Wednesday 23 March 2011

Child Sex Trafficking


Our country, the United States has become one of the top destinations in the world for child sex trafficking. Florida, California, New York and Texas are cited as being the top destinations in the U.S. for trafficked victims.

Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor; a modern-day form of slavery. It is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest, after the drug-trade. It is estimated that trafficking generates 32 billion annually.

Because of their vulnerability homeless youth are a large target for traffickers. It is estimated that up to 90% of homeless teens will be forced into prostitution within 48 hours to a week of being on the street.

* Each year, an estimated 600,000 – 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders (some international and non-governmental organizations place the number far higher), and the trade is growing. (U.S. Department of State. 2004. Trafficking in Persons Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State.)
* Of the 600,000 – 800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, 70% are female and 50 percent are children. The majority of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade. (U.S. Department of State. 2004. Trafficking in Persons Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State.)
* Each year, an estimated 14,500 –17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country each year is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. (U.S. Department of Justice. 2004. Report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Fiscal Year 2003. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)
* According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 2005 an estimated 300,000 children in the United States are sexually exploited annually.

One of the underlying issues to this problem is Child Pornography, which is now a 3 billion dollar a year industry. (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

Children are NOT FOR SALE, yet right here in our own backyards even in the most rural locations they are being sold as commodities.

Human rights investigations by Shared Hope International discovered that minors were sold on an average 0f 10-15 times per day, 6 days a week, totaling between 9,360 and 14,040 sex acts a year. The trafficked girls kept none of the money. Also according to the study, pimps will sell minor girls f0r $400.00 an hour on American streets.

For more information on child sex trafficking in the United States and how you can help we encourage you to take a look at the following organizations:

Love146.org

GEMS

Stop Child Trafficking Now

Polaris Project

Shared Hope International

On June 15th, 2010 the U.S. Department of State released it’s 10th annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Read it HERE.

How can you identify and help trafficked victims? Click here

Join Forsaken Generation as we lead a nationwide campaign to raise awareness for child sex trafficking. We will focus on raising awareness and driving support to organizations who are directly working to help these children.

For a closer look into this horrific world we encourage you to watch the documentary Very Young Girls produced by our friends at GEMS. You can watch the film instantly on Netflix.

The following is a powerful story done by ABC News.
 Trapped in the Sex Trade http://t.co/VFfou34

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