Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation Stats & Resources
Educating yourself about the dangers of this nuanced and powerful industry is the first step in addressing sex trafficking in Las Vegas and beyond. Browse the below information to learn more about signs and statistics surrounding sex trafficking.
Things you should know about sex trafficking:
1. TRAFFICKERS LOOK FOR VULNERABILITY.
Sex trafficking recruiters, or “spotters” look for vulnerability everywhere from schools to nightclubs. People they deem vulnerable include—
The financially vulnerable (using debt to manipulate and force someone into sex work)
Runaway girls
Young women or men who have previously been sexually abused
Impaired young women at events and clubs
Children who walk home alone regularly
Minorities and underrepresented groups (individuals traffickers see as less likely to garner media coverage)
2. RECRUITMENT CAN BE A SLOW AND STRATEGIC PROCESS.
While you might think of trafficking as only being the case where a trafficker “snatches up” a young girl quickly—oftentimes, recruiters spend months finding and “grooming” a young person. Once they find someone they deem an ideal target, the grooming might include engaging them on a slow-and-steady basis (following them home from school and talking to them a little more each day), buying them gifts, and developing a level of trust before they turn on their target. Traffickers often use the grooming period to develop collateral (gifts, pets, debt, etc.) they can later use to force a person into sex work.
3. THERE ARE ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF SEX TRAFFICKING.
From forced solicitation to personal sexual servitude, sex trafficking comes in an array of forms. Traffickers’ tactics, signs of someone being trafficked, and an individual’s living situation all vary depending on the type of sex trafficking.
4. a victim may not know she or he is being trafficked.
Traffickers are extremely manipulative and strategic. Oftentimes, through manipulation, blackmail, debt, brainwashing tactics, and more—they sexually exploit a person through extremely coercive tactics, while the victim does not identify as someone who is being trafficked.
5. Mental CHAINS ARE often more common than physical ONES.
It’s a myth that all sex trafficking includes someone being locked in a room and only let out to perform sex acts. Oftentimes, the “cages” that keep victims under their abusers’ control are those of mental manipulation—like debt-bondage, fear, and threats. Traffickers may threaten the lives of a victim’s family or even get a victim pregnant so they can later use the child as collateral (threatening the child’s safety to force the mother into sex work).
6. MALES are also trafficked.
Sex trafficking doesn’t just involve girls and women. It is estimated that 29% of trafficked victims are boys and young men.
7. HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS A MASSIVE BUSiNESS.
Trafficking is estimated to generate $150 billion annually. The International Labour Organization estimates there are 40.3 million victims of trafficking globally.
Sex Trafficking Statistics
40.3
MILLION VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
—an estimate from the International Labour Organization
4.8
MILLION people CURRENTLY TRAPPED
—an estimate from the International Labor Organization and Walk Free Foundation
1 in 7
ENDAGERED RUNAWAYS
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimates that 1 in every 7 of endangered runaways reported to them were likely victims of sex trafficking.