Day 12. 30/55 facts about human trafficking.

Approximately 75-80% of human trafficking is for sex.a Researchers note that sex trafficking plays a major role in the spread of HIV.b There are more human slaves in the world today than ever before in history.l There are an estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children around the world who are victims of human trafficking.l Human trafficking not only involves sex and labor, but people are also trafficked for organ harvesting.k Human traffickers often use a Sudanese phrase “use a slave to catch slaves,” meaning traffickers send “broken-in girls” to recruit younger girls into the sex trade. Sex traffickers often train girls themselves, raping them and teaching them sex acts.l Eighty percent of North Koreans who escape into China are women. Nine out of 10 of those women become victims of human trafficking, often for sex. If the women complain, they are deported back to North Korea, where they are thrown into gulags or are executed.h Approximately 30,000 victims of sex trafficking die each year An estimated 30,000 victims of sex trafficking die each year from abuse, disease, torture, and neglect. Eighty percent of those sold into sexual slavery are under 24, and some are as young as six years old.j Ludwig “Tarzan” Fainberg, a convicted trafficker, said, “You can buy a woman for $10,000 and make your money back in a week if she is pretty and young. Then everything else is profit.”l A human trafficker can earn 20 times what he or she paid for a girl. Provided the girl was not physically brutalized to the point of ruining her beauty, the pimp could sell her again for a greater price because he had trained her and broken her spirit, which saves future buyers the hassle. A 2003 study in the Netherlands found that, on average, a single sex slave earned her pimp at least $250,000 a year.l Although human trafficking is often a hidden crime and accurate statistics are difficult to obtain, researchers estimate that more than 80% of trafficking victims are female. Over 50% of human trafficking victims are children.l  The end of the Cold War has resulted in the growth of regional conflicts and the decline of borders. Many rebel groups turn to human trafficking to fund military actions and garner soldiers.k According to a 2009 Washington Times article, the Taliban buys children as young as seven years old to act as suicide bombers. The price for child suicide bombers is between $7,000-$14,000.n UNICEF estimates that 300,000 children younger than 18 are currently trafficked to serve in armed conflicts worldwide.n Pregnant women are increasingly being trafficked for their newborns Human traffickers are increasingly trafficking pregnant women for their newborns. Babies are sold on the black market, where the profit is divided between the traffickers, doctors, lawyers, border officials, and others. The mother is usually paid less than what is promised her, citing the cost of travel and creating false documents. A mother might receive as little as a few hundred dollars for her baby.k More than 30% of all trafficking cases in 2007-2008 involved children being sold into the sex industry.o The Western presence in Kosovo, such as NATO troops and civilians, have fueled the rapid growth of sex trafficking and forced prostitution. Amnesty International has reported that NATO soldiers, UN police, and Western aid workers “operated with near impunity in exploiting the victims of the sex traffickers.”g Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” video is about human trafficking. In the video, Gaga is trafficked by a Russian bathhouse into sex slavery.f Human trafficking is the only area of transnational crime in which women are significantly represented—as victims, as perpetrators, and as activists fighting this crime.a  Global warming and severe natural disasters have left millions homeless and impoverished, which has created desperate people easily exploited by human traffickers.k Over 71% of trafficked children show suicidal tendencies.l After sex, the most common form of human trafficking is forced labor. Researchers argue that as the economic crisis deepens, the number of people trafficked for forced labor will increase.k Most human trafficking in the United States occurs in New York, California, and Florida.l According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over the past 30 years, over 30 million children have been sexually exploited through human trafficking.k Several countries rank high as source countries for human trafficking, including Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Albania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania, China, Thailand, and Nigeria.l Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, and the U.S. are ranked very high as destination countries of trafficked victims.l Women are trafficked to the U.S. largely to work in the sex industry (including strip clubs, peep and touch shows, massage parlors that offer sexual services, and prostitution). They are also trafficked to work in sweatshops, domestic servitude, and agricultural work.l Sex traffickers often use brutal violence to “condition” their victims Sex traffickers use a variety of ways to “condition” their victims, including subjecting them to starvation, rape, gang rape, physical abuse, beating, confinement, threats of violence toward the victim and victim’s family, forced drug use, and shame.l Family members will often sell children and other family members into slavery; the younger the victim, the more money the trafficker receives. For example, a 10-year-old named Gita was sold into a brothel by her aunt. The now 22-year-old recalls that when she refused to work, the older girls held her down and stuck a piece of cloth in her mouth so no one would hear her scream as she was raped by a customer. She would later contract HIV.l Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises because it holds relatively low risk with high profit potential. Criminal organizations are increasingly attracted to human trafficking because, unlike drugs, humans can be sold repeatedly.k http://facts.randomhistory.com/human-trafficking-facts.html I read these facts yesterday. Wow. A lot of stuff that I never even knew. I decided to post just 30 facts today. Feel free to check out the rest later, but this seems like plenty of information for one day.  Fact #30 hit me. Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes because it has relatively LOW RISK with HIGH PROFIT. While drugs can only be sold once. Humans can be sold multiple times. That statement makes me sick. Human beings are fearfully and wonderfully made by God, and not an object to be sold again and again. My heart aches for women and girls who don't see that their lives are priceless. They are valued and loved by their Creator.  In order for change to happen, the risk of human trafficking has to increase. Corrupt police organizations make it easy for traffickers to make a lot of money. They get paid off and turn their heads as this evil continues. Someone has to put pressure on the government and police in countries where this is happening, to crack down and enforce the law. That is what I love about International Justice Mission. Here are the 4 goals of IJM:  1. Victim Relief IJM's first priority in its casework is immediate relief for the victim of the abuse being committed. 2. Perpetrator Accountability IJM seeks to hold perpetrators accountable for their abuse in their local justice systems. Accountability changes the fear equation: When would-be perpetrators are rightly afraid of the consequences of their abuse, the vulnerable do not need to fear them. 3. Survivor Aftercare IJM aftercare staff and trusted local aftercare partners work to ensure that victims of oppression are equipped to rebuild their lives and respond to the complex emotional and physical needs that are often the result of abuse. 4. Structural Transformation IJM seeks to prevent abuse from being committed against others at risk by strengthening the community factors and local judicial systems that will deter potential oppressors.  IJM is not only providing relief after the crimes have occurred, but they are also working to change the system in order to prevent injustice. I am praying for this kind of change. Join me in prayer for IJM and other organizations to change corrupt government systems in order to prevent human trafficking.