What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, obtaining, and transporting of persons by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. If the victim is less than 18 years of age, no force, fraud or coercion is required to prove trafficking.
- There are at least 30 million slaves worldwide, more than any other time in history. 80% of these victims are exploited for sex.
- Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry. The second largest crime in the U.S.A.
- Over 50% of child pornography web sites originate from the U.S.A.
- U.S. citizens account for 25% of sex tourists worldwide and 80% in Latin America.
- A victim of trafficking may look like many of the people that you see everyday.
- Over 200,000 youth are victims of commercial sexual exploitation within the United States.
- There is a trafficking victim brought into the United States every 10 minutes.
- Human Trafficking is rapidly on the rise in North Carolina due to military presence, Interstate 95 & 85, coastal ports, agricultural industry and a large immigrant population.
Resources
Video on human trafficking: human-trafficking.mov (This video requires the QuickTime Player to watch.)
State Department Reports
- TVPA 2000 report: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/10492.pdf
- TIP Report: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/index.htm
