Did you know, human traffickers are exploiting twenty-five million people annually, this is almost half the population of our country and these individuals are being used for the profit of their captors.
Human trafficking is one of the most horrendous trafficking that can be committed especially when it involves the vulnerable people in our community, from children, to young girls and adults. To think of that this trafficking ring benefits to a profit of $150 billion a year from our loved ones.
Human trafficking otherwise can be defined as modern slavery involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex work against the will of the person being trafficked.
Today there are approximately 45.8 million people caught in the trap of modern slavery around the world. This includes 10 million children,15.4 million people forced in marriage, and 4.8 million people forced in sexual exploitation.
One might think, that a country such as ours such issues are unheard of but on the contrary, we are no exemption. Our children, daughters, sons and our loved ones all do fall prey to this. Where this greed and hunger for money there is a person that will go the extra mile to ensure some sort of financial security.
We have of cases where people have been enticed to seek jobs abroad only to get there and have their passports and any means of them travelling back be taken away and them being subjected to forced labor, minimum pay and harsh treatment from their so-called employers.
Who is affected? People who are vulnerable to trafficking include those experiencing economic hardship, lack of social safety net, natural disasters, or political instability. Our women and children are disproportionally affected by human trafficking, making up as much as 71 percent of all trafficking victims, including 99 percent of all sexual exploitation.
So, what do we do to curb down all of this, we take up our mantle much to the streets and create awareness to those victims fallen prey to human trafficking, we inform and educate people to better financial possibilities and we show up when they call out for help.