I awoke from a heavy slumber as is typical and began my morning routine before work. Sitting down at the kitchen table I decided some news would be fitting with my staple bowl of Raisin Bran cereal. While the world around me felt nothing less than sunshine and daisies, the broadcaster without fail brought me back down to reality.

Early last week, police officers in Spain arrested a half dozen members on the grounds that these individuals had all been linked to a gang notorious for human trafficking. These men are accused of luring four girls from Nigeria to Spain with the promise of jobs. However, these promises were a lie, the girls were seized and then forced into prostitution. What makes this case different from the countless other abductions each year across the globe, was the perpetrators used juju, or voodoo magic, as the means by which the girls were kept under their control.

Reports from “The Local,” A Spanish-based news outlet stated, “Officers rescued four victims and arrested six members of the organization that used juju voodoo rituals to sexually exploit women. The traffickers had put the women through a juju voodoo ritual that used the victim's fingernails or (hair) and involved animal sacrifice in front of idols in a temple in order to ‘guarantee that the women complied with everything they demanded, under threat of death to them and their families.’"

It is believed that these women followed a path many others find themselves on once corralled into these deadly circuits. On foot and by car, they trekked all the way to the Moroccan coast, where their captors then transferred them by boat to the Canary Islands.

Many who have never directly dealt with such a situation ask why they girls didn’t run away once out of sight of their pimps. Sure that’s easy for any outside voice, but one needs to truly understand the magnitude by which such witchcraft can psychologically burden these girls. Their fear of powerful magic prevented them from going to authorities, much like children don’t snoop around on Christmas in fear that Santa will skip over their house. Sure, in our anglicized society anything not Jesus related is blasphemy, but peep your head out of the bushes and you’ll find that belief in witches is common, and black magic is considered part of everyday life in many nations across the globe.

Discovery News cites a 2010 poll of 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa which found that over half of the population believe in magic. This means instead of trained professionals treating curable diseases, families turn to witch doctors. Underneath the surface of sub-Saharan medical care is a much darker history of placing or removing curses, through which witch doctors prey on the malleable population. Belief in magical powers is so strong, those who enact the power are thought to have control over others lives.

In terms of sexual trafficking, this all boils down to one horrifying truth. At its most extreme, those who subscribe to the belief of dark magic genuinely fear they could get AIDS simply by disobeying their pimps and traffickers, or by ratting them out. It is irrelevant whether or not the gangs believe in this magic; the important takeaway is the victims do.

How do we bring awareness to such a large group of people? How can this be prevented in the future? How do you prosecute those who manipulate innocents in such a fashion? To answer such questions, Spanish law enforcement authorities plan to take a cue from the British, whose government has recently aimed at tackling this issue. In early 2015, the British government’s anti-slavery commissioner, Kevin Hyland, announced plans to prosecute sex traffickers by “reversing” the curses cast upon the victimized women. This may seem like fighting fire with fire, as no true solution is suggested in the prevention of future abductions. Nevertheless, any measure may help as awareness spreads of the ugly truth of human trafficking.

In Africa, Nigerian officials have located the specific witch doctors they believe are responsible for placing curses on the victims, and forced them to remove the curse, or face criminal prosecution. Whether you believe in the magic or not, this is an innovative and conceivably effective method of wielding psychology and folklore as a weapon in the service of justice.