Sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery in which someone coerces or deceives another person into commercial sex exploitation for profit. Any child sold for sex is considered a victim of sex trafficking by nature of their age. Simply, it is sexual violence as a business. The nightmare of forced prostitution thrives when law enforcement cannot or does not protect vulnerable children and women.
Cybersex trafficking is also on the rise as internet access increases everywhere. Now, pedophiles anywhere in the world can direct live sexual abuse of boys and girls hidden in private homes or internet cafes.Learn More
Elsa’s Story: A Survivor Defined By Strength
“Blaming poverty for crimes like this is convenient—it seems to make trafficking a problem beyond our control. But I strongly believe that poverty is just one of the factors that makes people vulnerable to being trafficked, and that trafficking still exists because an effective public justice system doesn’t in my country.”IJM aftercare worker
2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade.1
Human trafficking generates about $150 billion a year— two-thirds from commercial sexual exploitation.2
In IJM cases, sex trafficking survivors have described being beaten, forcibly injected with narcotics and forced to watch their own children be physically abused.
Understand the Issue
The vast majority of victims of trafficking come from backgrounds of poverty. Impoverished women and girls are especially susceptible to traffickers' schemes of deception. Because of their desperate economic situation, they (or their parents or caretakers) are more willing to take risks—so they are more likely to accept fraudulent job offers or insincere marriage proposals from traffickers, to move to another location or migrate to another country, or to believe other deceptive techniques criminals use to entrap victims.
Before the internet, customers had to physically go to a bar or brothel to purchase sex. In the Philippines, most customers were opportunistic predators seeking out young women or teenagers. Now, pedophiles and abusers located anywhere in the world can exploit children without ever leaving their bedroom.
Once trafficked, victims find themselves facing violence as a constant threat. In addition to serial rape, children and adults forced into the commercial sex trade are particularly vulnerable to physical assault from owners, pimps, recruiters and customers.
Though sex trafficking is a worldwide phenomenon, it is most pervasive in countries with weak justice systems, where perpetrators know they are unlikely to face any significant consequences for profiting from repeated sexual assault.
However, because the crime is an economic one, traffickers, pimps and others who profit from the sexual exploitation of children are particularly sensitive to law enforcement action. When the likelihood of serving serious jail time and paying significant financial damages increases, the potential financial rewards are no longer worth the high risk, and traffickers change their behavior.
IJM combats sex trafficking in the Dominican Republic, India and the Philippines.
We identify children and adults forced into the commercial sex trade, support professional law enforcement rescue operations and ensure that all people, including non-trafficked individuals who may be present, are treated with dignity during the operation.
Bringing criminals to justice
We partner with local authorities to help build strong cases against traffickers, pimps and other perpetrators and support their prosecution.
We create individual treatment plans for each survivor, partner with excellent aftercare homes, provide trauma counseling and support access to school and vocational opportunities.
Strengthening justice systems
We provide training and hands-on mentoring to law enforcement, judges, prosecutors and other professionals, and advocate for improvements to the justice system that will ensure cases are heard and survivors are protected.
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