There are more slaves today than were seized from Africa in four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The modern commerce in humans rivals illegal drug trafficking in its global reach—and in the destruction of lives. -National Geographic

 

 

 

 

• It is estimated that there are between 4 and 27 million slaves in the world today.
• Unicef, as well as The US government, break slavery into 2 categories: sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
• Our Federal Government has defined sex trafficking as: “a commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.”
• It is estimated that 100,000 to 300,000 children are being sexually exploited each year in the United States and approximately 1.2 million sex trafficked victims overseas.
• The average age of the victims recovered in The United States is 13 years and overseas 10 years old.

There’s a special evil in the abuse and exploitation of the most innocent and vulnerable. The victims of [the] sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst of life, an underground of brutality and lonely fear. Those who create these victims and profit from their suffering must be severely punished. Those who patronize this industry debase themselves and deepen the misery of others.” – Former President George W. Bush, addressing the U.N. G,eneral Assembly, September 23, 2003