Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons (TIP), is a form of modern-day slavery. The legal definition of human trafficking according to the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 is:
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where such an act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age, or
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery
Human trafficking happens in two forms: sex trafficking and labor trafficking, with sex trafficking representing over 70% of all victims and labor trafficking representing the other 30%. Men, women and children are all at risk and potential victims are not limited to poverty stricken areas. They can also come from middle or upper class homes where they were abused and ran away or they were kidnapped or lured away by a pimp or trafficker giving the promise of love and security.
Did you know…
There are roughly 27 million slaves worldwide today, more than the total number of people brought to the US during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In the United States, there are an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 immigrant children currently being sold and a conservative 300,000 domestic children at high risk for being sold into slavery.
Child trafficking alone pulls in over $12 billion in revenue annually. Each child brings in an estimated $100,000 a year and each pimp controls an average of 3-5 children at a time.
The average age of entry into the sex slave industry is 12-14 years old.
North Carolina has approximately 2,200 children currently considered homeless and statistics show that 1 in 3 of these children will be picked up by a pimp and sold within the first 48 hours of becoming homeless.
In the US, there are less than 100 beds available for all victims of human trafficking and the State of North Carolina holds only four of them although they are not specifically for children rescued in NC making Transforming Hope’s home the first in the state that is specifically for NC child victims.
North Carolina is currently ranked seventh on the FBI’s list of states most likely to be where trafficking occurs. The state is also in the top 5 for most calls received by the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Why so close to the top? One of the largest military bases in the country is located in Jacksonville, NC along with several other bases around the state and creates the perfect avenue for trafficking people in from other countries. North Carolina’s agricultural industry’s need for cheap labor aids in raising the number of trafficking victims and the major highways running throughout the state create plenty of access to truck stops, “gentlemen’s” clubs and hotels to stop at, grab some business and move on to the next state.
To learn more about human trafficking in North Carolina, the United States or worldwide, please check out some of the following links:
