Let’s Define Human Trafficking

“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” -United Nation’s Palermo Protocols

Forced Labor and Sex Trafficking

Human Trafficking funnels down into either forced labor or sex trafficking. Sometimes the overlap Forced labor is also known as involuntary servitude. This form of trafficking in which persons are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or by more subtle means such as accumulated debt, retention of identity papers, or threats of denunciation to immigration authorities. Victims work long hours with very little to no pay and in inhumane working and living conditions

According to estimates from the International Labour Organization, the human trafficking industry generates 32 billion U.S. dollars every year. Half of this amount comes from industrialized countries, and a third is generated in Asia. Trafficking can occur both within a country and trans-nationally. Because people can literally be sold, again and again, trafficking is the world’s fastest-growing crime.