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(Following information quoted from source: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence – Human Trafficking Facts. For more information from this source, www.ncadv.org, or publicpolicy@ncadv.org)

HUMAN TRAFFICKING FACTS

Why it Matters:

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by means of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, or abuse of power of a position of vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation. The U.S. Department of State estimates that of 600,00 to 800,000 women, men and children trafficked across international borders each year, 40,000 to 50,000 are trafficked into the United States. Victims of trafficking suffer devastating physical and psychological harm, but due to language barriers, lack of knowledge about services, and the frequency with which traffickers move victims, law enforcement and service providers face significant challenges in helping victims and bringing traffickers to justice.

Did You Know?

• More than 80% of trafficking victims are female.
• Human trafficking is the third most profitable criminal activity, following only drugs and arms trafficking.
• Annually, an estimated $9.5 billion is generated through all trafficking activities, with at least $4 billion attributed to the worldwide brothel industry.
• Trafficking victims rescued in connection with U.S. government activities have been trafficked from more than 50 nations across the globe.
• According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 2001 and 2005 only 140 defendants have been convicted of human trafficking in U.S. courts, which represents a 109% increase from 1996-2000.

What Is Trafficking?

Trafficking primarily involves exploitation. However, exploitation comes in many forms, including:

• Forcing victims into prostitution
• Subjecting victims to slavery or involuntary servitude
• Compelling victims to commit sex acts for the purpose of creating pornography
• Deceiving victims into debt bondage

Overall, approximately 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labor exploitation.

The Trafficking of Children:

• According to the U.S. Department of State, 50% of trafficking victims internationally are under age 18.
• 300,000 children in the United States are at risk of becoming victims of trafficking.
• Many American children who have been trafficked had run away from homes where they had been physically or sexually abused.
• More than 2/3 of sex trafficked children suffer additional abuse at the hands of their traffickers.
• One study found that 71% of trafficked children exhibit suicidal tendencies.
• Children who are victims of trafficking are more than twice as likely to develop serious mental health problems, including clinical depression, personality disorders, and dissociative disorders.
• Trafficked children are significantly more likely to abuse substances, engage in prostitution as adults, and either commit or be victimized by crime later in life.

Barriers to Seeking Services:

• There is only one shelter in the United States designed specifically to meet the needs of trafficking victims, and it currently only houses 7-9 victims.
• Trafficking victims generally do not seek services because they fear retaliation against themselves and their families, fear deportation, do not understand the American legal system, and lack knowledge of available services.
• Because traffickers move their victims every 15 to 30 days and limit their victims’ contact with the outside world, victims generally are unable to develop social networks or gather resources to escape.
• Due to the number of perpetrators involved in many trafficking operations, a number of victims do not know all of their perpetrators.
• Because trafficking is often closely associated with organized crime, there are very serious security risks involved in providing shelter for trafficked victims.