In the broader national discourse, including in the media itself, the real stories about the horrors of human trafficking are starkly missing.
Yet, this is one of the worst evils of our time, which does not target animals or any other living thing but human beings themselves.
We often talk of human trafficking as just some casual shifting of people from one place to another for exploitation that benefits the trafficker.
It goes beyond that!
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And the biggest horror is that it is happening right under our noses, despite that most people do not believe it actually exists.
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Yet, its physical and mental health effects are monumental.
Experts say human trafficking basically causes loss of basic human rights, disruption in families and severe mental health consequences, including anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder and depression.
In extreme cases, it even leads to death.
We heard about that happening to 23-year-old Ida Chiwalo from Mangochi District, who died in June this year in Oman where she was working as a domestic worker.
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It is said that she was abandoned and later dumped at a hospital by her employer.
Many more Malawians, particularly women, are stuck in the West Asian country and they are reportedly working and living in horrible conditions, conditions that are akin to slavery.
The problem is that at the point everything starts, the victims are barely aware of the horrors that lie ahead.
They are promised a rosy world but end up working in brothels, abusive homes and other places not normally fit for human beings.
Those of us who have been privileged to see and hear the real stories and experiences of human trafficking know that all hands need to be thrust on deck to deal with this criminal trade.
A few months ago, a Malawian woman who was working in Oman said in a Facebook post that she had suffered abuses such as rape, torture and poor pay in that country.
Those are said to be the experiences of many others who are trafficked out of Malawi.
It is heartrending that in some cases, people who are in positions of authority and are, therefore, supposed to be at the forefront protecting Malawians from trafficking and other forms of abuse end up aiding traffickers.
There are police officers, medical personnel, immigration officers and many more who have been implicated in human trafficking cases before.
The problem is one of society’s biggest hidden dark secrets, though the truth is that it happens in plain sight, just that we often do not pay adequate attention.
During a recent training workshop which I attended in Blantyre, several issues of human trafficking came out.
It became clear during the event that some of the people we encounter on daily basis might be victims of this kind of modern-day slavery.
Studies show that human trafficking is a global epidemic and one of the fastest growing crimes in the world.
The challenge is that most of the people involved at the highest level have money and often bribe their way through the system to have people trafficked to their destinations.
So, even those who are at the forefront in fighting human trafficking risk their lives daily because every effort they put in place is being monitored by big and organised systems that keep growing.
They need all the necessary support and protection, because they are sacrificing their lives and those of their families in the course of their work.
Combating this evil trade, where some people view others as commodities, even if they are their children, neighbours, friends or co-workers, requires a strong response from all stakeholders.
The definition of human trafficking, as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit, indicates that many actors are involved in this criminal trade.
Others could be doing it unknowingly, but if the law catches up with them, such ignorance will not exonerate them.
All in all, the horrible crime that is human trafficking is growing at an unprecedented rate, if reports by various organisations are anything to go by.
Our own brothers and sisters are stuck in hell of places where they had initially been promised paradise.
We can still prevent someone from becoming the next victim of human trafficking by reporting any suspected case to relevant authorities.
