Human Trafficking By Kim Kubal for Holy Name College in Oakland.
Human Trafficking
Why do we call ourselves mankind, when there is no kindness left? If we were kind to mother earth, and all that is, then we would be taking care not only of ourselves, but of the earth and all that
encompasses it. I believe we are all one and connected, and what we do to each other, by thought, word and deed we also do to our planet. Unless we raise the consciousness of the human race, we will lose our planet.
Yet, we must face the facts of the impact our choices may have on the lives of others. Whether we know it or not, we consume goods and services that are very likely to have some connection to a trafficked person. Human trafficking is defined by The United Nations as the “recruitment, transportation, harboring or receipt of persons by means of force, fraud or coercion.” Traffickers have no bias. They will steal and abuse women, men, or children of any color or creed — all for profit in a trade that brings in over $150 billion each year worldwide according to The International Labor Organization which also estimates that there are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally, including 5.5 million children. 55% are women and girls.
It is not just “black market” profit. Many U.S. corporations stand to gain billions this year by turning a blind eye to human trafficking. This is done through the use of third-party contractors which allows corporations to wipe their hands clean of any wrong-doing while reaping the most profitable benefits. Large corporations aren’t the only ones to blame; they are able to evade responsibility in large part due to a lack of regulations and enforcement of anti-human trafficking laws. No sector or industry is immune from human trafficking. Victims have been identified in factories, restaurants, construction work, agricultural fields, hotels, spas, nail salons, and private residences.
Our thoughts create our lives, and the world around us. We must take responsibility and be conscious of this from here on. If our lives are created and affected by our thoughts, so is the planet. The planet is an organic, living cell (a bigger body) that depends on us, just like we depend on it, for survival. We are interdependent, just like us and the cells in our bodies, which depend on us to feed them healthy food and have positive thoughts in order to give us a healthy life. We need to care for our planet the same way we need to care for our bodies. This means that things that happen on a smaller level can also happen on a large level. As cells have consciousness and our thoughts and actions can affect their state of well-being, we can also affect the well-being of the planet.
By my own healing, and since we are inter-connected, I believe I have affected the healing of others as well as the planet. I would like to share my long journey towards spirituality through trauma, mind control, torture and human trafficking. I suffered eighteen long, torturous years of severe sexual, physical, spiritual and emotional abuse at the hands of my mother, father, grandfather and others. As a direct result of this trauma and abuse, I showed no emotion, wanted love so badly and yet, confused love with abuse. I suppressed all the feelings and memories, developed self-destructive behaviors, as well as twenty addictions ranging from alcoholism to over-eating. In order to deal with the addictive behavior, I attended many Twelve-Step Programs and worked the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous in all programs.
Because of the severe trauma and abuse, I spent most of my childhood and adolescence fragmented and out of my body. I don’t have many memories of my childhood, teens and early adult life, because I wasn’t “present” for much of it. It was safer for me not to be present, not to feel, as many of the events unfolded and occurred. Although the Divine was always there helping me by dissociating myself from my body. I can clearly remember the angels taking me away and saying one day “you will escape from this.”
I needed to escape, rather than feel the abandonment, rejection, betrayal and even hatred directed at me. It wasn’t safe for me to feel. I couldn’t tell you my feelings. Even looking back now, I’m not sure what I felt, if anything, at the time. Instead of feeling the loneliness, desperation and self-hatred I experienced, I was just numb. As I grew up, I learned to escape my body and uncomfortable feelings with multiple addictions and self-abusive behaviors – food, sugar, alcohol, drugs, and relationships.
Later on, I descended into a deep depression, clinging to my therapist and the many 12-Step programs I was in. I prayed every night for God to take me, even as I experienced the horror of flashbacks and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). During those early years of recovery, I felt alone and isolated. I developed physical problems that didn’t make sense and were only later identified; one diagnosis was Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a condition not well understood and a diagnosis viewed with distrust by many physicians. I learned about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and how it applied to me. I wanted to give up many, many times, but somehow I held on.
I seemed to intuitively know that my salvation depended upon finding a spiritual path of healing. I started spiritual counseling to overcome my concept of an abusive God, which was based on what I learned as a child – that God hated me, would abandon me and I would end up on the streets homeless with no one to take care of me. I had so much rage toward this Higher Power. What kind of God is it, I thought, that allows such terrible abuse, that permitted the perpetrators to destroy my soul, my body and mind! It wasn’t until after many years of professional therapy, 12-Step recovery and spiritual nurturing that I realized God cannot stop free will, even if it’s the will to do evil.
I started working the Twelve Steps of AA in order to free myself from the many addictions and destructive thinking, but also to change my patterns of behavior. The changes occurred over a period of time from accepting my addictions to realizing that only a Higher Power can heal me. I also painfully looked at my past, what I had done to hurt and harm others, and then made amends to others, where necessary. This was not easily done, particularly with my family! In working the 12 Steps, each day I need to look at my behavior, admit when I am wrong and apologize. I need to develop a deeper life of prayer and meditation and furthermore, I need to practice these principles in every area of my life. This was a completely new and different way of life for me, where I started to rely on a Higher Power to guide, protect and love me.
CONCLUSION
Through the early trauma and abuse and the subsequent healing over many, many years, I have learned to “turn my will and life over to a Power greater than myself.” I have developed a profound relationship with the Divine, where now all I am is but an instrument of the Divine through which He works – an instrument of love and service. By service, I hope to educate those who are ready to listen about human trafficking. It is only through my own personal pain and suffering, that I have come to a place of love and service.
I truly believe the time has come to educate one another and take a stand against this contemporary form of slavery – human trafficking. So if you want to keep Mother Earth safe, let go of preconceived notions. We can make an impact by starting small: Look beneath the surface of what you buy, eat, and wear every day. Each product has its own story: Where did it come from? What hands guided it to yours? Awareness is the first, crucial step. Start coming forth with truth and honesty and start treating each other with kindness that is part of the word “mankind”.
The second step are prayers of love and peace to all, the traffickers themselves and those trafficked, and in particular to mother earth. Mother Earth is an energy created as one with God and one with our energy. It is the universal energy of God residing inside of us that connects mankind to every part of creation through pure consciousness.
The 3rd step is being aware of the impact of positive thinking, the laws of attraction and letting go of hatred and other forms of negativity which not only harm ourselves, but others and the planet.
The next step is informing others and spreading the word. As you begin to look beneath the surface, use the statistics and information provided herein to guide your thoughts and prayers. Pray for those who are held in slavery. Acknowledge the forgotten. Help bring light to the darkness. Pray to give the power back to the shadows so they can come forth with new light.
I now recognize what a gift in many ways this trauma and abuse has been for me. In essence, I am now a deeply spiritual human being, who loves life and others. I now see the Divine in myself and others and have deep compassion for all, particularly Mother Earth. Because of all my healing and the work I have done on myself, I am able to be very present to myself, clients, friends and those people I come in contact with each day. I am able to look past the behavior of clients and the general public to see “the light of the spirit” in all.
I believe I have a mission, having gone through “the many dark nights of the soul” to educate, help, to love and be of service. With the nonprofit I started, Your Strength to Heal, and my two websites, I volunteer my services, particularly to the under-privileged. In the future, we will have healing centers for women, children, adolescents and men, for the healing of trauma and abuse. It will be environments of love, safety and healing.
I would like to end with a quote by Carl Jung who was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology “your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams: who looks inside, awakes.”