I am Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, with 21 million victims worldwide - more than at any time in history.¹ While sex trafficking accounts for much of this fast-growing crime, it also includes forced labor, debt bondage, domestic servitude and the use of children in armed conflict.

Traffickers prey upon the poor and vulnerable. Widespread poverty and other factors such as civil unrest and migration have created a vast “supply” of potential victims. At the same time, the goods produced by the victims are sold all over the world, making us all inadvertent consumers of trafficked products. Therefore, strategies to combat trafficking must address both supply and demand.

The U.S. government has led the fight against human trafficking with a policy of preventing trafficking, protecting victims and prosecuting traffickers. CRS has addressed the issue with more than 145 projects around the world. We also have the opportunity to urge our leaders to combat human trafficking by enforcing transparency in corporate supply chains. Together, we can work toward eradicating human trafficking.

¹ “ILO Forced Labour, Human Trafficking and Slavery,” last modi ed September 15, 2015, https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang--en/index.htm.