Human Trafficking in America
Did you know slavery still exists today? Right now in our world, there is a slave trade entrapping an estimated *40 million victims across the globe; it’s called human trafficking.
As defined by the Department of Homeland Security, “human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.” This means that every day, millions of people are being bought, sold, and exploited for the benefit, profit or gratification of someone else.
To bring it down to a national scale, there are currently an estimated **403,000 people being trafficked in the United States. That is roughly 1 in every 800 people in our nation, and according to our research, there are more trafficking points of sale in America than there are Starbucks.
It is happening in all 50 states, in every zip code across the US.
What does human trafficking look like in the US? It comes in various forms, but according to Polaris, ***the top ten types of trafficking include: Escort Services; Pornography; Illicit Massage, Health, and Beauty; Residential-Based Commercial Sex; Personal Sexual Servitude; Outdoor Solicitation; Domestic Work; Emerging Types; Bars, Strip Clubs and Cantinas, and Illicit Activities.
Although human trafficking is so widespread, it is still an issue that many are unaware of in our nation. However, trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere, and it’s important to understand how:
The majority of victims have some type of prior relationship with their traffickers. ****In 2020, 42% of sex trafficking victims were trafficked by a family member, and 39% were brought into trafficking by an intimate partner or a marriage proposition. In cases of labor trafficking, 69% of victims were recruited into trafficking by a potential or current employer, and 15% of victims were recruited by a family member.
Traffickers use several tactics to entrap their victims, but one of the most common methods is called grooming. Grooming is the process of a trafficker building a relationship and gaining trust with their potential victims. Traffickers prey on the vulnerabilities of their victims - whether it be an unstable family life, mental health concerns, financial needs, job insecurities, relational desires, a low sense of self worth or more - and they step in to fill those gaps and meet those needs. Once trust is established, traffickers will begin to exploit their victims for their own gain through forced labor or commercial sex.
What can YOU do to fight this issue and stand up for the freedom of survivors?
One of the first steps is raising awareness; you can do that by simply learning the facts and having conversations on what you learn with the people in your life. The more people who learn about it, the more people can join in the fight against it.
You can then play a part in ending modern day slavery by getting involved, volunteering or financially partnering with organizations whose missions are to serve survivors and end trafficking.
At Rescue America, we directly serve the sex trafficked and sexually exploited. We exist to rescue, revive and empower the sexually exploited through a 24/7 hotline and emergency response, and we believe there is a redemptive solution for every victim of sexual exploitation who desires to exit the life.
Since our inception, over 600 survivors across America have been rescued out of the life of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation, and every rescue is possible due to our incredible volunteers and supporters.
For them, it all began by becoming aware of the severity of the issue and deciding to do something about it!
If you would like to increase your own awareness, receive monthly insights into the realities of sex trafficking in our nation and hear redemptive survivor stories from the frontlines, sign up below.
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*International Labor Organization (ILO) Global Estimates of Modern Slavery
**Walk Free Foundation, Global Slavery Index 2018
***Polaris, Analysis of 2020 National Human Trafficking Hotline Data
****Polaris, Human Trafficking Trends 2020
