The Facts and Numbers about Human Trafficking

- http://www.morethanrice.com/blog/the-facts-and-numbers-about-human-trafficking

1. Every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim.
2. 99% of victims are not rescued.
3. Approximately 2 to 4 million people are trafficked in and across borders each year.
4. Human trafficking is now a leading source of profits for organized crime, together with drugs and weapons, generating an estimated 9.5 billion dollars per year. – US Department of State: Trafficking in Persons Report, 2007
5. The overwhelming majority of those trafficked are women and children.
6. The average victim is forced to have sex up to 20 times a day.
7. The CIA calculates that profits from one trafficked woman alone average around $250,000 American dollars per year. – Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress, 2007
8. Children are abducted from rural areas and trafficked into a range of exploitive practices which include bonded labor, sexual exploitation, marriage, illicit adoptions, and begging.
9. Young girls, some as young as 12 years old, are forced to work in brothels, massage parlors, prostitution rings, strip clubs, or used to produce pornographic materials.
10. Children are recruited and trafficked to earn money by begging or selling goods.
11. Child beggars are sometimes maimed by their captors to generate sympathy and generosity from potential buyers. – www.thea21campaign.org
12. Most victims of sexual exploitation and modern slavery are under 18 years of age – www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2009/090212_UNODC.doc.htm
13. For every 75,000 victims, only 1 trafficker is convicted. – www.onevoicetoendslavery.com
14. 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk every year for commercial sexual exploitation. – U .S. Department of Justice
15. An estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. – U.S Department of Justice Report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons
16. An estimated 2.5 million children, the majority of them girls, are sexually exploited in the multibillion dollar commercial sex industry

UNICEF
Recommended reading materials:

1. Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade—and How We Can Fight It – by David Bratstone (HarperCollins Publishers, 2007)
2. The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade – by Victor Malare (Viking Canada 2003)
3. Terrify No More: Young Girls Held Captive and the Daring Undercover Operation to Win Their Freedom – by Gary A. Haugen and Gregg Hunter (Thomas Nelson, 2010)
4. The Road of Lost Innocence – by Somaly Mam (Spiegel & Grau 2008)
5. Human Trafficking – by Joyce Hart (Rosen Publishing Group, 2009)
6. Human Trafficking – by Kathryn Cullen-Dupont (Facts on File, 2010)
7. The Slave Next Door – by Kevin Bales (University of California Press, 2009)
8. Ending Slavery – by Kevin Bales (University of California Press, 2008)
9. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide – by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (Vintage, 2010)
10. Sold – by Patricia McCormick (Hyperion, 2006)

Recommended movies (for mature audiences only):

1. Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
2. Human Trafficking (2005)
3. The Jammed (2007)
4. Trade (2007)
5. Taken (2008)

How You Can Help
Get familiar with the crisis:

• Form a book club and read books about human trafficking.
• Raise awareness in your club, synagogue, church, and among your associates.
• Get the facts from the books and movies listed.
• Enlist the support of your friends with YouTube, Twitter,

Facebook, blogs and all forms of social media.
Visit these web sites for the latest information:
www.oathcoalition.org
www.equipandempower.org
www.onevoicetoendslavery.com
www.humantrafficking.org
www.notforsalecampaign.org
humantrafficking.change.org
www.theA21campaign.org/
www.demiandashton.org/
www.sharedhope.org/
www.polarisproject.org/
www.love146.org/
www.sctnow.org/
www.freetheslaves.net/
Take action:

1. Pray.
2. Lobby politicians at: www.polarisproject.com.
3. Organize a fundraiser. See what these college students are doing: www.tigersagainsttrafficking.com.
4. Support survivors: www.nightlightbangkok.com.
5. Use your talent to create a drama, short film, song, and share on: www.youtube.com.
6. Sponsor those at risk: www.compassion.com.
7. Motivate the media: encourage your local paper and television stations to cover trafficking stories.