Child Trafficking not just someone else's problem

 

Child Trafficking not just someone else's problem

 

Child victims of trafficking are recruited, transported, transferred, harbored or received for the purpose of exploitation. They may be forced to work in sweatshops, on construction sites or in houses as domestic servants; on the streets as child beggars, in wars as child soldiers. Some are forced to work in brothels and strip clubs or for escort and massage services. The trafficking in children is closely related to the demand for cheap labor, where the working conditions and the treatment grossly violates the human rights of children.

 

According to UNICEFUSA the United States is a source and transit country, and is also considered one of the top destination points for victims of child trafficking and exploitation. Child trafficking is about taking children out of their protective environment and preying on their vulnerability for the purpose of exploitation. According to the International Labour Organization in 2005 there was an estimated 1.2 million children, both boys and girls, in a forced labor situation as a result of trafficking.

 

 

More Statistics

 

The following statistics where obtained by the International Labour Organization in 2012

 

• There is an estimated 20.9 million victims globally forced into labor and trafficking.
• 4.5 million are victims of sexual slavery/sex trafficking globally.
• 98% of victims of sexual slavery/sex trafficking worldwide are women and girls.
• Sexual exploitation makes up 79% of identified forms on international cross border human trafficking.
• Approximately 600,000 to 800,000 human trafficking victims are trafficked across international borders worldwide every year.
• Most sex trafficking is regional or national and is perpetrated by traffickers who are the same nationality as their victims.
• As many as 2 million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade.
• Estimates suggest as many as 300,000 children annually are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation.
• The average age of entry into prostitution in the United States is 13-14 years old.
• Nationwide there are fewer than thirty safe homes for victims of sex trafficking to receive treatment and services. This severe shortage regularly causes their inappropriate placement in juvenile detention facilities. 

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