By Colin Craig
It has probably been a decade since I saw the movie, Taken. I don’t remember all the details of the film, but I do remember the hopelessness on the face of the character skillfully portrayed by a young actress as she experienced the horrors of sex trafficking. In the movie, one of the main characters, Kim, was enjoying a trip abroad in France when she was captured into the sex trafficking industry. Knowing the dangers he would face, Kim’s dad, Brian, heroically and lovingly headed towards danger to rescue his daughter – even if it cost him his own life.
While the movie Taken is fictional, the reality is that millions of people around the world have experienced the hopelessness of sex trafficking – which is a subcategory of human trafficking. Of the estimated 24.9 million victims of human trafficking, approximately 4.8 million (or 19%) are sex trafficking victims.1 While violent acts of sexual abuse do occur, sex trafficking is much broader, and oftentimes hides in plain sight within our society.
What is Sex Trafficking?
Passed by Congress and signed into law in 2008, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines sex Trafficking as “a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.”2 People often – and correctly – associate sex trafficking with graphic abductions such as the one depicted in Taken, but the definition goes a lot further than this.
Research shows that sex trafficking is commonplace in the pornography industry.3 It is common for these actors and actresses to be coerced (“I’ll tell your family if you don’t do this scene”) or defrauded (e.g. models being tricked into signing contracts resulting in forced participation in pornographic scenes).
Sadly, there is also evidence that children under the age of 18 appear in videos made available on major online pornography platforms.4 One report even found that the average age of domestic minor trafficking victims who were forced into pornography production was 12.8 years old.5 The sad reality is that sex trafficking results in the commoditization of human beings made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).6 Whether physically forced to engage in sexual acts, or coerced to appear in videos online, this evil industry leaves countless men, women, and children broken, hurting, and feeling ultimately hopeless.
Moving from Awareness to Action
So how can we, as Christians, move from awareness towards action in this area? We know our God is a redemptive God, and He cares deeply about those experiencing the hopelessness of being sex trafficked. We also know that God loves justice, and He is aware of the injustice served to victims of sex trafficking. As born-again believers, we are called to represent Christ in our world. We love others because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). He initiated; therefore, we initiate. He rescued; therefore, we seek to rescue.
While the global Church is doing wonderful work in this area, we believe there are a few steps that faith-driven investors can take specifically to make a difference:
- Avoid: At the heart of our exclusionary investment policy at Beacon Wealth Consultants is Christ-centered love for others. Given the close ties between adult entertainment/pornography and sex trafficking, we seek to avoid investing in companies with involved in these business practices. We seek to glorify God by avoiding investing in these areas, and rather, we direct our investment dollars toward more honorable companies.
- Speak-Up: At times, it may be appropriate for Christian investors to voice their concerns with companies directly. A few years ago, Beacon Wealth Consultants did just that. One publicly traded company that we owned made news for its ties with a pornography platform featuring child pornography. As we divested from the position, we made our disapproval of the company’s actions known to them.
- Support Good Work: This brings us to our last point, and the topic of our newest initiative. At Beacon Wealth Consultants, we look for opportunities to support ministries addressing real needs – including the needs of victims of sex trafficking – by bringing them the hope of the gospel. This year, we are beginning an initiative focused on supporting a ministry in Kenya called New Scent Centre Foundation.
New Scent Centre
In the coming days, our clients will receive an email detailing our new initiative to support New Scent Centre Foundation, a ministry that seeks to rescue “girls from the streets and vulnerable homes, with a special focus on those who have been sexually abused, sexually trafficked, or forced into incestuous relationships” in Kenya.7 Through education, counseling, life skills, and empowerment initiatives, New Scent Centre provides a safe haven to vulnerable girls. Today, New Scent Centre is a haven for forty-nine children.
In addition to counseling, life skills, and education the children receive, New Scent Centre also focuses on their spiritual health as well. New Scent’s Spiritual Empowerment Program “aims to nurture the spiritual lives of the girls” through Bible lessons, fellowship services, prayer, and fasting.8 Ultimately the program is designed to help the girls know that they are loved and valued by their Creator.
We are excited to partner with New Scent Centre in the coming weeks. If you would like to learn more about our initiative, or Beacon Wealth Consultants more broadly, feel free to reach out to us today!
References
- https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-fuel-sex-trafficking/
- https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-106hr3244enr/pdf/BILLS-106hr3244enr.pdf
- https://endsexualexploitation.org/articles/crisis-online-sex-trafficking-pornography/
- https://endsexualexploitation.org/pornhub/
- https://www.thorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Thorn_Survivor_Insights_090519.pdf
- https://fightthenewdrug.org/how-porn-can-fuel-sex-trafficking/
- https://newscentcentreintl.org/about-us/
- https://newscentcentreintl.org/spiritual-empowerment/