Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
About GFA
Ministries
Free Resources
Social Media
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Pinterest
- Twitter
- Youtube
Archives
FREE NEWSLETTER

Home
Evangelical
Modern Day Slavery Accelerates Under Cover of COVID-19, says Gospel for Asia (Part 1)

Modern Day Slavery Accelerates Under Cover of COVID-19, says Gospel for Asia (Part 1)

Last updated on: November 4, 2022 at 3:56 am by GFA Staff Writer

Modern Day Slavery Accelerates Under Cover of COVID-19, says Gospel for Asia (Part 1) 2022-11-04T03:56:41+00:00 GFA Staff Writer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by KP Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide, issued this 1st part of a Special Report update on the state of Modern Day Slavery amid the COVID 19 pandemic.

Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by KP Yohannan, issues this Special Report on the state of Modern Day Slavery amid the COVID 19 pandemic.

In my original report, 21st Century Slavery & Human Trafficking, I unveiled the overwhelming reality that more than 40 million people in our modern world are trafficked as slaves—more than any other time in human history. In this sequel, I unpack how modern slavery is growing—not slowing—under the covering of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Desperation, Fear

The global COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened the desperation of those at risk, and deepened the cunning of human traffickers.

If there is any sliver of a silver lining to be seen in the coronavirus cloud that has darkened the world in 2020, a reduction in human trafficking might be suspected. After all, with half the globe locked down, the modern-day slave trade must have at least slowed, if not stalled, right?

Sadly, no. If anything, the global pandemic has only heightened the desperation of those at risk and deepened the cunning of traffickers. For example, the World Bank expects poverty to rise for the first time in 20 years, as circumstances push an additional 88-115 million people into extreme poverty, depending on the severity of economic contraction worldwide.

The World Health Organization issued a statement on October 13 saying:

“The pandemic has decimated jobs and placed millions of livelihoods at risk. As breadwinners lose jobs, fall ill and die, the food security and nutrition of millions of women and men are under threat, with those in low-income countries, particularly the most marginalized populations, which include small-scale farmers and indigenous peoples, being hardest hit.

“With low and irregular incomes and a lack of social support, many of them are spurred to continue working, often in unsafe conditions, thus exposing themselves and their families to additional risks. Further, when experiencing income losses, they may resort to negative coping strategies, such as distress sale of assets, predatory loans or child labor.”

With poverty worsened and government resources stretched to capacity, COVID-19 has widened the crack through which the vulnerable fall—or are pulled through. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) details how COVID-19 has impacted “the capacity of state authorities and non-governmental organizations to provide essential services to the victims of this crime.”

Worldwide, over 40 million people are enslaved or trafficked, which is higher than the entire population of Canada. Many of these victims are literally kept under lock and key, while others are effectively imprisoned by coercion, manipulation and extortion.

Income, food, housing and health care inequalities have increased in impoverished parts of the world, and these “drivers … increase the risk of sexual and labor exploitation, and are being used by criminal groups to scale-up modern day slavery activities,” warns the distinguished British medical journal The Lancet.

Rather than diminishing it, the ongoing coronavirus crisis has cemented human trafficking as the third biggest illicit trade on the planet, behind only illegal arms and drugs.

As detailed in a previous Gospel for Asia special report on the issue, human trafficking generates an estimated $150 billion a year from the oppressed lives and broken hearts of men, women and children. What sets human trafficking apart from other major issues Gospel for Asia (GFA) has addressed in its series of articles on key global challenges is that it is entirely man-made, both exacerbating and taking advantage of natural factors like disease, economic impoverishment, climate change and the coronavirus.

Photo of forced labor

Those people already working in forced labor conditions may face further hardships because production costs are being squeezed, while more people unable to make ends meet may turn to loan sharks for money and so risk getting caught in a debt pit they can’t climb out of, effectively enslaving them for life.

Exploitation on the Rise

“Instability and lack of access to critical services caused by the pandemic mean that the number of people vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers is rapidly growing,” said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he introduced the government’s 20th annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which monitors the crime and efforts to combat it.

Mike Pompeo, U.S. Seecretary of State

Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State Photo by United States Department of State

“The bottom line is that traffickers have not shut down,” Pompeo said elsewhere. “Traffickers are continuing to exploit people. And as vulnerable people become more vulnerable due to COVID, it’s making it easier and easier for traffickers to operate.”

Victims of trafficking are also “disproportionately at risk” of getting COVID-19 for a variety of reasons, according to The Lancet. Among the causes: pre-existing health needs, unregulated and unsafe working environments, over-crowded living conditions, poverty, malnutrition and substance misuse.

A United Nations report reveals just how COVID-19 has made trafficking easier. Travel and border restrictions intended to slow the spread of the virus may have only driven traffickers further underground, it says, while also making victims harder to identify. Additionally, those already working in forced labor conditions may face further hardships because production costs are being squeezed, while more people unable to make ends meet may turn to loan sharks for money and so risk getting caught in a debt pit they can’t climb out of, effectively enslaving them.

Rather than diminishing it, the ongoing coronavirus crisis has cemented human trafficking as the third biggest illicit trade on the planet, behind only illegal arms and drugs.

Meanwhile, children are at heightened risk of exploitation because schools are closed. For many of them, school was both a safe place and one of their only sources for a regular meal. Now they may be left to fend for themselves with parents unable to care for or supervise them at home.

Photo of little girl from Sri Lanka

Nearly all the children in villages like this one in Sri Lanka do not have any parental guidance whatsoever as many come from broken or illiterate families, which makes these kids vulnerable to predation and trafficking. For many of them, school was both a safe place and one of their only sources for a regular meal. Local lockdowns due to COVID have left many to fend for themselves, as parents are unable to care for or supervise them at home, increasing their risk of exploitation.

Online Predators on the Rise

Dark web chatter

Chatter in dark web forums indicate that online offenders see the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to commit more offenses against children.

It’s not only children and young people in poorer nations that are at risk, either. In North America, the pandemic has seen everyone spending even more time online than usual—exposing them to predators who scour the web looking for innocent children.

“It’s easier for traffickers to sit behind a computer screen and actually reach out to multiple people, hoping that one or two bite,” says Karley Church, a human trafficking crisis intervention counselor with Victim Services of Durham Region, near Toronto, Canada.

A spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that “chatter in dark web forums indicate that offenders see the pandemic as an opportunity to commit more offenses against children.”

Give Towards Strategic Field Ministries

Your donation enables GFA World national workers to reach out to multitudes of needy people and provide for their most crucial physical and spiritual needs.

About Gospel for Asia

Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.

Read the rest of Gospel for Asia’s Special Report: Modern Day Slavery Speeds up Under Cover of COVID-19 – Growing during pandemic: People vulnerable to exploitation — Part 2

Read more about Gospel for Asia, Modern Slavery, and the COVID 19 Pandemic on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Learn more by reading these Special Reports from Gospel for Asia:

Child Labor: Not Gone, but Forgotten — Millions of Children Trapped between Extreme Poverty and the Profits of Others
Seeking Justice and Defending Human Rights — Wherever Poverty and Oppression Exist

KP Yohannan has issued two statements about the COVID-19 situation found here and here.

GFA’s Statement About Coronavirus

This Special Report originally appeared on gfa.org.

24 Christian Leaders affirm Gospel for Asia’s integrity and credibility.

Notable News about Gospel for Asia: FoxNews, ChristianPost, NYPost, MissionsBox

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

About Gospel for Asia

Absolute Poverty

Absolute Poverty Definition

Breaking Christian News

Bridge of Hope

Causes of Human Trafficking

Change in Sanitation

Child Sex Trafficking

Children and Women

Children Aound the World

Children Around the World

Children in Poverty

Christian Breaking News

Christian News

Christian News Headlines

Christian News Today

Christian World News

Conservative Christian News

Coronavirus

Countries That Still Have Slavery

COVID-19

Cycle of Poverty

Define Human Trafficking

Definition of Human Trafficking

Dr KP Yohannan

Dr. K.P. Yohannan

End Human Trafficking

Examples of Modern Day Slavery

Gospel for Asia's Bridge of Hope Program

Highlight

How To Stop Human Trafficking

Human Sex Trafficking

Human Trafficked Victims Stories

Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking Article

Human Trafficking Articles

Human Trafficking Awareness

Human Trafficking Definition

Human Trafficking Essay

Human Trafficking Essays

Human Trafficking Examples

Human Trafficking Facts

Human Trafficking In India

Human Trafficking Modern Day Slavery

Human Trafficking Statistics

Human Trafficking Stories

Human Trafficking Survivor Stories

Human Trafficking Survivors

Human Trafficking Victim Story

Human Trafficking Victims

Human Trafficking Victims in India

Latest Christian News

Latest Update on KP Yohannan

Modern Day Slavery

Modern Day Slavery Articles

Modern Day Slavery Facts

Modern Day Slavery Stories

Sex Trafficking Articles

Sex Trafficking Stories

Signs Of Human Trafficking

Slavery in 21st Century

Slavery in the 21st Century

Slavery in the 21st Century Facts

Slavery Today

Solutions to Human Trafficking

Stop Human Trafficking

Types of Human Trafficking

What Is Human Trafficking

What Is Modern Day Slavery

World Christian News

Worst Human Trafficking Stories

Previous Post

December 23, 2020

I Am No Ordinary Shepherd

Next Post

February 25, 2021 Gospel for Asia Provides Sewing Machines, Tin Sheets and Smiles

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category About Gospel for Asia Bishop Daniel Children's Education Clean Water Daniel Yohannan Disaster Relief GFA World Guest Writer Humanitarian Services Inspiration Leprosy Medical Ministry Mission Support Team Modern Slavery National Missions Poverty Alleviation Powerful Prayer School of Discipleship Special Report Spiritual Growth Uncategorized Women's Issues

Select a Month April 2026 March 2026 December 2025 September 2025 June 2025 May 2025 March 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Satan" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Destroyer Evil One Deceiver Adversary