Slavery isn’t a thing of the past. For the Colson Center, I’m John Stonestreet with The Point.

We’re often told that prostitutes, or as they’re euphemistically called, “sex workers,” are free participants in their trade. The campaign to legalize and culturally normalize prostitution, in fact, is based on this assumption. But what if most prostitutes aren’t really free?

That’s the case Julie Bindel makes at the U.K. Spectator. After years investigating the trade and doing hundreds of interviews in 40 different countries, her conclusion, “In almost every case [prostitution is] actually slavery. The women who work as prostitutes are in hock and in trouble.” They’re drug-addicted, abused, and psychologically and financially coerced.

The image of the empowered, independent women is largely a lie. Even in developed countries, Bindel claims many women are trapped financially, chemically, and even by force. They can’t escape, even if they wanted to.

If we’re serious about opposing slavery, we can’t ignore the evidence that prostitution is one of the main ways human beings are bought and sold today. Greenlighting red light districts isn’t the answer.