Mountaintop Musings: Frustrating Thoughts

This week’s column is going to be a bit different. I must admit it is hard to focus as I have so many frustrating thoughts running through my brain.

Over the past decade or so we often hear about a “war on women”. Well I just read something that actually supports that. From 1970 to 2017 the number of missing baby girls in the world from sex-selective abortion is estimated to be 23.1 million. That is a horrifying and mind-numbing number. It is hard for me to comprehend that number. Most of those missing girls are from China and India, but other areas of the world are guilty as well.

According to a World Health Organization report dated 2013 the number of young girls and women that have been victims of female genital mutilation is estimated at 200 million with three million per year being added to this horrific statistic. The vast majority of these crimes are across northern sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This is done in the name of religion mostly, but also some cultural reasons. In essence it is an evil practice that can only be attributed to the evilest of men.

From DoSomething.org I found the following statistics about Human Trafficking. This is forced labor, with most being abused in the sex trades. Based on these numbers the percentage of men is much higher than I would have thought. However, there is much data out there, but hard to verify.

Globally, the average cost of a slave is $90.

Trafficking primarily involves exploitation which comes in many forms, and includes: forcing victims into prostitution, subjecting victims to slavery or involuntary servitude and compelling victims to commit sex acts for the purpose of creating pornography.

According to some estimates, approximately 80 percent of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19 percent involves labor exploitation.

There are approximately 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today.

According to the U.S. State Department, 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, of which 80 percent are female and half are children.

The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14 years old. Many victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children.

California harbors three of the FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas on the nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline receives more calls from Texas than any other state in the US. Fifteen percent of those calls are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year.

Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking). It reportedly generates a profit of $32 billion every year. Of that number, $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries.

The International Labour Organization estimates that women and girls represent the largest share of forced labor victims with 11.4 million trafficked victims (55 percent) compared to 9.5 million (45 percent) men.

So, as we launch in to summer, and enjoy the great recreational opportunities we have at our doorsteps, let us remember that there are many in our community, and region that need some help and encouragement. Maybe even liberation from bondage. It starts with having the right thoughts and values. And in my opinion the right thoughts and values come from studying the Person and Life of Jesus and then putting His plan for your life in to action!

(Dave & Lisa Carroll are missionaries with InFaith, America’s oldest Christian home mission agency. You can contact Dave at 406.459.8935 or [email protected])