Slavery is alive and well in America today. Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is modern-day slavery. It has been called one of the largest criminal industries in the world, victimizing millions of people and reaping billions of dollars in profits for traffickers. Essentially, it is forcing vulnerable people to participate for another’s profit in a number of enterprises, including:
The sex industry.
Forced labor in factories, restaurants, or agricultural work. This can include
Domestic servitude as a servant, housekeeper or nanny.
As a bride.
Of organs.
The U.S. government estimates that about 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the United States every year.
Much human trafficking occurs through decentralized criminal networks, or small groups of criminals that specialize in certain areas of a network, such as recruitment, transportation, or operating the 'retail' end. The groups may have formal or informal partnerships, but no overarching hierarchy that coordinates their activities.
Traffickers use a variety of techniques to control their victims, including psychological and financial control mechanisms, which minimize or preclude the need for physical violence or confinement. Victims of trafficking often come from vulnerable populations, including undocumented immigrants, migrants, runaways, at-risk youth and the poor. Traffickers may be individuals, families, or more organized groups of criminals.
Trafficking occurs in almost every country in the world. Many victims come from Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and Columbia.
The testimonies are heartbreaking. One 14-year-old girl named Rosa convinced her parents to let her leave Mexico with a man who promised a job making many times more money than she made cleaning hotel rooms. Not until she got to the Orlando area did she learn that her new job would be having sex with men. She was a virtual prisoner in the room where her “employers” brought men to have sex with her.
CMC deplores the use of human beings for sexual slavery or forced servitude, and favors aggressive law-enforcement initiatives aimed at identifying and prosecuting traffickers.
