Cecil the Lion’s 5 Lessons for Humanity
How Cecil can Fight Sex Trafficking
This week, the killing of Cecil the Lion brought attention to the horrible things people will do for money. At the same time, the World Day against Trafficking in Persons was observed on July 30th.
Human trafficking and animal welfare are two areas that strike directly at the heart. Both make us feel as if the victim is helpless, unable to put up a fight, vulnerable, and in need of protection.
Cecil the Lion’s death at the hands of a group of people who were in it for the money does not have to be in vain. We can learn lessons from Cecil that impact the fight against sex trafficking and animal welfare. Both are large, global issues, but we can impact the fight from home.
Cecil the lion lived in a national park in Zimbabwe. He was tracked and studied by Oxford University, and was part of a pride of lions. Cecil was shot with an arrow, tracked for two days as he suffered, and then was killed by a rifle. The man that shot him paid $55,000 dollars to stalk and kill Cecil.
The sex trafficking trade is not so different. People pay in order to participate in the sex trade. Some travel far distances to foreign lands while others travel to a location close to their home. Some locations may be close to your home.
For more information on protecting your children, see this article:
The similarity between Cecil’s story and sex trafficking is that victims of sex trafficking suffer to fill the pockets of sex traffickers and to satisfy the wants of perpetrators (also known as “johns”).
Let there be no question: those being trafficked in the sex trade are victims, traffickers are victimizers, and paying “customers” are perpetrators. Without the perpetrators, the traffickers would lose the income and lose the incentive to participate in the sex trade.
How Cecil Can Help
Cecil’s story can not only help us understand the problem, but some solutions to sex trafficking. In addition, his story can help animal welfare and conservation throughout the world.
Cecil the Lion’s Lesson #1: Victims are lured.
Two poachers placed a dead animal on top of their vehicle to lure Cecil out of his home and away from safety.
Sex trafficking victims are also lured. Traffickers lure victims by giving gifts, money, promises of jobs, promises of loving relationships, or promises of new opportunities. Once lured into the open, victims of sex trafficking suffer, like Cecil suffered. Physical and psychological violence is the norm, not the exception. Without being saved or escaping, sex trafficking victims can die.
Cecil the Lion’s Lesson #2: Money is the reason victims suffer.
Cecil was killed for $55,000. A wealthy American dentist traveled to Zimbabwe to kill a lion. He had paid to kill before.
Sex trafficking is a multi-billion dollar per year industry. Victims can be lured into sex trafficking, but they can also be sold into sex trafficking. This includes the heartbreaking fact that family members sell their own relatives to traffickers or otherwise introduce them into the sex trafficking industry. The reason sex trafficking exists is because it is lucrative and that means people are paying for sex with the victims.
These perpetrators (johns) are as much a part of the problem as the traffickers themselves. Cecil would still be alive if there was no money in killing him. If there was no money to be made in sex trafficking, there would be no victims. There is blood on every dollar traded.
Cecil the Lion’s Lesson #3: If it’s easy, people will do it.
Poachers get involved with the slaughter of big game including big cats, rhinoceroses, and elephants with the knowledge that many nations fail to investigate or prosecute these poachers. The two people involved in Cecil’s death only face ten years in prison and were out of jail by posting a mere $1,000 bail each.
The risk to sex traffickers is low. Sex trafficking is prevalent not only because it is lucrative, but globally, the risk is low. Prosecution, and strict prosecution of traffickers and perpetrators can reduce the sex trafficking industry and result in protecting more victims. The punishment for johns is usually just a slap on the wrist.
Let us be clear: prosecute the traffickers and perpetrators, not the victims. Victims should always be treated as victims, not criminals.
Cecil the Lion’s Lesson #4: The victims need to be protected.
Cecil was always in danger, but he was protected on the game reserve. He was collared and tracked so that researchers could study him to help lion conservation. There are many people who are valiantly fighting to protect lions like Cecil.
Victims of sex trafficking deserve protection, deserve help, and deserve a second chance. The killing of Cecil was a horrible and seemingly unforgivable event. Sex trafficking is also horrible and unforgivable. The victims deserve caring and understanding. The people that rescue, protect, and restore these victims need support and help.
Cecil the Lion’s Lesson #5: Caring about victims leads to action.
People cared about Cecil and were mad when they realized he had been victimized. Cecil was shot by an arrow and suffered for two days before he was killed by a rifle shot.
Sex trafficking victims suffer for years. They are initially “shot” by physical and mental abuse and enslaved for years. They lose their lives, too. Intervention in their lives can give them a second chance. A second chance Cecil will never see, but the millions of sex trafficking victims can. Let the same rage drive us to action. For more information on restoring victims, please read this article:
What can we do? — Cecil’s Legacy
The solution is simple in idea, but complex in execution. We need to protect the victims and go after the perpetrators.
- Focus on protecting and helping victims. We need to continue to provide the victims of sex trafficking with protection, counseling, and a second chance to live the life that was stolen from them. Similarly, thinking about the animal victims of poachers allows us to fund programs to protect animals into the future.
- Two-pronged attack on perpetrators. First, make the industry less lucrative by reducing the number of people that are willing to pay. The perpetrators that victimize the helpless need to be stopped. If there are no perpetrators to line the pockets of traffickers and poachers with cash, the incentive will cease to exist. Second, prosecute traffickers, poachers, and perpetrators to make the industry much more risky. Let’s make the risk outweigh the gain.
Cecil can have a legacy. His death does not have to be in vain. Lessons Cecil has taught the world can be used to save animals, but can also be used to save human beings. We can start today.
Here are a few resources to begin helping:
Courage worldwide provides resources to assist victims of sex trafficking. You can visit them at: www.courageworldwide.org.
International Justice Mission is a team of lawyers, investigators, social workers, community activists, and others who fix broke justice systems as part of their goal to protect victims. You can visit them at: www.ijm.org.
The Department of Homeland Security has information on human trafficking here: http://www.dhs.gov/topic/human-trafficking.
The Polaris Project “disrupts the conditions that allow human trafficking to thrive”: http://www.polarisproject.org/.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center operates a hotline that serves victims and the anti-human trafficking community: http://www.traffickingresourcecenter.org/ or 1–888–373–7888.
