About Human Trafficking
What is Human Trafficking? The illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation.
Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking). It reportedly generates a profit of $32 billion every year. Of that number, $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries.
The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-years-old. Many victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children. California harbors 3 of the FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas on the nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
Globally, the average cost of a slave is $90.
Human trafficking is the third largest international crime industry (behind illegal drugs and arms trafficking). It reportedly generates a profit of $32 billion every year. Of that number, $15.5 billion is made in industrialized countries.
The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14-years-old. Many victims are runaway girls who were sexually abused as children. California harbors 3 of the FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas on the nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
Globally, the average cost of a slave is $90.
Effects of Human Trafficking on the Victims and Communities
Trafficking has a harrowing effect on the mental, emotional and physical well being of the women and girls ensnared in its web. Beyond the physical abuse, trafficked women suffer extreme emotional stress, including shame, grief, fear, distrust and suicidal thoughts. Victims often experience post-traumatic stress disorder, and with that, acute anxiety, depression and insomnia. Many victims turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain.
Trafficking victims often suffer from serious physical abuse and physical exhaustion, as well as starvation. Typical injuries can include broken bones, concussion, bruising or burns, as well as other injuries consistent with assault. Some of these serious injuries can cause lasting health problems and may require long-term treatment. Because women who have been trafficked have been subjected to multiple abuses over an extensive period of time, they may suffer these health consequences in a manner consistent with victims of prolonged torture.
Women who work in the commercial sex trade are vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health complications, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other gynecological problems. Women who have been trafficked into the sex trade may often not have access to, or are not allowed to use, condoms or other methods of birth control, and may only have irregular gynecological examinations. Such women face the risk of unwanted pregnancies and miscarriages. Women who work as prostitutes experience high rates of abortion, sterilization and infertility.
Sex trafficking promotes societal breakdown by removing women and girls from their families and communities. Trafficking fuels organized crime groups that usually participate in many other illegal activities, including drug and weapons trafficking and money laundering. It negatively impacts local and national labor markets, due to the loss of human resources. Sex trafficking burdens public health systems. And trafficking erodes government authority, encourages widespread corruption, and threatens the security of vulnerable populations.
Trafficking victims often suffer from serious physical abuse and physical exhaustion, as well as starvation. Typical injuries can include broken bones, concussion, bruising or burns, as well as other injuries consistent with assault. Some of these serious injuries can cause lasting health problems and may require long-term treatment. Because women who have been trafficked have been subjected to multiple abuses over an extensive period of time, they may suffer these health consequences in a manner consistent with victims of prolonged torture.
Women who work in the commercial sex trade are vulnerable to sexual and reproductive health complications, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other gynecological problems. Women who have been trafficked into the sex trade may often not have access to, or are not allowed to use, condoms or other methods of birth control, and may only have irregular gynecological examinations. Such women face the risk of unwanted pregnancies and miscarriages. Women who work as prostitutes experience high rates of abortion, sterilization and infertility.
Sex trafficking promotes societal breakdown by removing women and girls from their families and communities. Trafficking fuels organized crime groups that usually participate in many other illegal activities, including drug and weapons trafficking and money laundering. It negatively impacts local and national labor markets, due to the loss of human resources. Sex trafficking burdens public health systems. And trafficking erodes government authority, encourages widespread corruption, and threatens the security of vulnerable populations.
Who Is At Risk?
Human trafficking takes place in every country all around the world. Anyone can be a victim regardless of social class or ethnic group. Over 130 countries facilitate in the trade human trafficking. About 18,000 people every year are trafficked in the United States, coming from over 50 countries.
Within the United States, over 300,000 children are trafficked and mainly come from large urban cities including Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, as well as to main tourism destinations including Las Vegas and Florida.
The sites of where recruitments are made are endless. These include anywhere from malls, schools, youth centers, theme parks, neighborhoods, and online.
The main victims that are targeted, however, come from affluent, middle class, and lower income families and from many ethnic backgrounds. Women and children are also more targeted than older populations and males because women and children are typically considered the more vulnerable population.
Within the United States, over 300,000 children are trafficked and mainly come from large urban cities including Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, as well as to main tourism destinations including Las Vegas and Florida.
The sites of where recruitments are made are endless. These include anywhere from malls, schools, youth centers, theme parks, neighborhoods, and online.
The main victims that are targeted, however, come from affluent, middle class, and lower income families and from many ethnic backgrounds. Women and children are also more targeted than older populations and males because women and children are typically considered the more vulnerable population.
The Polaris Project
The Polaris Project is a nonprofit organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery. In a recent study that they conducted they found more than 9,000 cases of potential human trafficking were recorded in the US between 2007 and 2012.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), a program of Polaris Project, has experienced a 259 percent increase in calls reporting trafficking cases since 2008.
The NHTRC received reports of 9,298 unique cases of human trafficking. Of those cases, 64 percent involved sex trafficking, 22 percent involved labor trafficking and nearly 3 percent involved both sex and labor trafficking. An additional 12 percent were unspecified.
“With hundreds of thousands of people forced to provide labor or commercial sex right here in the US, we are fundamentally working to preserve and restore freedom to exploited men, women, and children,” said Bradley Myles, CEO of Polaris Project.
Many Americans assume human trafficking is a third-world issue while a largely silent population of people in the US is being exploited, Myles said.
More than 42 percent of reported sex trafficking cases were pimp-controlled prostitution, the most commonly referenced form of sex trafficking, occurring mostly in places like hotels, truck stops and street corners.
According to the FBI, the average age for a girl getting involved in sexual exploitation is 12 to 14, and that some 293,000 American youths are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking.
For more information on the Polaris Project continue on to their website, http://www.polarisproject.org
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), a program of Polaris Project, has experienced a 259 percent increase in calls reporting trafficking cases since 2008.
The NHTRC received reports of 9,298 unique cases of human trafficking. Of those cases, 64 percent involved sex trafficking, 22 percent involved labor trafficking and nearly 3 percent involved both sex and labor trafficking. An additional 12 percent were unspecified.
“With hundreds of thousands of people forced to provide labor or commercial sex right here in the US, we are fundamentally working to preserve and restore freedom to exploited men, women, and children,” said Bradley Myles, CEO of Polaris Project.
Many Americans assume human trafficking is a third-world issue while a largely silent population of people in the US is being exploited, Myles said.
More than 42 percent of reported sex trafficking cases were pimp-controlled prostitution, the most commonly referenced form of sex trafficking, occurring mostly in places like hotels, truck stops and street corners.
According to the FBI, the average age for a girl getting involved in sexual exploitation is 12 to 14, and that some 293,000 American youths are at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking.
For more information on the Polaris Project continue on to their website, http://www.polarisproject.org
Globally:
Vulnerable Communities
Vulnerable communities are typically areas where there is a heavy cross-border interaction with other countries. An examples would be the border between India and Nepal is a site where there is a heavy cross-border human trafficking site. This is because victims can be easily transported to other countries, which broadens where they can be trafficked. This also helps because the victims can be taken far away from their place of birth where no one will recognize them and the victims have no place to go. Other examples of particular vulnerable communities are Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Conflict Zones
Vulnerable Communities
Vulnerable communities are typically areas where there is a heavy cross-border interaction with other countries. An examples would be the border between India and Nepal is a site where there is a heavy cross-border human trafficking site. This is because victims can be easily transported to other countries, which broadens where they can be trafficked. This also helps because the victims can be taken far away from their place of birth where no one will recognize them and the victims have no place to go. Other examples of particular vulnerable communities are Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Conflict Zones