So throughout the process of preparing to go to Mexico and work with victims of human trafficking I have been trying to learn more about the issue of human trafficking and the underground exploitive sex trade. I've been watching documentaries, reading articles and books, and looking at statistics. So I think its about time I share some of these things with you all. I share these not to scare you or make the world seem like a worse place, but to make us more informed on the issue so that we can do soemthing about it.
So lets start globally.
- The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking around the world. Thats about the population of New York City and a little less that the population of Mexico City (where I'll be working) which has 22 million people.
- Out of this number, 55% of them are girls or women, not unlike the girls I'll be serving in Mexico.
- The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.5 million people trapped and exploited by the underground sex trade
Now to get a little closer to home...
- Since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline has received reports of 14,588 sex trafficking cases in the United States.
- As of July this year there have been 16,731 signals of trafficking to the resource center
- In 2014 it was estimated that the underground sex trade economy ranged anywhere from 39.9 million in Denver to 290 million in Atlanta.
- The Super Bowl isn't just the biggest football game of the year, but one of the biggest trafficking events as well
Now getting even closer to home, in Iowa this year alone there have been 31 cases of human trafficking reported, most of these dealing with the sex trade and involving adult females as is to be expected. And there has been 115 calls this year alone to the National Human Trafficking Resource helpline. And in Mexico City, where I will be working, there are 2000 children every year who are trafficked, not including foreigners or grown men and women.
I hope that these statistics have maybe opened your eyes to see trafficking as not just an internationl problem, but an issue thats happening here in our country and our state. Maybe you're reminded that the picture of the girl on the card that the men are passing out on the Vegas strip, the girl dancing at the strip club, the girl working for an "escort service" are all possibly tied to the underground sex trade in some way, as is common here in America.
Again, I'm not sharing these statictics to scare you into action, but to make us more aware of the issue so we can work together against it. If these statistics didn't convince you that we need organizations, efforts, and awareness working against trafficking, then maybe the redemptive stories to come of Jesus' work in the lives of the girls I will be meeting can help. Or maybe you didn't need any convincing. Maybe you can can better see how my heart has grown so big for this issue in such a short amount if time when given an opportunity to work directly against it.
Below are the links to where I found these statistics and links to some other really cool organizations working against human trafficking. Please check them out and maybe consider getting involved in some way.
https://polarisproject.org/facts
https://traffickingresourcecenter.org/state/iowa
http://www.urban-light.org/ - urban light is super cool becasue they focus on helping men and boys escape trafficking