

Maybe they're victims.

So we're trying to push training out because education and understanding what's going on because we can all see

we can all see.

The prostitution we see it in the movies.

We see it on TV.

You drive down some of the big cities and you see some of these people walking up and down the road that you suspect are.

What you don't see is who they're taking that money back to and giving it back to after they perform

services.

Frankly they've been victimized.

The non -governmental organizations the nonprofits.

They're a huge help their support to law enforcement their support to victims.

Some of these entities Deliver fund for example is a non -governmental organization

that was started with some military veterans That were back back home and decided

to take their battle skills and their military skills to fight against the traffickers that are oppressing American citizens

and.

So they provide free intelligence resources on human trafficking trafficking situations to law enforcement free of charge

to the law enforcement entity.

You've got victim service coalitions out there that are that are providing Restoration houses for long -term

recovery for these people after they get out of the lifestyle.

You've got people that will show up as crisis Service providers in the night that the police bring

them into the station to talk to them.

They're there to provide food or hygiene or a motel stay or a shelter.

So there's a lot that's being done and the media has been picking up on on this and there's been a lot of a lot.

Articles or news clips coming out in the last couple years about major operations and rescue of

children, especially.

That catches everybody's eye.

But it wasn't very long ago that shows like pimp my ride were glamorizing the pimp the

stereotypical pimp lifestyle.

And and.

Pimps by definition are human traffickers.

Third.

Their slave masters their oppressors their victimizers their predators.

That's not a glamorous lifestyle at all.

For those of us who are not in law enforcement.

What are some of the indicators of human trafficking that we could look for any red flags?

Yeah, that's a great question.

And so much of this goes on behind the scenes that the average person doesn't see a lot of these things.

But a couple things I would say is and this goes for retail clerks.

Especially they would have probably the best view of some of this would be let's say a couple people show up to

to rent a hotel room for the night and Maybe one of them's trying to actually make the transaction.

But lack of eye contact and and then they don't even have their documents somebody else provides their credit card or their

ID.

When somebody's holding their documents, that's a that's a red flag that there's some control being exerted there.

This this person doesn't even have access to their most basic personal identifying documents or their

personal financial Capabilities with with their cards or cash.

Another thing is tattoos.

These people are Treated as property by the traffickers.

Well cattle owners typically brand their cattle traffickers are branding their

Trafficking victims.

They're branding them with with barcodes and you and I both know that barcodes are meant for property or for

products.

That's how you keep track of your inventory, that's how you You know describe that this piece

of property is yours they're also getting tattoos with.

Like the traffickers name like on their neck or in a pretty prominent location.

A lot of times you'll see a crown.

Because the pimp is the king of us of that situation in that person's world.

These are forced tattoos and so many of the occasions.

Those are a couple of the main things that people can look for that should be red flags, they don't always mean

Trafficking is going on, but they're they're red flags.

Okay, and.

If I if I suspect that I've met somebody who has is being trafficked or if I see

a Situation that really raises some red flags in my mind.

What what can I do?

What should I do?

That's a great question.

You know, if you're out there and you see something going on Presently you

need to call 9 -1 -1.

We've got to get the police involved.

If you see something or if you have seen something.

Maybe it's a few days past even and you you keep thinking about it.

It's bugging you.

It's gnawing at you and you start.

Maybe you're doing some own research your own research online.

And what is human trafficking or what are some indicators and all the puzzle pieces start coming together.

Call your non -emergency line for your law enforcement and report it or there's a non -governmental organization out

there called Polaris.

They run the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

You can reach out to them by text or email or or phone call and report it and they have a

list of people that have been put on the list for each state or jurisdiction that they can pass that information to.

And Polaris's phone number

is 1 -888 -373 -7888.

And that is a national hotline for Polaris.

That is, you know, one other thing I would say is

Citizens and the police should work well together.

If you're a citizen out there You ought to be making some relationships with your local law

enforcement.

You you ought to eventually develop a relationship with one of them that you feel you can trust on a personal level that you would

feel comfortable sharing information with.

Really that is that's crucial in my opinion.

You know if you're if you want to share something that you're not really sure if it is what you think.

But you're concerned you want to report it.

You're gonna feel better reporting that to somebody that's gonna take you serious than just calling some number and talking to an anonymous

Person on the other end of the phone.

Yeah makes sense.

Dax you and I both have children and teenage children and What can we do to help protect

them?

What preventative measure.

What preventative measures can we take to help protect our kids from human

traffickers?

Well, it's a first and foremost as dads.

We've got to be dads and we've got to step in and fill.

What so many kids fill a void in is when they were fatherless or had a Father that was there but was

never present really in their life.

So many so many people are out there seeking to find that father figure in their life.

So just being there as a father first of all helps mitigate some of the vulnerabilities of

Seeking male attention.

Because it's pretty easy to seek male attention if you know what you're doing.

But if you've been brought up as a kid that's confident knows that your dad loves you and cares about you.

That's the standard that they see of what a guy should treat them as.

You know social media and cell phones.

They're great.

But they present a lot of a lot of traps and snares out there that these kids can step into.

You know.

If you they send a nude photo to somebody even if it's even if it's a boyfriend or girlfriend to start with or it couldn't

even be a stranger that's out there and that's there forever and They can make your life miserable if they want to

publish it.

And if they want to play a wicked game, all they've got to do is tell you they're going to and demand more or else so

have honest conversations with your kids talk about the things that Are going on in their life and their social

media.

Ask them if they've been hit up for for nude photos or videos.

Things like that.

Try and mitigate anywhere that you see that could be a vulnerability because the traffickers exploit vulnerabilities.

And what is that one more time?

What is that hotline that national hotline for Polaris?

It's one.

Eight eight eight.

Three seven three seventy eight eighty eight.

Thank you, and I think that is unfortunately all the time that we have for today's podcast

but It's been great to talk about this issue and that's been good.

Very important one I'm Kevin stone with got questions ministries and with me today has been Dax Lewis.

He's one of our volunteer writers for got questions and a.

He's a member of law enforcement for a statewide agency.

He's also a man with a heart for the victims of human trafficking.

Dax thank you so much for being a part of the podcast today.

Again honor to do so.

Thank you.

This has been the got questions podcast.

Got questions.