Human Trafficking in India: My Family's Personal Encounter

Women of all ages in India’s rural areas are often targets of human traffickers and trapped in different types of forced labor. Veena and Ruth Malhotra interacted with several women in eastern India who shared excruciating stories of harassment, abuse, and exploitation. (Ruth Malhotra/February 2013)

"Indifference is not an option." "God wants to use rescued people to rescue people." "Bring this darkness into the light." "Raise your voice for freedom." These are all phrases we heard along with more than 45,000 college students who packed the Georgia Dome for the Passion 2012 Conference in Atlanta last year, as prominent Christian leaders used their platform to highlight the horrors of modern-day slavery. It was here that we first developed a distinct awareness of the 27 million people in bondage to different forms of slavery worldwide.

We were shocked to learn that there are more slaves in the world today than at any time in history, and slavery's various expressions include human trafficking, sex slavery, descent-based slavery, forced labor, bonded labor, and child labor. We heard stories that spanned age, gender, and location, including descriptions of young girls forced into sex trafficking here in Atlanta and in major cities around the world, and older men trapped in cycles of slavery forced to work in brick yards and rock quarries for generations. In particular, human trafficking is a global humanitarian crisis which crosses continental divides and social boundaries, permeating commercial enterprises, infiltrating homes, and charting the lives and livelihoods of millions across the globe. Read more