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What is Human Trafficking?

Trafficking in human beings is the illegal movement of people, within national or across international borders, to make money by using them for commercial sex, domestic service or manual labour. It exploits their bodies and souls for cash. It’s an illegal industry that generates between US$7 and $12 billion annually. It is a global stain - an estimated two million people are trafficked each year across international borders. It affects men, women and children, but around 50 percent of all victims are children.
In Australia, at least 1000 adult women in any one year are brought here to work as prostitutes, and most have their passports taken from them, and are subjected to violence and rape to “break them in". (Project Respect estimate)
Two organisations fighting human trafficking and poverty on a world scale are The Salvation Army and Compassion. Both organisations are close to Paul's heart. With the Salvation Army he travels to many developing countries, leading mission teams that help build both morale and spiritual focus. The Salvation Army helps people in need without discrimination in 111 countries.
Paul also currently sponsors two boys through Compassion. They both live near Lake Victoria, Kenya. Paul has visited them three times now, and has also visited Compassion projects throughout India. Compassion is a Christian child development ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled adults. Today, Compassion helps more than 770,000 children in more than 25 countries.

The scale of human trafficking

Due to the hidden and illegal nature of human trafficking, gathering statistics on the scale of the problem is a complex and difficult task. There are no reliable national or international estimates as to the extent of trafficking. Figures are usually counted in the countries that people are trafficked into and often fail to include those who are trafficked within their own national borders. The following statistics may represent an underestimation of trafficking, but are the most credible and frequently quoted.
  • At least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide. Of these 2.4 million are as a result of human trafficking. A global alliance against forced labour, International Labour Organisation, 2005
  • 600,000-800,000 men, women and children trafficked across international borders each year. Approximately 80 per cent are women and girls. Up to 50% are minors.US Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 2005
  • An estimated 1.2 million children trafficked each year.UNICEF UK Child Trafficking Information sheet, January 2003
  • The majority of trafficked victims arguably come from the poorest countries and poorest strata of the national population.A global alliance against forced labour, International Labour Organisation, 2005
  • Trafficking is the fastest growing means by which people are caught in the trap of slavery.Anti-Slavery
  • Human trafficking is the third largest source of income for organised crime, exceeded only by arms and drugs trafficking.UN office on drugs and crime
  • It is the fastest growing form of international crime, already generating 7 billion dollars per year in criminal proceeds. There are even reports that some trafficking groups are switching their cargo from drugs to human beings, in a search of high profits at lower risk.UN office on drugs and crime
  • People are trafficked into prostitution, begging, forced labour, military service, domestic service, forced illegal adoption, forced marriage etc.
  • Types of recruitment; include abduction, false agreement with parents, sold by parents, runaways, travel with family, orphans sold from street or institutions.
  • Australia is a destination country for a small but indeterminate number of women trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation from countries in Southeast Asia, South Korea, and People's Republic of China. Some women travel to Australia voluntarily to work in both legal and illegal brothels, and those who are trafficked have been deceived or coerced into debt bondage or sexual servitude.US Department of State Human Rights Report 2004

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