If you were unaware that July 30 is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, you would hardly be the only person.
And that’s not meant to cast any aspersions for those who didn’t know — after all, the subject matter is exceptionally grim and morose, particularly if you happen to have a conscience.
But just because it’s something that’s unpleasant to think about or deal with, doesn’t mean it’s not a rampant real-world issue.
Thankfully, there are people like former football star and baseball prospect Tim Tebow — a proud and public man of faith — who are willing to grapple with that ugliness and bring awareness to the topic.
Tebow took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and had multiple posts that aimed to bring awareness to both the issue and what the former Florida Gator was going to do about it.
I believe that human trafficking and child sexual exploitation are two of the greatest evils we face today.
On this World Day Against Trafficking, we are launching unKNOWN. Children around the world are suffering from horrific sexual abuse, many from the very people who are…
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
“I believe that human trafficking and child sexual exploitation are two of the greatest evils we face today,” Tebow posted Sunday. “On this World Day Against Trafficking, we are launching unKNOWN. Children around the world are suffering from horrific sexual abuse, many from the very people who are meant to protect them.”
After tagging his eponymous charity foundation, Tebow also noted that saving any and all victims of human trafficking and child exploitation would be one heck of a birthday gift: “For my 36th birthday, it is my hope and prayer we can come together to identify and protect as many children as possible.”
Of note, Tebow turns 36 in just a couple scant weeks, on Aug. 14.
Tebow then took to X again, this time including a video — and a warning.
WARNING: The following tweets contain graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing
⚠️ WARNING: Discretion advised ⚠️
As you read this, and in every minute that goes by, 156 images and videos of children being sexually abused, raped and even enduring sadistic torture are being traded, distributed, and shared across the world through the darkest parts of the… pic.twitter.com/76CfC2PNgz
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
“WARNING: Discretion advised” begins Tebow’s post.
“As you read this, and in every minute that goes by, 156 images and videos of children being sexually abused, raped and even enduring sadistic torture are being traded, distributed, and shared across the world through the darkest parts of the internet for self-gratification.
“This is called CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material), and it is an evil that has been hiding in the darkness of our communities, our homes, and the internet for too long and it’s past time we exposed it to the light.”
That alone is disturbing enough, but Tebow truly shed light on the extent of these horrors in the subsequent X thread.
“Today on World Day Against Trafficking, child trafficking will get a lot of attention, and we need to do everything we can to stop it and protect our children. I believe every person on this earth is created in the image of God — uniquely, beautifully, and perfectly. Their value is priceless, and they are not for sale!” the subsequent post read. “[The Tim Tebow Foundation] has been in this fight for more than 10 years, and Lord willing, we will do what we can to get to as many lives as we can.
“…But what most people don’t know is that the majority of victims are trafficked down the hallway, in their own homes.”
That ominous bit leads right into:
Sometimes people will refer to this as child pornography, but that’s just not the truth. It’s just not. So many of these videos and images taken of children are so much worse than that. It is abuse, it is rape, and sometimes it is as horrific as sadistic torture.
If this is…
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
According to NCMEC, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, of the actively traded images online, fathers are the number one producers of CSAM. The other most common abusers are within their circles of trust, with stepfathers and family friends also on the list for…
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
So many children are suffering with nowhere to turn, nowhere to go, and no one to talk to because instead of refuge, their own homes have become a place of their worst nightmares, and instead of love and safety, sometimes their own families have become a source of torture.
One…
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
My hope and prayer is that we can be those ‘good people.’ We can be the people who don’t look away.
While this may be hard to read… How much harder and more tormenting is it for these children to live in this? What’s more important, our comfort or their freedom? I hope we have…
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
Whether it’s the sheer extent of the atrocities being committed, or the fact that fathers are a leading perpetrator in this heinousness, or even that last anecdote about the girl and the camera, it’s difficult to read those without your stomach churning.
Tebow did finish that thread with a shot of hope:
It’s hard to not be overwhelmed by the horror that so many boys and girls are experiencing every day.
Sometimes it’ll make you feel like, “how could we possibly take the next step, there is just so much evil, so much pain, and so much anguish.”
But then you remember what a…
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) July 30, 2023
As of this writing, the website for “unKNOWN” reads that it has raised over $95,000 to aid with this search and rescue for exploited children.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.