Human trafficking is the 3^rd largest source of income for organized crime, exceeded only by weapons and drugs trafficking. Sex trafficking is transporting and selling human beings as sexual slaves.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing form of international crime, generating $7 billion per year in criminal proceeds.¹ 800,000 women and children are kidnapped, trafficked, and raped each year.²  An estimated 14,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year.³  Sadly, only 59 traffickers were convicted in the entire Western Hemisphere in 2005.²  Traffickers who are arrested may receive as little as 1-4 years in prison. ² Think of this injustice, when one person may have literally destroyed hundreds of lives. 

Victims of sex trafficking can be found all over the world in red light districts, brothels, nude massage parlors, peep shows, strip clubs, and in videos, printed and online pornography. Unlike many believe, pornography is not a victimless crime. These individuals are being sold all over the internet on websites like eBay. Many are sold to buyers as home-owned sex slaves. 80% of victims are female and 50% are children, thus making the majority of victims teenage girls.

To the casual observer, they may look like what they are doing is by free will. They act like this because they know if they don’t bring in the required amount of money to their owners/pimps, they get beatings, torture, starvation or more as their punishment. If they do not comply with their owners wishes, they could even be murdered. These women who may be found near military bases, tourism hotspots, international sporting events or in online pornography are doing so because they are victims of sex trafficking. I pray that more of the men who are creating this demand would realize that these are not willing participants.

Keep this in mind. To bring in the required amount of money: women, young men, and children as young as 4 and 5 years old, must sleep with up to 30 men every 24 hrs. Can you imagine yourself or your child living this life? Even if they someday escape, they are left physically diseased, emotionally and mentally broken and many times ostracized by their own families because of their experiences.

Women and children, most who are affected by poverty, are lied to and sold by an acquaintance, a “friend” or even a family member. Some are simply abducted or kidnapped. Because most victims come from extreme poverty, there’s usually no way for loved ones to trace them. And, most victims come from countries where there is either ineffective or corrupt government protection. Most governments, even our own, are not doing much to help this terrible situation.

But, there is hope. You can be a world changer. Please check out the links listed here and discover what you can do to end this modern day slavery.

¹ UN office on drugs and crime  ² Department of State’s June 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report  ³ Annual Report to Congress on U.S Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2006