Trafficking

Trafficking Trafficking in persons is a modern-day form of slavery, involving victims who are typically forced, defrauded or coerced into sexual or labor exploitation. It is among the fastest growing criminal activities, occurring both worldwide and in individual countries. Annually, at least 700,000 people, mostly women and children, are trafficked worldwide, including 50,000 persons into the United States. The unequal status of women and children in the world has led to exploitation on every continent, including the United States where personal freedoms are cherished. Women are snared into trafficking by various means. For example, physical force is used or false promises are made regarding a legitimate job or marriage in a foreign country to entrap victims into prostitution, pornography and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation or slavery-like labor conditions in factories and fields. Victims suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, passport theft, and physical restraint. Traffickers have taken advantage of the disparate position of women and girls in the source and transit countries, including harmful stereotypes as women as property, commodities, servants, and sexual objects. Traffickers have also taken advantage of the demand for cheap unprotected labor, and the promotion of sex tourism in some trafficking, women, states, labor, industry, children, worldwide, trafficked, rings, officials, law, crime, victims, sexual, sex, problem, physical, persons, least, ins, including, exploitation, different, criminal, countries, untied, unprotected, united, transit, taken, state, source, slavery, since, particularly