Andrew Tate assumed it would always be as it had always been. He was wrong. We should be glad he was.
You may not know his story. Tate, a British citizen born in the U.S., came to international fame as a world-champion kickboxer. His several world titles thrust him to global attention and gave him a platform from which he might have done a great deal of good.
It was not to be. Instead, he became a hater and of women most of all. He declared often that women are the mere property of men. They shouldn’t be allowed to drive but should stay home to serve, he said. He claimed he dated only 18-19 year old women because they were more “impressionable.”
He drew international ire for these views. He was banned from YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. He didn’t care. He founded “Hustlers University” to spread his views. It boasts 168,000 students, some as young as 13. The spread of his fame has been astonishing. During the summer of 2022, his name was searched more than that of Donald Trump or Kim Kardashian.
Then he moved to Romania. He said in a YouTube video that 40% of the reason he moved there was that the police were less likely to pay attention to sexual assault claims. He also knew that video chat studios are legal in Romania but are often used for illegal purposes. He saw an opportunity—the vilest kind of pornography. It would be the land of his dreams, he thought. He expected a corrupt nation with distracted officials and a cooperating police force. No one would care what he did, he believed, particularly if only women were harmed.
But he was wrong.
What Andrew Tate did not know was that Romania has changed. Due in part to the work of organizations like Uncaged, Romanian officials are alert, the Romanian people are incensed, Romanian law enforcement is informed, and there is new resolve to end the trafficking and the sexual abuse that has so marred the beauty of that land.
Tate was likely stunned, then, when in the last days of 2022, Romanian authorities detained him claiming that he had committed rape and that he had trafficked women with the intent of forcing them to perform in pornography.
Now, Andrew Tate awaits trial. The man once described as “The King of Toxic Masculinity” is surely pondering his huge mistake. He thought he could take refuge in a corrupt Romania, the perfect home for human traffickers and abusers of women. He thought no one would care. He learned otherwise. Things have changed in Romania, as they are changing worldwide.
Women are not property. Nor are their children. They are not to be raped or beaten or sold or trafficked like so much cattle. They are God’s glorious creations, and men like Andrew Tate can are no longer finding haven in lands that turn a blind eye to perversion and exploitation.
Thank God for what is happening in Romania. Thank God for the exposure of Andrew Tate. And thank God for the work of organizations like Uncaged which are fashioning a new day for us all the world over.
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