Anthony M DeStefano is not only a famed journalist/author, he is also an expert on human trafficking He joins us Saturday 2pm PT/5pm Et Listen live by CLICKING THIS LINK
1. There are an estimated 21 million people in forced or coerced human trafficking worldwide.
Of those 21 million individuals, about 68% are subjected to
forced labor, while 22% are subjected to forced sexual exploitation.The remaining 10% are in forms of
state-imposed forced labor — working in prisons under conditions that violate labor standards, or forced to participate in rebel armed forces.
To put this in context, 12.5 million Africans were enslaved and taken to America during the transatlantic slave trade, which lasted from 1525 to 1866. Though the 21 million individuals actually represent a lower percentage of the global population than the time of the slave trade, it's still a staggering reality.
However, today's numbers could be even higher, because the number of people in modern slavery is so hard to track.
2. Forced labor generates $150.2 billion per year in illegal profits globally.
According to the U.S. Department of State, two-thirds of those profits are generated by commercial sexual exploitation. The other third is generated by forced labor exploitation.
This underground industry is booming, which makes it especially disturbing and dangerous.
3. Trafficking in all forms mostly impacts women and girls.
Women and girls make up 55% of those forced or coerced into some form of modern slavery, as compared to 45% men and boys. It's especially troubling that women make up 98% of individuals forced into sexual slavery.
4. Last year, instances of human trafficking were reported in all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C.
In 2014, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline received multiple reports of human trafficking cases from every state within the U.S. California had the most complaints, with 223 cases reported in 2014.
5. Sex trafficking is by far the most prevalent form of human trafficking in the U.S.
Of the 1,345 instances of human trafficking reported to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center this year so far, 973 of those instances were related to sex trafficking.
6. India has the largest number of individuals in human trafficking globally.
An estimated
14 million individuals in India are living through this form of modern day slavery. This means individuals from India represent more than half of those in modern slavery worldwide.
