Fight Human Trafficking and sexual expolitation of Women and children. Become aware of social surroundings and local and global occurances within the community as well as within our nation's walls and its impacts to other countries and our personal everyday lives. Share ideas and refer volunteer opportunities to fellow group members;we will show the perpretators that such acts will not be ignored any longer.



WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

*Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Victims of human trafficking are young children, teenagers, men and women. Approximately 800,000 to 900,000 victims annually are trafficked across international borders world wide, and between 14,500 and 17,500 of those victims are trafficked into the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of State. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.

After drug dealing, trafficking of humans is tied with arms dealing as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and is the fastest growing.

Many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or the sex entertainment industry. But trafficking also occurs in forms of labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude, restaurant work, janitorial work, sweatshop factory work and migrant agricultural work.

Traffickers use various techniques to instill fear in victims and to keep them enslaved. Some traffickers keep their victims under lock and key. However, the more frequent practice is to use less obvious techniques including:

~Debt bondage - financial obligations, honor-bound to satisfy debt
~Isolation from the public - limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any contact is monitored or superficial in nature
~Isolation from family members and members of their ethnic and religious community
~Confiscation of passports, visas and/or identification documents
~Use or threat of violence toward victims and/or families of victims
~The threat of shaming victims by exposing circumstances to family
~Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they contact authorities
~Control of the victims' money, e.g., holding their money for "safe-keeping"

In October 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) made human trafficking a Federal crime. It was enacted to prevent human trafficking overseas, to protect victims and help them rebuild their lives in the U.S., and to prosecute traffickers of humans under Federal penalties. Prior to 2000, no comprehensive Federal law existed to protect victims of trafficking or to prosecute their traffickers.

Last Updated: January 8, 2007
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/index.html




Slavery still exisits and it exists in America, within our National Borders, and Funded primarily by Americans. This is a business that has been also expanded outside of our borders and is continuing to grow at an outrageous pace globally. Unfortunately, the Americans being the number one consumer for such acts, has made Human Trafficking on high demand. Within our borders, traffickers are so highly organized, that it has been nearly impossible to take them down, and because of our laws, made to protect our citizens, it is even harder to prosecute them. The consumers, are often every day individuals that we encounter each day; consumers consist of our very own doctors, lawyers, politicians, and even relatives. Since these consumers are usually very affluent professionals, they take precaution to avoid getting caught in such acts. They are usually found traveling to other countries with co-workers and good friends were the resources are widely available, nobody knows who they are, and the laws are different. Another unfortuante thing is that even those of us who aren't as prosperous may also be consumers without realizing it. Whenever, we click on a porn site, or visit a strip club, we fund such acts and raise demands. To learn more about sex trafficking please go to:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/fact_sex.html