In a previous show Kevin took a look at the Bible’s perspectives on slavery, which were written between 4500 and 2000 years ago.  This time he addresses an incarnation of slavery that plagues the modern world, including our own communities and schools in the US: human trafficking.

Human trafficking can be defined as “the deprivation of a human being’s liberty for the purpose of sexual exploitation or labor exploitation.”  Traffickers identify vulnerable people and gain control of them through physical force, fraud, or psychological coercion in order to use them for profit through commercial labor or sex acts.  This ranges from forcing them to do excessive physical work for little or no pay, to making them participate in pornography or even prostitution against their will.

Kevin’s guests are Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan, and PLNU professor Dr. Jamie Gates.  Both have been involved in efforts to end human trafficking for many years: Summer through the District Attorney’s office, and Jamie through his organization Churches Against Trafficking.  They talk with Kevin about the causes of this problem, how to raise awareness and fight against it, and what warning signs to look for in order to recognize both perpetrators and victims.

To learn more about human trafficking and what you can do to stop it, visit FightHumanTraffickingSD.com and AbolishHumanTrafficking.com.  Consider getting involved in an upcoming event, such as AHT’s Break Free Run on September 12th, in order to raise awareness about this critical issue.

This episode first aired on August 30th, 2015.