Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world. It’s second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime. 1

And while drugs are sold in one transaction, human beings can be sold over and over again. The costs are low and the profits are extremely high. Human trafficking generates an estimated $150 billion annually. 2

Human trafficking affects adults and children in every community around the world, including yours.

The United Nations defines human trafficking as such:

1. the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons,

2. by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, 

3. for the purpose of exploitation. 3

In 2020, about 50,000 human trafficking victims were detected and reported by 141 countries. These are just the reported cases — the true number of victims is certainly much higher. 4

1) www.state.gov/united-states-advisory-council-on-human-trafficking-annual-report-2022/
2) www.unicefusa.org/stories/what-fuels-human-trafficking; www.ilo.org/resource/news/ilo-says-forced-labour-generates-annual-profits-us-150-billion
3) www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/protocol-prevent-suppress-and-punish-trafficking-persons
4) www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/faqs.html