What Bias Means for Trafficking

If asked this question, how would you answer:

A 2020 United Nations Report showed how many men hold bias against women?

a. 30%

b. 50%

c. 70%

d. 90%

The startling answer?

The Gender Social Norms Index, a report that shows how beliefs affect gender equality, released by the United Nations Development Programme on in 2020, showed that nearly 90% of men hold some sort of bias against women.

What does any of this have to do with human trafficking?

Our beliefs dictate our behaviors—what we're willing to stand up for, what we're willing to tolerate, and how we treat others. The research, from 75 countries making up 80% of the world, went on to show that these biases hinder women’s rights and equality.

This means violence against women can be easily ignored by many, thought of as a norm. If, as the research found, 28% of men and women believe that men are justified to beat their wives, those people will think nothing of abuse. If people hold these beliefs, the violence of trafficking can go unchecked.

That's why people like Andrew Tate are so dangerous. Who is Andrew Tate? What is happening with him in Romania? Read our exclusive story from New York Times bestselling author and speak Stephen Mansfield. Mansfield's book Men on Fire seeks to help men recover noble manhood. See what he has to say about this breaking story unfolding right now in Romania.

*Date from the UN Gender Social Norms Index 2020

The Education of Andrew Tate

Andrew Tate assumed it would always be as it had always been. He was wrong. We should be glad he was.

You may not know his story. Tate, a British citizen born in the U.S., came to international fame as a world-champion kickboxer. His several world titles thrust him to global attention and gave him a platform from which he might have done a great deal of good.

It was not to be. Instead, he became a hater and of women most of all. He declared often that women are the mere property of men. They shouldn’t be allowed to drive but should stay home to serve, he said. He claimed he dated only 18-19 year old women because they were more “impressionable.”

He drew international ire for these views. He was banned from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. He didn’t care. He founded “Hustlers University” to spread his views. It boasts 168,000 students, some as young as 13. The spread of his fame has been astonishing. During the summer of 2022, his name was searched more than that of Donald Trump or Kim Kardashian.

Then he moved to Romania. He said in a YouTube video that 40% of the reason he moved there was that the police were less likely to pay attention to sexual assault claims. He also knew that video chat studios are legal in Romania but are often used for illegal purposes. He saw an opportunity—the vilest kind of pornography. It would be the land of his dreams, he thought. He expected a corrupt nation with distracted officials and a cooperating police force. No one would care what he did, he believed, particularly if only women were harmed.

But he was wrong.

What Andrew Tate did not know was that Romania has changed. Due in part to the work of organizations like Uncaged, Romanian officials are alert, the Romanian people are incensed, Romanian law enforcement is informed, and there is new resolve to end the trafficking and the sexual abuse that has so marred the beauty of that land.

Tate was likely stunned, then, when in the last days of 2022, Romanian authorities detained him claiming that he had committed rape and that he had trafficked women with the intent of forcing them to perform in pornography.

Now, Andrew Tate awaits trial. The man once described as “The King of Toxic Masculinity” is surely pondering his huge mistake. He thought he could take refuge in a corrupt Romania, the perfect home for human traffickers and abusers of women. He thought no one would care. He learned otherwise. Things have changed in Romania, as they are changing worldwide.

Women are not property. Nor are their children. They are not to be raped or beaten or sold or trafficked like so much cattle. They are God’s glorious creations, and men like Andrew Tate can are no longer finding haven in lands that turn a blind eye to perversion and exploitation.

Thank God for what is happening in Romania. Thank God for the exposure of Andrew Tate. And thank God for the work of organizations like Uncaged which are fashioning a new day for us all the world over.

Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and speaker-training coach who first rose to global attention with his groundbreaking work The Faith of George W. Bush, a book Time magazine credited with helping to shape the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

Stephen’s concern for abused women became particularly acute as he advocated for the Kurds in their battle against ISIS. During this time, he grew increasingly aware of the ritual abuse and trauma that beset not just the victims of ISIS, but millions of women around the world.

Will You Be Part of the Solution?

This January, during Human Trafficking Awareness month, many people are talking about the harsh realities of modern-day slavery around the world. This is a dark story, one we must stop and listen to. We cannot look away.

Human trafficking is a $150 billion a year global industry. This is big business for traffickers who see precious souls as dollars to be made. These are the people Uncaged exists for—vulnerable women and children.

But we also will not remain there in the darkness. We will look toward the light, the hope of freedom. At the end of last year, we shared Annabelle’s story with you—one survivor on the road to healing. She still has a long way to go and we need your partnership to continue walking with her. We also need you in order to extend this kind of transformation into the lives of many, many more.

Many responded. We had more year-end gifts from brand-new donors than ever before. More people joining the fight for freedom - will you?

We cannot tell you the excitement we have as we move into 2023. When we were led to Romania to start our work of building The Sanctuary, we knew it was a strategic location—a source country for trafficking across the region.

But we are seeing how strategic this incredible country is for prevention. It is becoming a center of transformation spreading out across the continent.

Doors are opening. Cages are being unlocked. We are seeing more people rise up than ever before to combat human trafficking in some of the places it is most entrenched.

You can help us walk boldly into 2023. We can’t wait to see what doors open wide this year because of you!