OPINION: More slaves on Earth now than ever before
Modern slavery is in plain sight, and yet it’s illusive. Plain sight in the fact that the majority of Albuquerque’s homeless females are victims of human trafficking, according to AsUR New Mexico, an Albuquerque nonprofit that serves unhoused women and sex trafficking victims.
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. correctly summated that “slavery in America was perpetuated not merely by human badness, but also by human blindness.” We’re blind that slavery has reached a new apex.
Combining forced labor and forced marriage, according to Andrew Forrest, founder of the Walk Free Foundation, an international human rights group, and his co-authored 2018 report: “We now have the largest number of slaves on Earth than we’ve had in human history.” And that trend has increased according to the International Labor Organization and the United Nations.
On Jan. 3, the Albuquerque Police Department arrested two individuals accused of human trafficking minors on Central Avenue in the International District. Rare travesty? Unfortunately, in the U.S., adjusted for population, New Mexico ranks No. 7 in terms of worst trafficking states. But here’s an eye-opener: Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Michigan, and Iowa are also amongst the worst. This is clearly not a border state issue – it’s a countrywide and global pandemic.
Be horrified. It’s 2025 and slavery is worse than ever with approximately 50 million people globally being exploited, 12 million of whom are children, and represents an estimated $150 billion industry.
There’s something essential that I was taught by Dr. Hanni Stoklosa, co-founder of Heal Trafficking, a network of survivors and professionals: “unlearning.”
The picture we may have of a kidnapped white female: unlearn.
Kidnapping happens, but most victims in the U.S. are recruited by family, intimate partners, or friends. And yes, white females are affected, but marginalized populations are disproportionately impacted.
Women, African Americans, Latin Americans, Indigenous and LGBTQ+ persons are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. In New Mexico, 11% of the population is Indigenous, yet they represent 25% of trafficking victims.
The homeless, and unhoused youth, are especially vulnerable. According to the New Mexico Dream Center, an Albuquerque nonprofit focused on human trafficking, traffickers approach unhoused youth within 48 hours of being on the street and 20% will end up being trafficked. With that, 48% reported that shelter was the main motivator for trading sex – all why they’ve created The Harbour, a drop-in center for unhoused youth.
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and there are incredible organizations like Heal Trafficking fighting this atrocity by training health care workers. Most trafficking victims have contact with health professionals, yet those providers often lack the training to recognize and/or respond appropriately.
Again, unlearning is required. The wrong response, perhaps confronting the perpetrator or immediately calling law enforcement, can cause more harm than good. If you work in health care, ask your institution about your current protocols and how you can get involved. Whether or not you work in health care, consider donating/volunteering to organizations like Heal Trafficking or the New Mexico Dream Center.
In MLK Jr’s timeless “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech and in his echoes that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and “whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” we are called to action. We can only accomplish this vision together, when all are free.
In the U.S. and beyond, let’s fight to end this pandemic. As slavery is fueled by evil and blindness, 2025 and beyond now amounts to a decision: we’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.
Andrew Murtagh works as an executive in the medical device industry and is a former resident of Albuquerque, now living in Fishers, Indiana.
