The Human Numbers...
- As many as 27 million people ... An estimated 12.3 million people are in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor and sexual servitude at any time; other estimates range from 4 million to 27 million. ~ US Department of State Statistics (Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2006)
- 10 million children and women worldwide ... are enslaved within the system of commercial sexual exploitation, translating into some 30 million children over 30 years 'who have lost their childhood' through rape and exploitation. ~ United Nations
- More than one million children ... Each year, more than one million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. ~ US Department of State Statistics (Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2006)
- 80% are women & girls. Up to 50% are minors ... ~ 2005 US Department of State Trafficking In Persons Report,
- 1.2 million children ... Estimated 1.2 million children who are trafficked each year. ~ Unicef UK Child Trafficking Information Sheet, January 2003
- 600,000-800,000 men, women & children ...600,000-800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders each year. Most are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. Many more are trafficked within their own national borders. ~ U.S. Department of State
- Children as young as 5 ... Children as young as 5 years old who are required to have sex with as many as 30 men each day. ~ World Vision
- 200 million women missing ... There is a gendercide of 200 million women missing in the world today, some of which can be traced to 700,000 women sold into prostitution worldwide annually. ~ A recent UN 3-year study on violence against women
The Dollars and Cents …
- Trafficking is “the world's second largest and second-fastest growing criminal enterprise, trailing only the illegal drug trade run by organized crime.” ~ United Nations
- “Recruiting and selling children is a $52 billion worldwide annual industry.” ~ Social Work Today website
- Human trafficking is the third largest source of income for organized crime, exceeded only by arms and drugs trafficking. ~ UN Office on Drugs and Crime
- A trafficker’s initial $2 investment in food to lure a child may net him $10,000 when she is sold to a brothel or online pornographer. ~ Social Work Today website