Across the globe, in too many countries, the most vulnerable members of society continue to suffer in silence: the children. Despite the presence of governments claiming to serve and protect and the countless churches that dot our cities with messages of morality and compassion, the exploitation of children continues unabated. Every single day, children are trafficked, abused, neglected, and forgotten – right under the watch of institutions that claim to be guardians of justice and righteousness.

It’s hard not to notice the pattern. The only cases that seem to gain fleeting public attention are those involving young white girls. Even then, they are rarely protected from the insidious desires of evil men – and women – who walk freely among us, often in positions of power, wealth, and influence. Meanwhile, in places like Mexico and other economically disenfranchised nations, children are often denied a childhood altogether. Instead of learning in classrooms or discovering their sense of self-worth, they are sent to work from the time they can barely walk, robbed of both innocence and opportunity.

What makes it even more disturbing is how many privileged individuals – those who can afford to live abroad or vacation frequently in these regions – witness these injustices firsthand and say nothing. They sip cocktails on resort balconies while children beg for coins in the streets or labor in fields nearby. And then, with cruel irony, they have the audacity to judge these same children harshly when they grow into adults shaped by trauma, poverty, and survival. Just as many Americans harshly criticize Black and other minority communities, conveniently forgetting how systemic neglect, exploitation, and targeted policies helped create those very “problems” in the first place.

In countries like the United States, where power and policy could offer protection, a darker truth remains: the refusal to impose harsher laws against child exploitation stems not from ignorance but from complicity. For instance, the Epstein case exposed a disturbing undercurrent of elite involvement in child abuse networks, yet we still have no transparency. There is no accountability. Files remain sealed. Names unspoken. And why? Perhaps because too many people in positions of power would be implicated: fathers, mothers, colleagues, and friends.

Let’s stop pretending the intelligence agencies – who claim to have eyes and ears everywhere – are simply incapable of locating missing minority children. They can drone strike a target across the globe but somehow lose track of a Black or Indigenous child lost in the system? It’s not incompetence – it’s indifference. It’s selective blindness driven by systemic priorities that value status over justice.

Here’s a question for anyone who calls themselves intelligent – be it government official or everyday citizen: if you heard a credible rumor that someone at your next social gathering was a known abuser of children, would you still go? Would you shake their hand? Many highly respected figures in society have done just that, all while smiling for the cameras and preaching values they never intended to uphold.

Even more chilling, the sitting President of the United States – dubbed by some as the “pedophile-in-chief” – has blocked the release of documents that could expose himself and others. This is not a partisan accusation; it’s a human rights crisis. Both men and women have played roles in this cover-up, and the problem is not just male predators. Women, too, have acted as groomers, traffickers, and enablers – often overlooked due to societal assumptions and the “mirror test”: if she looks like a mom, how could she possibly be a monster?

This same sickness is especially evident in Hollywood’s infamous “casting couch” culture. How many beloved producers, directors, and movie executives have been outed, only to be quietly protected by other men and women for the sake of keeping the money machine running? How many parents have knowingly sold their children into that world, chasing lavish lifestyles they couldn’t create on their own? And the least protected – often completely invisible – are the young abused males. At least when we hear about young girls being hurt, there is sometimes a flicker of public outrage. But when boys speak up, they are dismissed, ignored, or labeled as “problem children.” Many of them scream to be heard until they finally fall silent – like Corey Haim and countless others who never lived long enough to see justice. Time and time again, we are shown that having money or celebrity status is a free pass to commit unthinkable crimes against the innocent.

This global issue persists because the primary consumers of these atrocities are often wealthy, white elites – people with the means to silence victims, erase records, and walk away unpunished. Perhaps that’s why you can get more prison time for selling drugs – a transaction between consenting adults – than for the molestation of an innocent child.

A Final Reckoning

The numbers don’t lie – they scream. In the United States alone, over 840,000 children are reported missing each year. Despite Black people being only 13% of the population, they represent 31-33% of missing cases. Globally, that number soars to a harrowing 8 million, with entire communities disproportionately affected. Black and Indigenous children vanish at alarming rates and yet receive a fraction of the media attention or public outrage. Their faces rarely make national headlines. Their names are whispered, if spoken at all.

And while we pretend to search, we simultaneously allow the machine to run: politicians covering up files, elite circles protecting predators, and Hollywood laundering abuse into glamor. In many cases, the very systems claiming to protect the young are quietly feeding them into the fire. When young boys cry out, we label them broken. When young girls disappear, we mourn for a moment – then move on. Until the next time. The next hashtag. The next child.

This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a moral indictment of our global culture – one that values wealth over welfare, image over innocence, and silence over justice.

We must stop acting like this is someone else’s issue. These are not isolated tragedies. They are the symptoms of a global sickness, upheld by our systems, our silence, and our selective outrage.

So ask yourself: How many children must disappear before we finally say, ‘Enough‘?

Because until we stop turning away – until we treat each child like they are our own – the darkness will keep winning.

Your silence makes you an accomplice for the next assault or crime towards another innocent child.

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