These 16 statistics about human trafficking in the United States aim to lay bare one of the country’s biggest problems, one which is far from being resolved.
We thought slavery was abolished around 150 years ago; however, it didn’t really ever disappear, mainly because it is incredibly lucrative. Instead, it was just taken underground and now, people are traded for various purposes, with some of the most commons ones including for sexual purposes, forced organ donations, and forced labor. Despite what the name suggests, human trafficking does not mean that a person has to be transferred from one location to another; it simply refers to the trading of humans.
Despicable as it might seem, this scheme has brought about billions in illegal revenue to people who replaced their morals and ethics with cold, hard cash. Such people are only growing in numbers now, with human trafficking being considered as one of the fastest growing activities pertaining to crime organizations who operate internationally.
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Often, a better life with more security and freedom in addition to substantial monetary income are promised to people who have nowhere else to go. They are told that their troubles are at an end, only to find out they are now trapped, with nowhere and no one to go to. Imagine thinking that your troubles are finally at an end, only to realize that your nightmare has actually just started. Of course, fake promises are just one way of convincing the person to move; threats or coercion have proven to be an extremely effective maneuver as well.
It is important to note the distinction between human trafficking and human smuggling. In human smuggling, people are not only willing but actually pay smugglers to take them from one destination to another, often through illegal means as there is no other way. As mentioned earlier, human trafficking does not require the consent of the person being used. This article by a person who was formerly a sex slave in modern America is proof that we are not creating hyperbole or exaggerations, this is a thriving industry which is unfortunately here to stay. If you can make it through that article without wondering what is wrong with the world, then you are what is wrong with the world.
Some of the statistics about human trafficking in the United States will sicken you to your core. Overall, the industry is worth 32 billion dollars globally, which actually makes it the third largest criminal industry, creating millions of victims every year. More than half the victims consist of women and girls. And while you might think that this happens only in developing countries as shown in the 11 Countries with the Highest Rates of Human Trafficking in the World, the US has its own ugly secrets, and the following facts will illustrate that to great effect.
16. What is the conviction rate for human traffickers?
The statistics are so in favor of human traffickers, we wonder why every criminal doesn’t engage in it. According to the US Department of State, there are over 13 million victims globally, while only 418 cases were pursued pertaining to forced labor in 2014. That mean that just three cases for every 100,000 victims were pursued, which is absolutely insane.
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15. Most human trafficking in the United States pertains to sexual slavery
As evidenced by the Cracked article we mentioned earlier, most of the human trafficking in the US pertains to sexual slavery. In fact, according to the US Department of Justice’s report in 2011, 82 percent of the incidents identified or suspected in the report pertained to sex trafficking.
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14. What is the age of human trafficking victims?
Do you know what’s worse than trafficking humans for forced labor or sex? Trafficking humans who are underage. According to the same report mentioned previously by the US Department of Justice, more than half the victims of the suspected trafficking incidents were below the age of 18. Also, more than half the victims are female.
13. How do human traffickers recruit their victims?
We are continuing our list of statistics about human trafficking in the United States, and on the 13th spot, we have an explanation of various methods traffickers employ to convince their victims, who have no idea what they are about to get into. Sometimes, the traffickers will marry women who don’t know the truth about their husbands and will then sell them. Other times, abusive boyfriends can lead to such situations. However, a more typical and common method involves simply kidnapping the people, especially women and girls, as they make their way to or from office and schools.
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12. How are the victims of human trafficking transported?
You would think that transporting an unwilling person would be an extremely hard job. After all, unless you bind them and gag them and stick them in the trunk like typical villains in a bad Hollywood movie, they can easily get the attention of any passersby and escape. The US transport system is well interconnected and trucks are as common as cars. However, many trucks actually create the network for human traffickers.
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11. Where are the victims taken?
Because most people do not believe the victims, while they are being exploited traffickers can actually place them in public and not arouse suspicions. However, the more prudent traffickers generally keep them locked up, especially if they kidnap girls who are kept locked in a brothel, as evidenced by this article. Other times, generally in the case of slave labor, they are kept out in the public, as they cannot avoid being seen by their coworkers.
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10. How are the victims treated?
Unfortunately, the general treatment meted out to the victims is awful, to say the least. After all, these people are not the most moral people in the world. An even more alarming fact is how society treats the victims. Instead of being adequately horrified by what they have faced, and doing anything in their power to reduce that horror, society often treats victims as criminals.
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9. What are they forced to do?
As discussed, most of the human trafficking victims are forced into slave labor, where they cannot escape and, if their captors are merciful, earn a pittance while working upwards of 12 hours a day. The female victims are generally sold to brothels who also hold them captive and force them to service as many customers as needed. Let’s see what’s next onour list of statistics about human trafficking in the United States.
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8. How many victims are rescued?
Finally some good news in the list of 16 statistics about human trafficking in the United States. The number of victims rescued is significantly increasing, at an incredible rate of 100 percent, as 78,000 victims were finally identified, as compared to 45,000 in 2015. However, that actually represents 0.2 percent of the total victims globally, which is bound to reduce your optimism regarding this horrendous ordeal.
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7. Will legalizing prostitution reduce human trafficking?
Many have debated that legalizing prostitution will reduce this practice, but if this article is anything to go by, legalizing prostitution will not really achieve much.
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6. Are human trafficking laws effective?
As demonstrated earlier by the low rate of recovery of victims and the shocking rate of prosecution of human trafficking criminals, the laws are not quite effective. However, steps are being taken in this regard, as evidenced by this guidance on laws pertaining to this issue.
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5. What is the effect of human trafficking on the US economy?
While there is little information regarding the effect on the US economy, figures are available pertaining to its global effect, such as the fact that traffickers can earn a net margin of 70 percent, which is why the greedy immoral criminals turn to this lucrative source of income. Definitely very serious statistics about human trafficking in the United States, right?
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4. How many forced labor victims are currently in the United States?
According to this report by the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, 990 cases were reported regarding victims being trafficked for forced labor. However, as a vast majority of such incidents goes unreported or undetected, it is very likely that this figure is a massive understatement.
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3. What factors lead to an increased chance of human trafficking?
The number yhree on our list of statistics about human trafficking in the United States, poverty is a leading factor, especially in impoverished countries, where parents may be forced to sell their children in order to make ends meet. Also, thanks to the Stockholm Syndrome, when children are kidnapped at a young age they often grow up to identify with their kidnappers and, therefore, do not seek to escape.
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2. What is the official policy of the US in this regard?
Human trafficking and forced labor are both federal crimes in the country, and newer laws such as the Victims of Traffic and Violence Protection Act, which has led to greater sentences for the offenders as well as protection for the victims.
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1. Is the effect of human trafficking greatly exaggerated?
In a word, no. The final statistic about human trafficking in the United States deals with the criticism that some people have directed at the hype surrounding human trafficking, claiming that its effect has been exaggerated and the laws enacted in response are not clearly drafted and infringe on civil rights. However, I have read enough first-hand counts of the horrors inflicted on the victims to know that this is not an exaggeration, but one of the coldest, most brutal industries to currently exist and every possible action needs to be taken in order to combat it.
That being said, these were the 16 statistics about human trafficking in the United States.
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