When human trafficking survivors are rescued, they are often mired in legal troubles that create a new kind of bondage. In extreme cases, like Cyntoia Brown-Long, the victims become perpetrators before they are rescued, which makes their battle for redemption much more difficult. She was tried as an adult and convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery for crimes against a 43 year-old man who allegedly hired her for sex when she was 16.
Even those who don’t commit overt crimes can find themselves caught up in legal proceedings that threaten their newfound freedom. Attorney and federal law enforcement officer Nate Klapper founded The Joseph Project after hearing the story of D’Lynn, a woman who was sexually exploited in Detroit and left to die by her pimp. Since she was uninsured, her hospital bills went into collection and were heading for a lawsuit against her. Klapper connected her with counsel so that both she and the hospital were compensated and she could move on with her life.
As he explains in an interview with Jordan Raynor, Klapper named the nonprofit organization after the Biblical story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. A core theme of the Biblical narrative is freedom from bondage and exploitation. That’s what makes the story of Tamar so infuriating.
Tamar was King David’s daughter and Absalom’s sister. Her half-brother Amnon came up with a scheme to lure her into his tent and rape her. Though David knew what happened and was enraged, he did not take any steps toward justice. He may have been reluctant to hold Amnon’s sin against him, considering his own indiscretions. Or, as a father, he may have had conflicting emotions.
Seeing the lack of justice, Absalom took matters into his own hands and had Amnon killed. The conflict spiraled to the point that it threatened David’s kingdom — all because he did not face the issue head on.
Tamar was born a princess, but she lived the rest of her life as a desolate woman sheltered in Absalom’s house. Proverbs 13:23 says “Abundant food is in the uncultivated ground of the poor, But it is swept away by injustice.” As in Tamar’s case, the problem was systemic: she did not have a path toward justice. This is precisely the kind of issue that God calls us to address so that the people He created can live in abundance.
As Tim Mackie explains in his message on Ephesians 6:12, the struggle is not against people, but the dark spiritual forces behind them. Our human nature is to identify and channel our rage onto a person, but when we do that, we miss the point; people get defensive; and the situation perpetuates. By contrast, if we recognize that the root cause is a force, we can unite in exposing and addressing the lapses that keep people in oppression.