What Is Human Trafficking

Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons:by the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion, or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, and for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.

Details:

· The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons: Trafficking does not require transnational movement of persons; anyone can be a victim of human trafficking: documented and undocumented immigrants, migrant workers, US citizens and residents

· By the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion: Trafficking can result from a real or a perceived threat; the victim only has to believe that he/she or loved ones are in danger, they do not actually have to be in danger. The victim believes that if s/he does not do what the trafficker demands, regardless of the traffickers actual ability to follow through with said threat(s), there will be dire (physical, financial, or other) consequences. Traffickers use a variety of techniques to control their victims. A hallmark of the criminal industry is the sophisticated use of psychological and financial control mechanisms, often minimizing or precluding the need for physical violence or confinement. Or the trafficker actually does a harmful thing, causing the victim to reasonably believe s/he has no other choice but to do as the trafficker tells her/him.

· Or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person: This means that the trafficker has given another person payment, of some kind, for the use of the victim. For example, a trafficker may pay an impoverished parent for their child or a smuggler may sell a person to a trafficker.

· For the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor: This simply means that the trafficker uses the trafficked person for his/her personal monetary, or other, gain.

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Basic Statistics on Human Trafficking

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- International -

· It is estimated that at least 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world. (Not For Sale (NFS), by David Batstone)

· Approximately 600,000-800,000 people annually are trafficked across national borders. Around 80% of these victims are women and girls and up to 50% are minors. The majority of females are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. (2007 Trafficking in Persons Report, U.S. State Department)

· UNICEF now believes that the number of children trafficked each year is around 1.2 million. (UNICEF, 2006)

· It is estimated that two children are trafficked for sexual exploitation each minute. (Love146 Website)

· From four and five year olds being forced to have sex with dozens of clients a night in Southeast Asia to 40,000 child soldiers in Uganda to 15 million bonded slaves in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, human trafficking is a global crisis. (NFS, Batstone & The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam)

· It is estimated that Human Trafficking is a $32 billion dollar a year industry, making it the second most lucrative crime in the world, second only to the sale of drugs. About $28 billion of this is generated from commercial sexual exploitation. (International Labour Office (ILO)

- National -

· Forced labor is most prevalent in five sectors of the U.S. economy; prostitution and sex services (46%); domestic service (27%); agriculture (10%); sweatshop/factory work (5%); and restaurant and hotel work (4%). (NFS, Batstone)

· Mexican, eastern European, and Asian crime syndicates run extensive trafficking rings inside the United States. They particularly target migrant groups. (NFS, Batstone)

· The average age of entry into prostitution or the commercial sex industry in the U.S. is 11 to 14 years old. (Shared Hope International)

· A 2002 study indicated that 90% of runaways become part of the commercial sex industry. Traffickers are skilled at profiling runaways and approach them within their first 48 hours on the street. (Shared Hope International)

- Local -

· On average, 300 homeless Denver youth are involved in a sex trafficking situation each night. (Urban Peak “Point in Time” public health survey, 2007)

· The I-25/I-70 intersection serves as a crossroads for human trafficking and gateway for the Vegas circuit. Denver is also part of another circuit that includes Colorado Springs, Chicago and Seattle (Metro Vice, Trafficking project.blogspot, 2007)

· Colorado’s primary human trafficking issues involve sexual slavery, domestic slavery and forced labor. (Claude d’Estree, UN Delegate, Chair-Task Force on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, NPR Interview Feb. 5, 2008)

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A Few Things You Can Do To Help...

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· Educate yourself (see website resource list) and raise awareness around you!

· Victims are most often identified by the general public. Check out the list of what to look for at www.humantrafficking.org and call the National Human Trafficking Hotline if you think you’ve come into contact with a victim: 1.888.373.7888

· Buy fairly traded goods and products to ensure workers have been treated fairly. Go to www.transfairusa.org.

· Write your local state representatives and senators to request improved legislation around human trafficking in your state.

· Donate your time or money to anti-trafficking organizations.