January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month- Global Statistics

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Here are Global Statistics according to the U.S TIP Report and the Polaris Project.

Human trafficking statistics are difficult to attain because of the illegal nature of trafficking. However the U.S. State Department annually puts out the Trafficking in Persons Report. According to this report 32 billion dollars are generated in income by human trafficking. There are 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bond labor, and forced prostitution around the world. In 2009 there were 4,166 successful trafficking prosecutions. 49,105 victims were identified. There are 104 countries with laws that do not prevent victims’ deportation. In the world there are 1.8 human trafficking victims per 1000 people. In Asia it is 3 out of 1000 victims of human trafficking (2010, www.stage.gov).

According to the Polaris Project statistics, the world’s biggest anti-human trafficking organization, there are 27 million people trapped in human trafficking, that is more than double the TIP reports estimates. One million of those are children that are exploited by the commercial sex trade. 80% of transnational victims of human trafficking are women and girls. 70% of women trafficked are in the commercial sex industry while the remaining 30% are trafficked into forced labor. Those in forced labor will likely suffer sexual abuse (2010, www.stage.gov).