Human Trafficking in the US
Sex Trafficking in the United States
Imagine yourself leaving for a trip that you have been looking forward to. You get packed, board the plane, and then finally you arrive at your destination. After settling in you go explore the area. At this point, you are kidnapped. You cannot do anything to protect yourself or to escape. You end up being forced to strip your clothes and have your body sold. You are now an object, no longer a person. Welcome to the victims’ world of sex trafficking. Because sex trafficking is an underground business, it may be difficult to completely stop this exploitation. Knowing the signs, watching for human sex trafficking, and acting quickly can save countless lives.
Sex Trafficking is any practice that involves moving people within and across local or national boundaries for the purpose of sexual exploitation (Farr 2). It is the fastest growing crime in the United States and the second largest illegal trade after the drug industry. Human Trafficking has been going on for over one hundred years. Human Sex Trafficking happens all over the world, including the United States. There are approximately twenty-seven million victims of sex trafficking worldwide; three hundred thousand of them are women and children bought and sold yearly here in the U.S.
Of the three hundred thousand sex slaves sold in the US, 25% are forced into the business by parents or family members and 75% are former runaways. Each year, 1.7 million children run away from home. From that number, 90% will be approached by traffickers within 48 hours. Many of which do not make it out the industry alive. In the state of Texas alone, there are only 99 known survivors in the last 20 years who’ve managed to escape sexual slavery (Preda.org).
Victims of sexual slavery are not all kidnapped, majority are tricked into the business. Most of the women trafficked into brothels posing as massage businesses are not U.S. citizens, and many do not have documented status.
Imagine yourself leaving for a trip that you have been looking forward to. You get packed, board the plane, and then finally you arrive at your destination. After settling in you go explore the area. At this point, you are kidnapped. You cannot do anything to protect yourself or to escape. You end up being forced to strip your clothes and have your body sold. You are now an object, no longer a person. Welcome to the victims’ world of sex trafficking. Because sex trafficking is an underground business, it may be difficult to completely stop this exploitation. Knowing the signs, watching for human sex trafficking, and acting quickly can save countless lives.
Sex Trafficking is any practice that involves moving people within and across local or national boundaries for the purpose of sexual exploitation (Farr 2). It is the fastest growing crime in the United States and the second largest illegal trade after the drug industry. Human Trafficking has been going on for over one hundred years. Human Sex Trafficking happens all over the world, including the United States. There are approximately twenty-seven million victims of sex trafficking worldwide; three hundred thousand of them are women and children bought and sold yearly here in the U.S.
Of the three hundred thousand sex slaves sold in the US, 25% are forced into the business by parents or family members and 75% are former runaways. Each year, 1.7 million children run away from home. From that number, 90% will be approached by traffickers within 48 hours. Many of which do not make it out the industry alive. In the state of Texas alone, there are only 99 known survivors in the last 20 years who’ve managed to escape sexual slavery (Preda.org).
Victims of sexual slavery are not all kidnapped, majority are tricked into the business. Most of the women trafficked into brothels posing as massage businesses are not U.S. citizens, and many do not have documented status.