What is trafficking?

Trafficking is a type of slavery involving the trade or transport of people for the purpose of work. According to the U.N., trafficking is a $32 billion annual industry that ensnares about 2.5 million people around the world at any given time.

People of all backgrounds are impacted by trafficking, and for a variety of purposes. Men are often forced into working hard labor jobs, while children are often trafficked into labor positions in industries such as textile, agriculture and fishing. Girls and women are most often trafficked into a segment of the commercial sex industry such as prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation.

Although not all slaves are trafficked, all trafficking victims are also victims of slavery. Trafficking is a particularly cruel type of slavery because it removes the victim from all that is familiar, renders her completely isolated and alone, often unable to converse in the language of her fellow victims or captors.

What is sex slavery/trafficking?

Sex slavery or sex trafficking is the exploitation of women and children, either within national borders or across international borders, for the purposes of forced sex work. Examples of commercial sexual exploitation are prostitution, pornography, and sex trafficking of women and girls; it is characterized as a human being that is exploited in exchange for goods or money. Each year, an estimated 800,000 women and children are trafficked across international borders—and unknown numbers are trafficked within countries.

Some sex trafficking such as street prostitution is highly visible, but many victims of trafficking remain unseen because they are operating out of unmarked brothels in unsuspecting—and sometimes suburban—neighborhoods. Sex traffickers may also operate out of a variety of public and private locations such as spas, escort services, massage parlors, strip clubs, and spas.

The largest group of sex trafficking victims is adult women, followed by girl children. A small percentage of men and boys are also trafficked into the sex industry.

Migration patterns of trafficking tend to flow from East to West, but trafficking victims exist everywhere. Women may be trafficked from any country to another country at any given time; many of the poorest and most unstable countries have the highest incidences of trafficking, and trafficking victims share a common bond in extreme poverty. Where there are no economic alternatives women and girls are more vulnerable to being deceived and coerced into sexual service. Higher unemployment and lower job security have undermined women’s economic positions and incomes. A stalled gender wage gap combined with an increase in women’s informal sector and part-time work push women into poorly-paid jobs as well as long-term and often hidden unemployment, leaving women vulnerable to traffickers.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Thailand, China, Nigeria, Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine are among the countries that are the greatest sources of trafficked persons. The UNODC further cites Thailand, Japan, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the United States as being common destination countries of trafficked women and girls.

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