The Shelter’s Human Trafficking Program

Human trafficking is a lucrative industry, representing an estimated $9.8 billion in the united states. and $32 billion internationally. A trafficker can make up to $100,000 a year per victim, according to the US Justice Department. The average victim may be forced to have sex up to 20-48 times a day.

It is important to understand that human trafficking can happen to anyone, anywhere and in any situation. In the United States, 83 percent of trafficking victims are American citizens, and 50 percent are children. The average age of a trafficking victim is 13. Victims are often unfamiliar with the culture or do not speak the language of the country they have been trafficked into. Few come forward for fear of retaliation, shame, or lack of understanding of what is happening to them.

Although the crisis of human trafficking has more recently made headlines, the problem has thrived in the shadows for many years.  For too long, victims of human trafficking have been treated as criminals, facing jail time rather than receiving emergency shelter and the support they deserve. Much like the domestic violence movement of the early 1980s, today’s push to raise awareness of human trafficking will initiate the social change needed to provide victims with the services they need to heal and return to society as productive citizens.