MCOTU Episode 13

Derek Scott-U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking

usiaht.org

Worldwide, there are 40.3 million victims, with 75% women and girls and 25% children, according to The International Labour Organization

• 8 million people are involved in forced sexual exploitation worldwide, with more than 1 million of those victims being children under the age of 18 years. [According to the International Labour Organization]
• Human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide [According to the International Labour Organization]
• Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. [According to the Department of Homeland Security]
• Sex trafficking occurs when force, fraud, or coercion is used to cause a commercial sex act with an adult. Force, fraud or coercion need not be present for sex trafficking to occur with a child under the age of 18. When a commercial sex act occurs with a child under the age of 18, it is by definition sex trafficking. [According to the U.S. Department of State ]
• A commercial sex act is identified by the exchange of anything of value (eg. money, drugs, food, clothing, shelter) for a sexual act. [According to the Department of Justice]
• Because of the hidden nature of the crime, it is essentially impossible to know with certainty how many people are sex trafficked in the United States.
• While statistics vary on the number of children in the U.S. who are trafficked, we firmly believe the number is by far in excess of 100,000, based upon our experience and estimates in communities across the country.
• It is projected that between 60% and 70% of trafficked children in the U.S. come from child social services or the foster care system. [According to an FBI Investigation in 2013]
• An estimated 1 in 7 runaways are likely victims of sex trafficking, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2017
• LGBTQ youth are more vulnerable to being sex-trafficked because they have higher runaway rates, as a result of more discrimination, violence and economic problems than their non-LGBTQ peers. [According to the U.S. Department of State and Polaris]
• According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the average age a child first becomes a victim of sex trafficking is between 12-14.
• 84% of those in sex slavery were sexually abused as children, according to World Without Exploitation
• 90.8% of trafficking survivors reported being arrested, according to National Survivor Network, whereas we estimate fewer than 10% of buyers are arrested.