Abstract
This chapter studies the nature, causes, effects, and proffers possible remedies for the menace of human trafficking in contemporary society from the perspective of the Bible. It reviews the situation with the experiences of Joseph in the Old Testament and the slave girl in the New Testament. Victims are lured with the quest for survival due to economic difficulties, get rich quick syndrome resulting from the misplaced value system, while others are forced. It is inhuman; a cause of pain, suffering, sorrow, grief, and death; robs man of every right and privilege; and demeans the value of humanity and reduces him to a mere commodity and possession of no value. Moreover, it shows a world in dire need of God's salvation and liberty. Thus, human trafficking in its contemporary time is a repeat of history in its most gruesome and cruel manner. To this end, lessons drawn from Joseph and the slave girl's encounters are put to bear as the way forward for modern and future paradigms of human trafficking.
TopIntroduction
Human trafficking is a practice of man’s inhumanity to man, a pervasion of human values, and outright disregard for the importance of humanity. It is not new but has been perpetrated at different generations, in societies, and by various people. It is further a demonstration of hate, a view of man as a commodity, a possession for sale, and exploitation in any way desired. It reduces man into a being without importance to itself but only as a means to an end and not an end in itself. Thus, United Nations (2000) defines it as:
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.
Consequently, exploitation in this regard is comprehensive in scope and has no limit.
Nevertheless, the occurrence of human trafficking has been a part of human vices to the extent that the Bible has several records of it out of which only two, the experiences of Joseph and the slave girl (Gen. 37:1-32; Ac. 16:16-24) are used as the bases for its treatment in this paper. As in other generations, contemporary society is not spared of the ravaging effects of the monster of human trafficking. It has become an institutionalized or highly developed crime across local, national, and international boundaries. At the local level, it permeates through some persons, people, families, and extends to some highly organized syndicates who operate without boundaries. Instances of its prevalence in the family from the perspective of the Scripture includes the case of Joseph already mentioned, Lot’s attempt to give out his two daughters to be molested carnally by some criminals in Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:5-8b), as well as Abraham and Sarah’s act against Hagar (Gen. 16:1-4). However, Hinn (2009) argues that “Hagar was more than a concubine; in keeping with the culture of the day, she was considered Abraham’s wife” (47). Nonetheless, this does not rule out the fact that the act making her a concubine, her impregnation, and a wife was ungodly and unscriptural for tradition does not equate with the Scripture nor takes precedence over it.
Also from the Scriptures, are examples of organized syndicates in human trafficking in the case of the slave girl and Joseph with regard to the Midianite or Ishmaelite merchants who took him to Egypt (Gen. 37:28, 36). These experiences captured precisely the United Nation’s definition of human trafficking as well as the modern global trend of its manifestations. Consequently, the two chosen cases are well fitted for their purpose in this paper. Thus, the thesis is that a biblical review of contemporary human trafficking in the context of Joseph and the slave girl will aid in providing solutions to it in its present and future paradigms. It is qualitative and analytical in content and takes a descriptive approach in its method of presentation.
TopThe Nature Of Human Trafficking In Contemporary Society
We are currently living in a time, period, and age wherein the propensity and ability of people to resist evil has seriously decreased. Instead, there is an increase inclination to do wrong than to avoid it. This has led to the alarming upsurge in the rate of crime all over the world. The situation is fueled by the high rate at which information is spread from one end of the world, location or point to the other globally via the use of high tech facilities made available through computer and all sorts of phones at the finger dip of people nearly everywhere. The condition is further heightened by the attitude of people to easily copy what is wrong than what is right. Thus, social media are daily filled with one form of breaking news or the other of the crime and atrocities being committed by some persons against their fellow human beings.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Contemporary: Is the trend of the subject in its effects with modern, present, or current times.
Biblical: Is used with reference to the relation of the subject to the Bible. Its connectivity, overview, and implications so generated.
Slave: Is a person that has been dispossessed of the right to self-ownership. Thus, he or she owns him or herself and whatever belongs to him or her to the one who has become his or her master or mistress in this regard.
Marriage: Is a formal union between a male and female with legal rights and privileges of both of them and the consent to so live together, to share their lives in love and conjugal relationship.
Trafficking: Is the trade on humanity; a deal with mankind as a source of business enterprise or human exploitation for self-advancement to the detriment of the individual so affected in life or death.