It’s sad but true: here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled like modern-day slaves.
They are trapped in lives of misery—often beaten, starved, and forced to work as prostitutes or to take grueling jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay. We’re working hard to stop human trafficking—not only because of the personal and psychological toll it takes on society, but also because it facilitates the illegal movement of immigrants across borders and provides a ready source of income for organized crime groups and even terrorists.
According to an expert with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), there are more victims of human trafficking and sex slavery in Nashville than local and even federal authorities are aware of.
But because trafficking victims are “brainwashed” into believing they will be subject to even worse abuse at the hands of U.S. authorities who will treat them like criminals, the majority of trafficking victims continue to deny they are being held against their will even after they are discovered and their captors are arrested.
