What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Victims are recruited either using coercion, deception, fraud, the abuse of power, or outright abduction. Threats, violence, and economic leverage can often make a victim consent to sexual and labor exploitation. Approximately 600,000 to 800,000 people, predominately women and children, are trafficked across national borders annually.

Trafficking in the U.S.

We are only beginning to realize the huge impact Child Trafficking has on our families and communities here in the U.S.A. We must not be fooled into thinking that it is not happening in our neighborhoods. Thousands of children are being bought and sold to satisfy the need of the sexually perverted. One child represents millions of dollars in revenue as their bodies get used in this dark industry. This travesty takes place within our communities, and in our homes. How is it possible that thousands of children are being trafficked and exploited right here in America, yet no one seems to know about it? The secretary of state’s senior adviser on trafficking in persons to the U.S., Dr. Laura Lederer says, “If you look, you’ll find them.” To get a sense of the complexity of the trafficking problem in the United States, read this article: Enslaved in the U.S.A. by Donna M. Hughes (2007).