Human Trafficking {Part 1}: The Facts

As some of you may know, January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

{photo source}

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery that refers to the buying and selling of people against their will for sex or labor purposes. This $32 billion a year business is the second largest criminal industry in the world, followed only by drugs[1]. Each year in America, there are 200,000 women forced into the sex trade, 14,500 to 17,500 humans trafficked into this country, and less than one percent of trafficking and slavery cases are solved[2]. 

Bottom line, this is something big that is getting little attention.

The average age of a street prostitute is twelve to fourteen years old[3] (whether this is forced or voluntary prostitution, I am unsure. Either way, it's sickening.) Victims are sexually exploited and used any way their pimp pleases. Examples include prostitution, pornography, and other nasties I don't even want to repeat. Some girls are forced to sleep with twenty-five to thirty men daily[4].

If there was no demand of sexual lust amongst the population, sex trafficking would be put to an end. Period.

America is listed on the top ten locations and destinations of human trafficking[4]. Our home state of California holds three of the top trafficking cities, which includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. The largest human trafficking incidence in America happens every year, at the Super Bowl[5]. Pimps, victims, and johns go unnoticed due to the substantial size of the crowd.

Talk about literally hiding in plain sight.

So there you have it, a little preview of what is known as human trafficking. There is some pretty yucky stuff going on in our backyard that we are incredibly blind to. This is happening. Here is your wake up call. Don't take it lightly, this knowledge is powerful. Raise awareness and pray for these victims. They deserve justice.

Put an end to human trafficking.

Being the good little college student I am, I feel the need to give the works cited/references/whateveryoucallit info.

1. "Reading Between the (Head)Lines: Human Trafficking in America" Dr. Dale Archer, Psychology Today, April 11, 2013, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201304/human-trafficking-in-america
2. Kevin Bales & Ron Soodalter, The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (Berkley, CA, University of California Press, 2009).
3. http://www.casre.org/about/slavery/ (Retrieved on September 30, 2013)
4. "Former Sex Trafficking Victim Shines Light on Dark Underworld of Super Bowl" Naomi Martin, The Times-Picanyune, February 1, 2013, http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2013/02/former_sex_trafficking_victim.html
5. "Super Bowl Is Single Largest Human Trafficking Incident in U.S.: Attorney General" Eleanor Goldberg, The Huffington Post, February 2, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/03/super-bowl-sex-trafficking_n_2607871.html