Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Despite how large of an issue human trafficking is in the United States, few people know about it.
Traffickers use force to control and manipulate their victims into many different types of slavery ranging from labor to sexual acts. Many of the victims of trafficking are underage.
A trafficker can vary from working alone to being a part of a large organization and could be controlling a large number of victims. Many reported traffickers have known the victims on a personal level, such as a friend, community member, and romantic interest.
Some traffickers who have been reported also include government authorities, agricultural operators, owners of businesses, pimps and members of peacekeeping missions.
Anyone could be a trafficker. Anyone can be a victim.
According to the U.S. State Department, there are approximate 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today. They estimate that 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year, 80% being female and half being minors.
Despite their estimates, very few cases are reported.
The amount of reported human trafficking cases increases by the hundreds each year. Since 2007 there has been a total of reported 40,200 cases with over 45,000 total victims.
In 2017, 8,524 human trafficking cases were reported. Of those cases, over 6,400 were sex trafficking cases.
California had 1,305 reported human trafficking cases in 2017. California was the only state in 2017 with over 1,000 reported cases.
Texas and Florida were the only other states with over 500 reported cases in 2017; 18 other states had over 100 reported cases. Human trafficking is a growing and damaging industry.
Of the sex trafficking cases, over half were conducted through massage and spa businesses. The other cases involved hotels, online ads and escort services.
Of the 1,249 labor trafficking cases, the majority of victims were used for domestic work. Other cases involved agriculture, traveling sales crews, and restaurants and food service.
Although the majority of victims are female, males are also commonly used for trafficking. Of the 8,524 cases in 2017, 1,124 of the victims were male.
In some parts of the world, women play a larger role in human trafficking. Studies have shown that women are more successful at recruiting victims because they are more likely to be trusted and less likely to be suspected of committing the crime.
Studies suggest that individuals who are conducting the trafficking operations are mainly driven by the money aspect. Human trafficking operations can make roughly $150 billion a year.
Despite the amount of income possible for traffickers, victims rarely receive pay. Depending on the circumstance, victims earn money through tips or receive a small percentage of the traffickers income.
Many believe that the majority of human traffickers do not get caught simply due to the lack of public awareness.
Although the majority of the public is unaware of human trafficking signs, 8,043 out of 26,557 calls to the trafficking hot-line were made by community members. Only 4,687 of those calls were made from the victims themselves.
Many victims do not come forward easily or at all. Victims are affected emotionally, physically, and psychologically, but many victims futures are impacted.
More than 90% of survivors are criminally convicted due to crimes they were forced to commit while in trafficking. With criminal convictions, survivors are denied job opportunities, leading to a lack of income and leaving many survivors without homes.
Many victims are minors who have just begun to experience life and make decisions about their future. Trafficking has ripped their futures from their hands and out of their control.
It is important for people to educate themselves on human trafficking signs, help to raise awareness for others, and work to make a change. Slavery of all kinds needs to come to an end.