WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

The United States government defines trafficking as “the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor or services against his or her will.” (1)

The United Nations estimate that over 30 million people worldwide are trafficked for forced labor, sexual exploitation, or organ harvesting (2). According to some estimates, approximately 79% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 18% involves labor exploitation (3). Human trafficking and forced labor is a $150 billion crime worldwide (4), and is fueled by buyers who pay traffickers to supply victims to meet their demand (5). Buyers are commonly employed men with enough disposable income to engage in these activities, which typically cost from $15 to over $1,000 USD.” (6)

 1 Human Trafficking. (2018, November 9). Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking

2 UNODC, Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.16.IV.6)..

3 United Nations. (n.d.). FAQs. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/faqs.html#What_is_human_trafficking

4 Human Trafficking by the Numbers. (2017, January 7). Retrieved from https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbers

5 The Problem. (2016, October 27). Retrieved May 26, 2020, from https://sharedhope.org/the-problem/

6 Dank, M., Kahan, B., Downey, P. M., Kotonias, C., Mayer, D., Owens, C., . . . Yu, L. (2014, March). Estimating the Size and Structure of the Underground Commercial Sex Economy in Eight Major US Cities. Retrieved May 26, 2020, from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sites/default/files/Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy-%20Full%20Report%20-%20Urban%20Institute_0.pdf