Human Trafficking - Did you know.....

• Trafficking in human beings is now the third-largest moneymaking venture in the world, after illegal weapons and drugs.
• The UN estimates that around 4 million people a year are now traded against their will to work in some form of slavery.
• Each day in India nearly 200 girls and women are forced into the sex trade
• The birth of a girl is often a burden and she is not fed properly, loved or educated
• Mortality and suicide rates for Indian women are among the highest in the world.
• As many as 50,000 women and children from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe are brought to the U.S. under false pretenses each year and forced to work as prostitutes, abused laborers or servants (Joel Brinkley NYT citing CIA report).
• Approximately 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. (U.S. Department of State)
• The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion. (U.N.)
• Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic. (U.S. Department of State)