MODERN DAY SLAVERY

What would you say if I told you slavery is the second largest criminal industry in the world today? No, I'm not talking about slavery as it existed in the past. I'm talking about human trafficking. In the U.S., 200,000 to 350,000 children are at risk of being trafficked into the sex industry each year. This threatens all our children...yours and mine. Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry, grossing over $30 million dollars a year.

Women and children are at the greatest risk of being trafficked for the purpose of prostitution, strip clubs, pornography, and live sex shows, but no one is immune...no matter the race, gender or class.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

• FORCE - By abduction/kidnapping that involves rapes, beatings, and confinement. "Boyfriends" have been known to sell their girlfriends into prostitution.
• FRAUD - Lured by false job offers or marriage proposals. Parents often sell their children believing their child will have a better life only to have them sold into prostitution. Strip clubs and other adult businesses are often fronts for trafficking and prostitution.
• COERCION - Involves threats of physical harm, physical restraint, and debt-bondage.

FACTS:

• The average age of victims is 11 to 14.
• Approximately 80% of victims are female. Males are usually sold to work in sweat shops, farms or other forms of service.
• 70% of all victims are trafficked for sexual purposes.
• Approximately 20,000 victims are trafficked INTO the U.S. each year.
• There are approximately 800,000 trafficking victims worldwide.

ACCORDING TO SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL:

• 12 years old is the average age for entry into pornography and prostitution in the U.S.
• In the U.S., the sale of child pornography is a $3 billion dollar industry annually.
• Pimps earn up to $632,000 per year by selling four young women or children.
• Domestic minor sex trafficking victims are sold 10 to 15 times per night, 6 days a week, totaling between 9,360 and 14.040 sex acts in a year. (This is just ONE child.)
• Buyers purchase between 645,840 and 968,760 sex acts from children annually.

RECENT HEADLINES:

• 6 people face charges in connection to largest sex trafficking case in Houston, TX.
• 45-year-old woman in Nashville, TN prostituted girls out of motel room for $40.00.
• Ring of traffickers in South California sentenced to prison for trafficking 10 girls.
• Trafficker in Atlanta, GA admits to trafficking girls.

And the list of headlines go on and on.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You have to agree this is a horrific life that innocent children are forced into every single day. These are OUR children. It's been said that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it's time this village puts a stop to human trafficking, and you can help:

• Become informed. Visit the websites below and learn all that you can about human trafficking.
• Educate others about human trafficking. Talk to your friends and family to bring more awareness. Write an article for your local newspaper. Write about human trafficking on your blog. Include information about human trafficking in local newsletters or bulletins.
• Give financially.

LINKS TO TRAFFICKING WEBSITES:
http://www.thehomefoundation.net/
http://www.sharedhope.org/
http://www.humantrafficking.org/
http://slavationarmyusa.org/trafficking