Find Dennis Mark:https://www.redeemedtx.org/
We asked a Human Trafficking Revover Expert Your Questions and this is how he responded:
Question: Are not Christians simply enforcing their worldview and religion on other people when they force laws on Sex Trafficking?
Answer: Most of the people who use this verbiage are oftentimes the ones benefiting from the exploitation, mainly the traffickers (pimps) and the consumers (a.k.a. johns).
Question: I mean, you can't legislate morality, right?
Answer: No, but you can legislate and prosecute exploitation.
Question: How should the Church respond to people who are actively being trafficked?
Answer: Everything survivors of human trafficking need to be successful is sitting in the pews of our church. Overcoming their own fears, moving from being paralyzed to engagement, and living out their faith at the level they understand the Word.
Question: What if they are still committed to their lifestyle?
Answer: One of the biggest mistakes and myths about trafficking is this idea of “choice.” So much more to that…
Question: How can a Christian respond effectively to those who are being trafficked?
Answer: With the fruit of the spirit, the ideas of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 and holistic healing…understanding and meeting a person's emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual needs as they are affected by trauma, and yes, trauma affects each of these areas.
Question: Isn't this an issue of the heart and not an issue for government intervention as far as laws are concerned?
Answer: Yes, it is an issue of the heart, but it should be the heart of our elected officials to use their heart and provide a compassionate response to the exploitation of the innocent. In 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed and signed into law to provide the prevention of trafficking, protection of all victims, guidelines for prosecution, and provision of services. In this law was built the ability to reauthorize this act and amend it with improvements as more knowledge is gained.
Question: Don't laws prohibiting a commodity simply create a black market?
Answer: It is already illegal and it is a “underground” market or a viable sub-culture. What is dangerous is legalizing it so that the demand increases and thereby increasing the need for supply which typically involves younger victims.
Question: Shouldn't these women be able to just walk out the door?
Answer: Yes, but it is extremely important to understand the reality of coercion.
Question: If they are really being forced into this, why not just call the police?
Answer: I teach a six-hour course on the realities of survivor care and two-hours is dedicated to just answering this question. It's not about choice, its about control and eliminating options.
Question: Pornography is usually practiced between consenting adults, why should we prohibit anything to do with artistic expression?
Answer: Again, not expression when coercion and exploitation are involved.
Question: Everyone needs to sow their wild oats and experience sexuality of various kinds before they settle down in a marriage. What's wrong with engaging in these acts with these people who are doing it to my understanding willingly if this ultimately benefits my future marriage since I won't want to do it later. And if men can't get sex, doesn't the Sex Trade also reduce violence against women when men can just pay for it when they couldn't get it while dating?
Answer: I'm not sure I can good conscience combine the words “Sex Trade” and “reducing violence” in the same sentence. How dark do you want me to share?
Question: Effectively, for all of the above reasons, isn't the Sex Trade a societal good?
Answer: Effectively, NO.
Question: Doesn't the Constitution provide freedom of association?
Answer: Yes, and I assume you mean Intimate Freedom of Association. But exploitation crosses a line into the violation of the 13th Amendment and the aforementioned TVPA.
Question: How is allowing sex work any different from any other form of occupation?
Answer: I'm going to repeat this premise often, “Not choice or an occupation, but exploitation.”
Question: “If Houston is at the top of the sex trade for national and international exporting what does the increase in volume of illegal border crossings mean for your ministry, the Human Trafficking Industrial Complex, and Political Structure?
What policy measures, in your opinion, should be considered given current circumstances?”
Answer: Not sure where this information is found, but two fundamental problems exist with the statement, 1) “sex trade for national and international exporting”, the reality of sex trafficking in Houston is that rough average of 85% of victims identified are not international victims, and 2) “at the top of the sex trade”, where and how Houston ranks has been grossly misrepresented, especially as “number 1”. In 2019, the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas prosecuted 42% of trafficking related crimes in the United States. Does that mean we are worse? The better and more accurate answer is that because of the length of time the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance of the SDTX and the experience level of 37 law enforcement agencies with roughly 196 LE personnel means we have the knowledge and knowhow to identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking cases, and with the addition of the United Against Human Trafficking Coalition with its 57 service provider agencies provides a greater response to survivor needs and healing.
Question: “Some of these women can only make this kind of money doing sex work? Why would you rob them of an income?”
Answer: There's that ugly word again, “sex work”, the heart of exploitation is to generate income not for the victim, but for the trafficker.
Question: “Being trafficked devalues the Human Being, how can we restore the self-worth and identity of an Image Bearer of God who has lived through these experiences?”
Answer: Get educated to the reality of human trafficking (not watching bad Hollywood interpretations) and the difficulty of restoration and engage. I would encourage you listeners to seek out reputable organizations and get involved, we are always looking for volunteers and staff to be engaged in the fight. Don't start something new, join someone already engaged in the fight who has the right knowledge, understanding, and reputation of work.
Find Dennis Mark:https://www.redeemedtx.org/