Domestic Sex Trafficking

Living in America, we tend to think of human trafficking and slavery as an overseas problem, but it is a significant problem in our own country, the land of the free and the home of the brave. “Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces” (FBI National Press Office 2009).

Sex trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act where such an act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not obtained 18 years of age.

Every year thousands of children go missing in the United States. In the last ten years the government and law enforcement agencies have discovered that of the 800,000 missing children every year 239,000 are at risk for sex trafficking (NCMEC Annual Report 2009).

Research shows that childhood sexual abuse places youth at a greater risk for sexual exploitation; the Letot Center, a juvenile rehabilitation facility in Dallas, Texas, reports from their experience with sexually exploited youth that 93-95% had previously been physically and sexually abused. It is estimated that at least 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18 in the United States, and 90% of victims are violated by people they know: parents, siblings, relatives, friends, caretakers, teachers, religious leaders, neighbors and others (Whealin and Barnett).

The statistics provide only a brief glimpse into the horrific, complex nature of sex trafficking in our own communities. When adults are involved in the commercial sex industry, Americans call this prostitution and pornography. Many may be surprised to learn that there are adults in the sex industry that were sexually abused in childhood and/or coerced into the industry as children, making them victims of sex trafficking. The simple truth is that the victimized children of yesterday are the criminalized adults of today. Together as a nation that stands for freedom and justice, this is our collective problem, and the solution will require each of us to take action. Join us in being the voice for the voiceless!

“Although the United States has made great strides in preventing the occurrence of modern slavery, prosecuting traffickers and dismantling their criminal networks, and protecting victims and survivors, our work is not done. We stand with those throughout the world who are working every day to end modern slavery, bring traffickers to justice, and empower survivors to reclaim their rightful freedom.”

~ President Barack Obama (Department of Justice 2010)

Fast Facts – U.S. Dept of Justice-OJP Fact Sheet

In 2010, 49,105 human trafficking victims worldwide were identified, a 59 percent increase over the previous reporting year.
In 2010, an estimated 12.3 million adults and children were in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world; 56 percent of these victims were women and girls.
In 2009, there were 4,166 successful trafficking prosecutions, a 40 percent increase over 2008.
OJP-funded Anti-Human Trafficking Task Forces have identified more than 3,300 potential victims nationwide.
These task forces have trained more than 85,000 law enforcement officers and others in identifying the signs of human trafficking and its victims.
As many as 300,000 children are at risk for sexual exploitation each year in the United States.