The Truth About
Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking Is The Business Of Stealing Freedom For Profit.
United Nations Office On Drugs And Crime (UNODC):
Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. Men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world. The traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims.
In some cases, traffickers trick, defraud or physically force victims into providing commercial sex.
In others, victims are lied to, assaulted, threatened or manipulated into working under inhumane, illegal or otherwise unacceptable conditions.
It is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 24.9 million people around the world.
Quick Facts
From UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
A Global Problem, Including in the United States
Nearly every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, as a point of origin, transit or destination, and victims from at least 127 countries have been reported to have been exploited in 137 States.
A Lucrative "Industry" Stealing Freedom from Millions of People
Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative illicit businesses in Europe, with criminal groups making about $3 billion from it per year, making it a considerable criminal business that preys on the world's most marginalized persons. In Europe, over 140,000 victims are trapped in a situation of violence and degradation for sexual exploitation and up to one in seven sex workers in the region may have been enslaved into prostitution through trafficking.
Women and Children are the Most Common Victims
Globally, one in five victims of human trafficking are children, although in poorer regions and subregions, such as Africa and Greater Mekong, they make up the majority of trafficked persons. Women meanwhile make up two thirds of the world's human trafficking victims.
National Hotline
for Human Trafficking:
Call: 1-888-373-7888
Text: 233733
The National Human Trafficking Hotline
is a confidential, toll-free service available 24/7
at 1-888-373-7888,
providing support and resources
for victims of human trafficking.
You can also text "BEFREE" to 233733
for assistance.
Please note, the National Hotline is not available to answer more general questions about their work or about human trafficking generally for research or other purposes.