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Human Trafficking


Recognizing the escalation of violence in our world, and especially its impact on women and children, we choose to act with diligence in the pursuit of peace and non-violence.
- IHM Chapter 2000 Directions

There are more slaves now than ever before in human history – approximately 27 million around the world. Between 18,000 and 20,000 of those victims are trafficked into the United States. Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. People are snared into trafficking through physical force, false promises regarding job opportunities or marriages in foreign countries.

The most common form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation (79 percent) followed by forced labor (18 percent). Forced labor is detected and reported less because it is frequently goes unnoticed, especially in big cities. Four out of every five victims are women and girls. Twenty percent of all trafficking victims in the world are children, but in some parts of Africa and Asia’s Mekong region, children are the majority. Michigan and northwest Ohio are considered hot spots for human trafficking in the United States because of their proximity to the Canadian border.

Human trafficking has a devastating impact on individual victims, who often suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, passport theft and even death. But the impact of human trafficking goes beyond individual victims; it undermines the safety and security of all nations it touches.

Call the National Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to report a tip or connect with anti-trafficking resources near you.

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Call the National Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 to report a tip or connect with anti-trafficking resources near you.

To learn more about human trafficking, check out our annotated bibliographies:

 

Additional Resources
Pray and act for the abducted Nigerian schoolgirls
A Nun’s Life Podcast on Human Trafficking
Sisters pledge support following Washington meeting
Encourage Hotels to Take Action ot Fight Trafficking

TraffickCam

Help fight trafficking by uploading photos of your hotel room. These photos will be used to determine where perpetrators of sex trafficking are committing their crimes. Download the free app today for iPhone and iPad at the App Store and for Android devices at Google Play.