According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking has become “the fastest growing means by which people are enslaved, the fastest growing international crime, and one of the largest sources of income for organised crime.” Every year 600,000-800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders, with roughly 80% of them being women and young girls. The 2007 Trafficking Persons Report produced by the U.S. Department of State estimated that up to 50% of trafficked people are minors.
These people have become just another statistic but each one comes with a story more heartbreaking than the other. Sophie from the UK told Stop The Traffik about how she was tricked into being trafficked by the man who said he loved her. She was so miserable that she said she would have rather died than stayed in that situation. Sophie eventually managed to escape but most aren’t as lucky as her.
Drawings by a 12 year old girl who was trafficked into the sex industry in Cambodia. [Image credit: Stop The Traffik]
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has even begun receiving reports that trafficking groups are now switching their cargo from drugs to humans in order to achieve higher profits at a lower risk.
Related: Human Trafficking in the Sinai: The Price of a Human Life
Related: The NO Project: “Now You Know”
An awareness campaign created by Duval Guillaume Modem in support of Stop The Traffik has highlighted the situation of women who have been promised a dance career and instead end up in the sex industry. Targeting Amsterdam’s Red Light District, the video “Girls going wild in the red light district” leaves watchers with a strong message they won’t forget.
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