Human Trafficking in Minnesota - Be Kind

It's a rest day for Le Tour, and Chickie is back in town, so I don't need to do any kitty care this morning. Those chortles of glee you are hearing are coming from my area of the USA. But, I still have to work today so I'm not totally home free quite yet.

Lili Huang, age 35, was accused of enslaving and
abusing her 58-year-old Chinese maid. 

One of the leading stories in my overnight news packet this morning was the story of a woman from one of the eastern suburbs of Saint Paul being arrested for human trafficking and slavery. Apparently she had a maid from China whom she kept practically imprisoned, physically abused and severely beaten and starved almost to death. She had taken the maid's passport from her so that she couldn't leave the country, and had starved her down to 88 pounds from her normal 120. All within 40 miles of where I live. I'm appalled!

It was one more instance of how inhumane human beings can be toward other people. Human trafficking occurs throughout the world, in some places on a very large scale. It's not just women and men being forced into prostitution, it's desperate people trying to flee impossible conditions of poverty and exploitation, only to be tricked into situations even worse than those they had left behind. Some of the people exploited through human trafficking are tricked into 'employment', others are sold into slavery or simply kidnapped. People of all ages, even young children, disappear every day and are no longer heard from again. Governments and police are either unable or unwilling to prosecute and investigate, and sometimes the police are just as bad, participating in the crimes themselves.

Many people pushed into slavery are children, exploited for
sexual slaves. Although the statistics above deal with female
victims, boys are also sexually exploited, just under-reported
and often ignored. 

In the USA we reach out to animals which have been abused, mistreated, starved and chained in deplorable conditions, often ignoring the people we walk by every day whose chains may be invisible but are every bit as real. Isn't there something each of us can do to help rescue those who are currently exploited and attempt to eliminate further trafficking? I'm not sure what I, as one individual can do, but I'm sure going to look into it. It makes me weep when I hear about one more instance of the inhumanity of mankind.

Did you know that many states never passed laws against modern-day
human trafficking? Although my state does have laws, they don't seem
to be enacted as often as they should be. 

Have a wonderful Tuesday and please, do something kind for another person today. Let's help tip the scale in favor of humanity, love and peace today.