While the Bible does not necessarily speak about the topic of human trafficking specifically, it gives plenty of guidelines on the treatment of people and the nature of work. These can easily be applied to the subject of human trafficking. The Bible states that we are to be fair in all our transactions and not to cheat the needy or deceive them. The Old Testament speaks very strongly about the consequences for hurting someone hired or employed for work. The Bible clearly says that believers are not to break the law, unless the law goes against the law of God. If an action is illegal, it is not to be done. It is sin to have sex outside of marriage and a sin to rape anyone. There is nothing about prostitution that is biblical, but sex trafficking is akin to rape. The Bible also condemns labor without appropriate compensation and pay.
The official definition of human trafficking is: The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a person by the threat or use of force, fraud, deception, or coercion, or the giving or receiving of unlawful payments for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.
Some of these terms are ambiguous, while several denote actions that are distinctly unbiblical. It is not unbiblical to recruit, transport, transfer, harbor, or receive a person for legitimate work. However, the manner and purpose of such actions in human trafficking are clearly unbiblical.
Threat; use of force: It is not unbiblical for a parent to tell her children to eat their peas or they get no dessert. It is unbiblical to tell someone if she does not perform a task, you will harm her or her family.
Fraud; deception:
The Bible clearly states that we should be fair in all our transactions. We are not to cheat the needy. And "do not lie" is one of the Ten Commandments.
Coercion:
Coercion is impelling someone by the use of pressure, threats, intimidation, and control.
Giving or receiving of unlawful payments: If it is against the law, the Bible says don't do it. If the law forbids a particular business scheme, it is sin.
Sexual exploitation:
The leading form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation.
Forced labor: It
is sin to refuse to pay for the labor. Those caught in labor trafficking are often given food and shelter, but the Bible condemns labor without appropriate pay.
Kidnapping: Human trafficking is basically kidnapping with chattel slavery. Most of the slavery spoken of in the Old Testament was indentured servitude, wherein a person could sell their labor for seven years in order to fulfill a debt. Chattel slavery is the ownership of a person. It is kidnapping, which is severely condemned by the Bible.
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