Warning: This is clearly a very sensitive topic. I will be discussing child trafficking, the porn industry, abuse, etc. Please proceed with caution.
I always knew human trafficking was happening around the world, but it always felt like it was as far away from home as it can get. That is lie a lot of people tell themselves – out of sight, out of mind, right? Unfortunately, human trafficking is something that happens all around the world – most likely even in your city.
Today, July 30th, is World Day Against Human Trafficking. So, I wanted to share this post to bring awareness to a very difficult topic. I’ll be sharing some quick statistics and resources for you. It’s such a huge topic that I cannot possibly share everything in one post, so please watch, read, and learn as much as you can about it on your own.
First, let’s define human trafficking and go over some quicks facts:
Human trafficking is modern day slavery
QUICK FACTS
- There are 40.3 million modern day slaves in the world
- 1 in 4 are children, 71% are women and girls
- 600,000 – 800,000 people are trafficked internationally every year
- 2 million children are sexually exploited every year
- 14,500 – 17,500 people are trafficked into the United Sates every year
- Trafficking has been reported in ALL 50 states
- Trafficking for sex, labor, and organs is the fastest growing crime & third most profitable crime (after drugs & guns) bringing in roughly $150 billion dollars every year, $99 billion from sexual exploitation
- Americans are the #1 producers and consumers of porn (including child porn); it’s part of the problem
Those just scratch the surface of human trafficking.
IT’S EVERYWHERE
From prostitution to selling children, human trafficking is everywhere.
- Like the 15 year old girl who was found after 58 videos of her rape and torture were shared on PornHub
- Like the 14 year old girl who was kidnapped and raped/abused for 12 hours, all shared on PornHub. Then had to beg for months to get the videos taken down.
- Like the 118 cases of child rape documented on PornHub in just two years
- Like the child who was 6 months old when her own parents began trafficking her on Craigslist for sex
- Like the countless children sold by their own parents into prostitution or child sex slavery all around the world
- Like the 17 arrested recently, “including Disney and hospital employees, accused of downloading or distributing child pornography featuring children as young as a few months old.“
Again, those are just a few examples from around the world. None even include any information on trafficking for labor or organs. Like I said, it’s a large topic.
RESOURCES
I know just a bullet point list is hard to take in, but I implore to do the research. The humans, including the children, deserve that from us. If you do want to learn on your own, below is a list of a few organizations, sources, documentaries, etc, to look into to get started.
- O.U.R. (Operation Underground Railroad) Rescue – O.U.R. Rescue specializes in rescues and aftercare of the victims. They’ve rescued 3,800 victims and assisted in the arrests of more than 2,100 traffickers internationally within the last two years. You can learn more about them HERE. Some links I recommend for learning:
*I donate monthly to this organization.
- Exodus Cry – While they fight for sex trafficking, they focus on prostitution, stripping, and pornography. They want to raise awareness and introduce legislation to fight against porn culture and trafficking within the prostitution, porn, and stripping scene. Find out more about them HERE. Some links I recommend for learning:
OTHER GREAT RESOURCES
- A21
- NCMEC
- Destiny Rescue
- Documentary – Stopping Traffic by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree (Youtube or anywhere really)
- I found the following photos from OurGrowingStorey on Instagram
If you want to show support today, consider sharing any sources you find (including the ones in this post) on your social media, donating, buying merch from organizations, or volunteering/participating in a demonstration. Also, you can WEAR BLUE for the day (which is the nationally recognized color for stopping human trafficking).
This by no means encompasses everything. Please let me know if I got anything incorrect or if you have further resources that can be included on this post!
1 Comment
This is a great and very informative post, Molly! Thank you for compiling this! 🙂