As a Western Culture, we are too far unaware of what is happening in the sex slave industry on a national and international level. In recent conversation, I was told, "..there are no REAL slaves any more." It was then argued that if slavery DOES exist today, then it only exists in the developing countries. However, it is the wealthier nations that provide the capital for such a crime; a crime that is predicted over take international drug trade within the decade.
*Some facts:
Human trafficking is the world's THIRD largest crime industry!
The rate of Human Trafficking is INCREASING!
It is argued that as many as 60,000 people are trafficked into the US every year!
Estimates in 2005 say that human trafficking had annual profits of $31.6 billion!
80% of human trafficking victims are women and children.
Human trafficking is an issue that is difficult to track and prosecute, lending even greater room for growth. It is a very real problem in today's global society. A number of non-profit advocacy programs around the world are doing their best to raise awareness of this social injustice and to provide a means for decreasing and eventually ending this criminal activity.
If you are interested in taking action, check the following websites. Though only sources in CA and DC are provided, I ASSURE you that there are agencies in every state and major international city.
In CA:
http://www.castla.org/
http://www.bpsos.org/
In DC:
http://www.breakthechaincampaigndc.org/
http://www.ayudainc.org/pages/page.cfm?id=1
http://www.polarisproject.org/
If you are interested more specifically in the domestic issues of prostitution, please contact my friend Laurie Ishii, founder of After Hours Ministry.
*All facts were gathered from the following websites:
http://www.thefuturegroup.org/id20.html
http://www.worldvision.ca/ContentArchives/content-stories/Pages/human-trafficking-statistics-global-and-canadian.aspx
http://www.humantraffickinged.com/
