HUMAN TRAFFICKING INFO

Human Trafficking Definition

The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines the crime of human trafficking as:

A. The recruitment, harboring, transportation,

provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of

a commercial sex act where such an act is induced

by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person

induced to perform such act has not attained 18

years of age, or

B. The recruitment, harboring, transportation,

provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or

services, through the use of force, fraud, or

coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary

servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”

Warning Signs to look out for

Showing signs of physical abuse
Unable to come and go freely
Not free to speak openly
Working conditions seem excessively restrictive
Work or home seems to have excessive security or privacy measures
Exhibits fear, anxiety, or depression
Excessively submissive or nervous behavior
Appears to be in poor physical health
Has few personal possessions
No access to money
No ID
Not able to be specific about living or working address
Does not seem to know the local area or claims to be visiting
Inconsistencies in his/her story

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”

-William Wilberforce

Statistics

Understand that these statistics are only estimates. Like any criminal activity, accurate numbers are difficult to obtain. The statistics we site are targeted at our efforts and additional numbers are available, although comprehensive studies are lacking. These numbers were obtained from the Polaris Project's Human Trafficking Statistics document and may be paraphrased from the original.

Worldwide:

27 million - Number of people in modern-day slavery across the world
9.8 million – Number of people exploited by private agents for labor or commercial sex purposes
2 million – Number of children exploited by the global commercial sex trade
80% – Percent of transnational victims who are women and girls
50% – Percent of transnational victims who are minors
$32 billion – Total yearly profits, in U.S. dollars, generated by the human trafficking industry

Nationwide:

100,000 - 300,000: Number of prostituted children in the U.S.
244,000: Number of American children and youth estimated to be at risk of child sexual exploitation
98.8%: Percent of suspected or confirmed child victims of domestic sex trafficking taken in by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) nationwide from 2004 to 2010 who were classified as Endangered Runaways
41.4%: Estimated child victims of domestic sex trafficking who were repeat runaways
46.7%: Estimated victims of domestic sex trafficking who ran from a group home, foster care, DCFS care or a shelter
40-70%: Estimated street youth who engage, at least occasionally, in prostitution to meet their basic needs
The population of street youth engaging in prostitution is almost equally divided between boys and girls
11-14: Average age of entry into prostitution for girls and boys
75% of girls engaged in formal street prostitution are controlled by pimps

Ohio:

1,078: Number of American-born youth in Ohio who are trafficked into the sex trade over the course of a year
2,879: Number of American-born youth in Ohio who are at risk for sex trafficking
783: Estimated number of foreign born persons in Ohio who are sex or labor trafficking victims
3,437: Number of foreign born persons in Ohio who may be at-risk for trafficking