“If we did nothing else, we would be handling human trafficking 24/7.”
Marin County Sheriff Department
Approximate statistics
27 M
Million victims of human trafficking worldwide
US State Dept TiP Report 2024
$150 B
Billion dollar criminal industry annually
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
is a modern-day form of slavery, also known as “Trafficking in Persons” (TiP). It is a crime under federal and international law. It is also a crime in every state in the United States.
The two main forms of trafficking are sex trafficking and labor trafficking, with the latter believed to be more widespread on the global scale. Other forms of trafficking include organ trafficking and infant trafficking.
SEX TRAFFICKING
is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.
LABOR TRAFFICKING
is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, using force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
GLOBAL SCOPE
Second now only to drug trafficking, having overtaken global arms trafficking, human trafficking has become the preferred source of revenue for organized crime.
Overheads for sex traffickers might include a hamburger, a coke, and a bit of sleep for their victim.
Overheads for labor traffickers might include a backroom storage closet as the sleeping, cooking, and living quarters of their victim.
CRIMINAL CHARGES
for human trafficking range from misdemeanor to felony. The United States is a source, transit, and destination country for trafficked persons. U.S. Citizens are among the highest demographic of perpetrators of child sex tourism.
Approximate statistics
The NUMBER of people trafficked:
63%
Labor trafficking
37%
Sex trafficking
The MONEY made by traffickers:
30%
Labor trafficking
70%
Sex trafficking
The VICTIMS of human trafficking:
71% 29%
Women & Girls Men & Boys
Human trafficking is a multi-faceted, complex, and nuanced crime. From forced labor to sex trafficking to child sexual exploitation, the United States is rife with all forms of human trafficking.
California hosts 4 of the 13 FBI identified hotspots for trafficking.
25%
Children & Youth
6.3 million children and youth under 18 years of age are trapped in trafficking globally at any given time.
Sources: Polaris, International Labor Organization, FBI, US State Department
Ending human trafficking in all its forms of slavery will require a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary, cross-sectors, cross-boundaries approach in a collaborative and cohesive mobilization of communities and local and governmental agencies.
There are 4 Compass Points to
ending human trafficking:
PREVENTION – INTERVENTION – RESTORATION – PROSECUTION
Each is of equal importance.
PREVENTION BEFORE HARM is where it starts.
#1 – PREVENTION BEFORE HARM
Preventing new children and youth, even adults, from becoming victims is the most effective way to end human trafficking. This, the same as domestic violence and suicide prevention, happens through prevention education.
#2 – INTERVENTION
Law Enforcement intervention alongside that of their partners against this crime is the safest way to help victims exit their situation.
#3 – RESTORATION
Restoring the lives of survivors from the deep trauma of extreme mental and physical abuse they have experienced is a life-long process.
#4 – PROSECUTION
Prosecuting perpetrators of sex trafficking, both the traffickers and the buyers, and of labor traffickers, is possible and helped greatly through the skilled nurturing and care of survivors.
FUNDING
for PREVENTION is
practically non-existent.
for INTERVENTION is
inadequate for current needs.
for RESTORATION is
stretched to the maximum.
for PROSECUTION is
unused due to lack of legal procedures against perpetrators.
Funding of all areas of anti-human trafficking work is sorely needed to meet the scale of this crime. For all of the victims still caught in the web of trafficking and for all of the survivors who are now our essential teachers and leaders:
INTERVENTION – RESTORATION – PROSECUTION
must continue to be funded
to provide immediate assistance and justice.
PREVENTION
must be funded
# 1: To Save Lives and protect the vulnerable from ever experiencing the ravages of trafficking. This is PREVENTION BEFORE HARM.
#2: Funding prevention means fewer new victims alleviating current strains on ALL OTHER anti-trafficking work.
Law enforcement, service providers, and judicial systems can then concentrate on those already trafficked. Funding prevention means the costs for life-long care due to deep trauma and mental and physical abuse are reduced because here will be fewer people in need.
Funding prevention ultimately helps make our communities safe.
Funding PREVENTION BEFORE HARM simply makes sense.
DONATE to PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
We thank you.
A COMPARISON of CRIMES
HUMAN SMUGGLING
A crime against the State.
- Contact between the smuggler and the person is direct and willing, a voluntary exchange.
- Generally involves the crossing of one or more borders.
- There is an exchange of payment for services rendered.
- The relationship between the smuggler and the person is finished once they arrive at the destination. Sometimes it becomes trafficking.
- The risks to health and life are latent [present but not visible] but usually only during the transaction.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
A crime against the Person.
- Contact between the trafficker and the victim is the result of deception or fraud.
- The crossing of borders can exist but is not neccessary.
- “Payment for services” is instead mounting economic debt.
- The relationship between the trafficker and the victim is prolonged and deep resulting in dependence and constant abuse.
- The risks to health and life are long-term and include prolonged physical and psychological abuse.
Human Trafficking is a crime against the Individual, against their dignity and their fundamental rights of freedom and life.
Help us prevent human trafficking.
PREVENTION BEFORE HARM
CONTACT US
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 854
Sausalito, CA, 94966-0854
info@wisdominternational.org
Phone: 415-819-0417
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OUR MISSION: To Prevent human trafficking before harm begins.
OUR VISION: A world free from exploitation and slavery. 