Human Trafficking:

Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. 800,000 to 1 million people are trafficked across international borders each year.  Hundreds of thousands more are trafficked inside their own borders, making this estimate only a fraction of the actual number of victims.  Individuals can be trafficked for sexual purposes, forced marriage, debt bondage, sweatshop labor, agricultural and domestic servitude, and more.  To combat human trafficking, it will take a community of educated citizens, concentrated prevention efforts, strong and implemental laws increase national and international cooperation, and a human rights centered approach to assisting victims of this horrible crime.

FAIR Fund addresses human trafficking by focusing on the prevention, identification,and rehabilitation of youth victims of trafficking in communities where we work.

A definition:

"Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children, which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime

Some statistics:

The illicit and secretive nature of human trafficking makes gathering reliable statistics difficult.  However, below are a few statistics that are generally accepted by international standards.

70% of all victims of trafficking are trafficked for sexual purposes

80% of all victims are women

50% of all victims are youth and children

9.5 billion dollars have been made off the bodies of young girls and women in sex trafficking

200,000 to 350,000 American girls and boys are at risk of being exploited for sexual purposes

20,000 individuals are trafficked INTO the United States each year

In the United States, ANY minor child involved in commercial sexual exploitation is considered a victim of human trafficking

 Who are the victims?

Victims of human trafficking do not come from any one country or background. While youth and women are most vulnerable to trafficking, there are also cases of trafficking in men. Victims often come from impoverished backgrounds and/or countries suffering from economic depression and instability. Individuals who have a history of violence in their homes or lives are most likely to become trafficked victims as well.   A lack of real job chances leaves many to be vulnerable to false promises.  Many who accept these offers from what appear to legitimate sources are then sold into slavery. Often they have their personal identity documents destroyed or withheld and their capturers threaten them or their families.  In some cases, they are bonded by a debt that they have no possibility to repay because the traffickers withhold their pay and control every aspect of their lives.

How does someone become trafficked?

While some victims of trafficking are kidnapped or sold by their family members, many are lured by false job advertisements or ‘boyfriends’ who promise to love them but instead sell them to traffickers or force them into prostitution.  Traffickers use newspaper advertisements, casual friends or colleagues, mail order bride catalogues, promises of love, and other forms of deception. They prey on the vulnerability of their victims and depend on it to continue their crimes.  Some are smuggled to wealthier nations, such as the United States, where traffickers force them to work off their ‘debt’ from being brought to this new country.   Trafficking victims should always be seen as victims of crime.

Every victim deserves respect and assistance.

Who are the traffickers?

Trafficking in persons is almost always a form of organized crime with criminal networks involving multiple people.  The demand for cheap labor and sexual services foster an environment for traffickers to thrive, and Human traffickers, like their victims, come from many different backgrounds.  While the media often portrays traffickers and dangerous foreign men, many victims are actually first lured into their trafficking situation by those they know, including women, family, and even government officials.   Those who purchase in “services” or “goods” of trafficked victims are also a part of the trafficking cycle.

Trafficking in Children and Youth

Some global estimates claim that up to 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.  These children’s youth are stolen. The United Nations estimates that up to 200,000 minors are enslaved by international trafficking in West and Central Africa alone.  These children are often sold or given away by parents who think that their children will have better lives in mostly urban cities.   In Southeastern Europe, children as young as 11 or 12 can be found on the streets forced to beg for criminal networks or even their families. There are up to 1 million orphans in Russia who are at risk of explotiatoin through trafficking and prostitution.  They rarely see the profits of their labor and do not attend school.  Girls as young as 11 or 12 have been documented as being sold as mail-order brides, mainly from Eastern Europe or Central Asia.  Trafficked children need special services and protections once they have been discovered.  In many cases, the children’s families may have been involved in their trafficking or there may be abuse in the home.  These children need long-term care and support. 

FAIR Fund’s Current Programs to Combat Trafficking of Youth

Tell Your Friends is FAIR Fund's premier program to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of teens. Through a series of workshops that take place inside public high schools, youth group homes, detention centers, and youth clubs, FAIR Fund staff aim to prevent exploitation and connect teens to needed support and services.

JewelGirls is an art therapy and income generation program for girl survivors of human trafficking, street life, homelessness, and violence. The program currently operates in Belgrade, Serbia, Moscow, Russia, and Washington, D.C.

Campus Coalition Against Trafficking a project of FAIR Fund and Polaris Project, was launched as a grassroots outreach initiative for the purpose of engaging college campus and other student youth in anti-human trafficking efforts in their communities and abroad.

Local and International Trainings: FAIR Fund staff provide lectures and workshops to train lawyers, police officers, and social workers in effective ways to identify and assist youth victims of trafficking in the U.S. and abroad. As of 2008, over 3,000 individuals have been trained.

FAIR Fund is also a member of the Freedom Network USA, a global network of U.S based anti-trafficking organizations working together to eradicate trafficking in persons.   Additionally, FAIR Fund is a member agency of the Washington, DC Anti Trafficking Task Force and the End Internet Trafficking Coalition.