Please understand this well. More people are enslaved today than at any point in human history, including when the transatlantic slave trade was legal.Top movies of the summer sound of freedom ‘ was not only a phenomenal hit at the box office, but also managed to put the realities of modern-day slavery back in the spotlight.

of International Labor Organization An estimated 40.3 million men, women and children are trafficked each year. The actual number is probably much higher.

Human trafficking includes the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain labor or commercial sex acts.of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, Estimated annual profits of $150 billion— that’s McDonald’s entire net worth.

But are children really trafficked so often?according to UNODC 2020 World Report on Trafficking in PersonsAggregated using official statistics from 148 countries, one in three detected trafficking victims is a child.of A survey of 260 survivors of domestic minor sex trafficking1 in 6 was trafficked under the age of 12.

The transatlantic slave trade is long gone, but the remnants of this tragedy are regularly brought to the forefront of discussion. But somehow, many Americans live happily or willfully oblivious to modern slavery and its vast numbers of victims. An untrained eye can easily miss the telltale signs of what’s going on around us, but living a comfortable life is easier when you don’t have to wrestle with this heavy reality.

Thankfully, The Sound of Freedom has brought this injustice back to the public space it deserves.

Angel Studios, makers of the hit series The Chosen, released Sound of Freedom in 2,600 theaters nationwide on July 4th. So far, the film has grossed over $100 million at the box office, surpassing Disney’s Indiana Jones, which opened the same day. The film is inspired by the true story of Homeland Security Investigations Agent Tim Ballard. His background in confinement for pedophiles led him to a mission to rescue children exploited for sexual abuse and child pornography (CSAM, child pornography). The film highlights trafficking networks that prey on vulnerable children and the role that US sex workers play in facilitating them around the world.

The film generated considerable controversy, even though fighting child trafficking is a cause that people of all ideological backgrounds should be able to support.

Some critics have attempted to associate the film with conspiracy theories and “right-wing extremism”, primarily using the solidarity argument. Their implicit message is that child trafficking is not a big deal, which is blatantly irresponsible.

While some applaud the film’s message, others lament that it promotes a search-and-rescue-style method of combating human trafficking when, in fact, most anti-trafficking efforts, especially in the United States, are not really like that. Most human trafficking does not involve abduction by strangers, rather victims are often exploited by family members or people close to them. This kind of concern is especially valid for anti-trafficking groups and victims of trafficking who need to retrain new volunteers looking to kick in the door. Still, it doesn’t deny the fact that the film has sparked a new surge of people asking, “How can we end modern-day slavery?”

That’s the most important question.

Demand must be cut off first. If men stopped buying sex, sex trafficking would end today. The desire to purchase other humans for sex is largely one of the natural byproducts of porn use.

Exodus Cry, an anti-trafficking and filmmaking nonprofit, interviewed a number of sex buyers and shared that they all began consuming pornography at an early age. The effects of porn use on sexual desire formation are alarming and well documented.In the Exodus Cry documentary grew up on pornone consumer convicted of child sexual abuse content shared the escalating nature of porn addiction, saying, “After a while, things that used to work don’t work as well … I found illegal porn or child porn … I got impatient. It just worked like anything else.”

As shown in the Sound of Freedom and Exodus Cry documentaries Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, american man They are among the most frequent child prostitutes and often fly to countries where they have free access to trafficked children.

Our country is one of the highest sex trafficking countries and the largest consumer of CSAM. We cannot fight slavery while actively participating in it.

Second, we must destroy the “sex work is work” narrative. Prostitution and human trafficking are often intertwined. In prostitution, women and children exist to satisfy men’s sexual needs. Buyers often see them as subhuman, products to buy and throw away. Contrary to what sex work advocates would like you to believe, prostitution is sexual slavery, not sexual liberation.

Most of the women in prostitution (about 90%) are under the control of pimps. This means that prostitutes likely do not receive the money they earn and remain trapped in a life of exploitation out of fear of pimps.89% of prostitutes surveyed in 9 countries wanted to run away that. Prostitution is non-empowering, usually exploitative, and often trafficking.

Third, we must urge lawmakers to: pass the law The law criminalizes prostitution, pimping, and running a brothel, while decriminalizing those who do so and providing resources to find a life outside of exploitation. This legislative model, called the Nordic Model or the Abolitionist Model, is the only proven law that eradicates human trafficking.

Arguably, all countries that legalize “sex work” have higher rates of sex trafficking than countries that have outlawed the sex trade. Because of this, more and more men are consuming women and children for sex. Traffickers and pimps take advantage of that demand.

There are many things we can do to combat the recurrence of slavery today. Movies like The Sound of Freedom help audiences see that the injustices seen on the big screen can be blocked by starting on the small screen.

Madison McQueen is the Content Writer and Media Relations Manager for Exodus Cry. Cry of Exodus is a global anti-trafficking nonprofit focused on ending widespread sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, exposing this injustice for millions of people around the world, and helping victims rebuild their lives.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.