What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is the illegal trade in human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern day form of slavery.
Individuals, circumstances, and situations vulnerable to traffickers include homeless individuals, runaway teens, displaced homemakers, refugees, and drug addicts. While it may seem like trafficked people are the most vulnerable and powerless minorities in a region, victims are consistently exploited from any ethnic and social background

Statistics on Human Trafficking

A report put out by the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, and State places the estimate of people who are annually trafficked into the United States at 50,000.
Human trafficking generates $9 billion a year.
Human trafficking has been identified in 21 states, North Carolina being one of them.
April 2009, a man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for operating a human trafficking sex trade between Charlotte and Washington.  Girls were as young as 16 and smuggled in from Mexico.
North Carolina ranks as the 8th most likely state for trafficking to occur in the US.