Kim Purcell has stopped by today to share the scary statistics of human trafficking. Her novel, Trafficked, explores the life of a girl in one of these situations.
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When I first learned about the scope of modern-day slavery, I knew I had to write a novel about it. I couldn’t believe that someone could do that to another human being, especially in westernized countries. So, I wrote TRAFFICKED, about a girl who comes from Moldova to America to be a nanny and ends up a modern-day slave.
People often want to know what the stats are behind modern-day slavery and sadly, due to the nature of this crime, it seems nobody knows. The stats vary greatly, depending on who’s reporting them. The biggest reason is that it’s such a hidden crime. Modern-day slaves are disposable. If they manage to escape, they have a lot of incentives to stay hidden. They fear their captors. They fear the government. Often, they come into a country illegally and they fear imprisonment and deportation. Maybe their family members have been threatened. Sometimes they’re ashamed. So they never come forward. This is why it’s difficult to get exact numbers.
In any case, here are some stats, which most people agree upon, though they have all been disputed by different NGOs and government organizations.
This information can be found in more detail on two anti-trafficking organization websites: Stop Child Trafficking Now: sctnow.org and Free the Slaves: freetheslaves.net. If you’d like to learn how to help trafficked teens, go to my website: http://kimpurcell.com/Help-Trafficked-Teens
The Stats:
Child/Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Child/ human trafficking is the world’s second largest criminal enterprise, after drugs. U.S. State Department
The global market of child trafficking is over $12 billion a year with over 1.2 million child victims. UNICEF
The average age of entry for children victimized by the sex trade industry is 12 years. U.S. Department of Justice
Approximately 80% of human trafficking victims are women and girls and up to 50% are minors. U.S. State Department
Research conducted with Free the Slaves found documented cases of slavery in over 90 cities in the US.
Human Slaves are cheap. In 1850 the average slave cost $40,000 in today’s money, presently a slave costs an average of $90.
In its 400 years, the transatlantic slave trade is estimated to have shipped up to 12 million Africans to colonies in the West. Free the Slaves estimates that the number of people in slavery today is at least 27 million.
600,000 – 800,000 people are bought and sold across international borders each year; 50% are children, most are female. Most of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade. U.S. Department of State, 2004, Trafficking in Persons Report, Washington, D.C.
14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States each year. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. U.S. Department of Justice Report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons
Based on hundreds of cases that filter through their agencies, advocates estimate that domestic workers account for about one-third of the total. In other words, about 5,000 migrant domestic servants take jobs each year in homes where they are highly vulnerable to abuse by their employers.
There have been only 100 prosecutions for involuntary servitude or labor trafficking since the passage of the 2000 anti-trafficking law. US Justice Dept.
Trafficked by Kim Purcell
Publisher: Viking Children's Books (February 16th, 2012)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardback: 352 pages
A 17-year-old Moldovan girl whose parents have been killed is brought to the United States to work as a slave for a family in Los Angeles.
Prize:
- 1 winner will receive a copy of TRAFFICKED.
- You must be at least 13 to enter.
- Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
- Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
- Contest is US Only and ends March 10th.
- Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.
- The form must be filled out to enter.
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