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AS the 2010 Olympics approach, some Christians are
bracing themselves to combat the scourge of human trafficking. The Whistler
games, like other Olympic events, are expected to draw a number of
predators looking for easy access to sex slaves.
Human trafficking was a high profile issue last month,
with the passage of Bill C-268 – an amendment to the Criminal Code,
instigated by Christian MP Joy Smith.
The subject was also raised in B.C. by Michelle Miller
of REED (Resist Exploitation, Embrace Dignity), who made a public
presentation in Vancouver April 17.
The issue prompted the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
(EFC) to commission a report, released April 17.
The introduction declares: “God reveals himself
throughout the Bible as a God of justice, a God who hates injustice and who
sees and hears the suffering of the oppressed . . . God commands his people
to ‘seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for
the widow’ (Isaiah 1:17-18), calling us to be his agents, empowered
by the Holy Spirit, to demonstrate Christ’s love for the entire
world.”
EFC contends that human trafficking “is the third
largest criminal industry in the world, outranked only by arms and drug
dealing . . . The number of people trafficked each year is estimated
by most experts to be in the millions. [The] current growth rate . . .
is fuelled by its high profitability, low investigation rate and low
prosecution rate.”
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Further, the report states: “Victims may be too
terrified to contact the police. Victims may not be able to ask for help
because many may not speak either English or French. Traffickers often
control their victims by threatening to harm them or their families in
their countries of origin.”
–
DFD
An in-depth article on the response of B.C. Christians
to this pressing concern is featured here.
May 2009
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