SERVING VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING 

To put it simply, “human trafficking” is modern slavery. Victims are not wearing chains, as one traditionally thinks of slavery, but millions of victims around the world are trafficked or “trapped” into forced labor or sexual exploitation with little hope of escape.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 25 million victims of human trafficking world wide and this generates profits in excess of $150 billion USD a year. At the current rate of growth human trafficking is expected to surpass drug trafficking as the second largest criminal industry in the world within the next 10 years. Human trafficking is often referred to as “the hidden crime” or “the invisible crime” since it is structured in such a way that a casual observer would never notice it. Most victims rarely come forward to report the crime and this is most often the case because of language barriers, fear of retaliation from traffickers and occasionally fear of law enforcement. Some victims are in countries illegally, and are afraid of getting sent back to their home countries and in some cases corrupt law enforcement officials are aiding the traffickers. In addition, the emotional trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many victims choose not to identify themselves as a “victim,” or ask for help. Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to lure their victims in, and once they fall for the trap they are forced into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Susceptible victim profiles include psychologically or emotionally vulnerable, economic hardship, lacking social safety net, dysfunctional family, loss of home from natural disaster and in some cases political instability.