Trafficking in persons is a serious crime and a grave violation of human rights.

Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Almost every country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit or destination for victims. What is Human Trafficking? Human trafficking (also referred to as trafficking in persons or TIP) is an umbrella term used to describe the process by which millions of people become enslaved each year. A widely accepted definition of TIP has been created by the United Nations (UN). The UN definition is as follows: "(a) 'Trafficking in persons' shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs; (b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used; (c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered 'trafficking in persons' even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article; (d) 'Child' shall mean any person under eighteen years of age" The UN definition of trafficking in persons can be divided into three parts: acts, the means used to commit those acts, and goals for which those acts are committed. At least one element from each of the three parts of the trafficking definition is required to create a TIP case. Each year millions of human beings are subjected to the trafficking process and find themselves exploited in settings such as brick kilns, sweatshops, chicken farms, cocoa plantations, mines, fisheries, rock quarries, or for compulsory participation in public works or military service, as well as a variety of other settings. Countless others, predominately women and female children, but also boys, are trafficked into the commercial sex industry where they are used in forms of commercial sexual exploitation like prostitution, pornography, and nude dancing. Some are sold as "brides." Elements Of Human Trafficking On the basis of the definition given in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol, it is evident that trafficking in persons has three constituent elements; The Act (What is done) Recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons

The Means (How it is done) Threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim The Purpose (Why it is done) For the purpose of exploitation, which includes exploiting the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery or similar practices and the removal of organs.

Estimates: a) 100,000-300,000 children sexually exploited in the United States b) Sex trafficking is the 2nd largest source of profits for international organized crimes, behind drugs. c) Girls as young as 5 are known to have been trafficked & sold into child prostitution d) 14 average age of a trafficked victim in the United States e) 32 billion dollar industry f) 27 million people are enslaved worldwide g) 800,000 people are trafficked every year h) Less than 100 dollars, a girl is sold into a brothel i) 14,500-17,500 victims are trafficked into the United States every year

Prostitution is illegal in many countries but in practice it is tolerated and still partly regulated. On 1 October 2000, the Netherlands became the first European country to legalize prostitution as a profession, with its rights and duties. While legalising prostitution can have positive effects on the working conditions of those legally employed in the industry, it also appears to boost the market for this fast-growing global criminal industry. Meeting the demand of the sex market trade. Thailand is an example where prostitution is illegal but still widely practiced due to high demand from foreigners which promotes sex tourism. Thailand is often called Disneyland for pedophiles. UNICEF surveys indicate that 30 to 35 per cent of all sex workers in the Mekong sub-region of Southeast Asia are between 12 and 17 years of age. Sex tourism targeting children creates huge monetary incentives for traffickers, which impacts an estimated 1.2 million child victims annually. The United Nations estimates that 1 percent of Thailand's population is infected with the HIV virus nearly three times the rate in the U.S. The Philippines is another good Asian example. Technically prostitution is illegal but when it had U.S. military bases there was such a huge demand by U.S. military men for sex, it flourished.

The legality of prostitution and brothels around the world: The green areas are places where prostitution is legal and regulated; the blue areas are regions where prostitution is legal but

unregulated and organized activities such as brothels are illegal; the red countries are places where prostitution is illegal. Grey areas signify lack of data.

Poverty, lack of educational and economic opportunities in one's hometown may lead people especially women to voluntarily migrate and then involuntarily trafficked into sex work, slavery, etc. Cambodia, a country known for child sex trafficking, has many parents in the countryside selling one of their children to traffickers so that they can purchase food to feed their other children. Researchers found that police officers, prosecutors, judges, juries, and officials from all levels of government, especially the state, lack awareness of human trafficking law and dont consider such cases a priority. The result is that many human trafficking cases are being passed over by state and federal legal systems. There are many challenges for identifying, investigating, and prosecuting human trafficking. The result: cases not being identified or falling through the cracks after identification, particularly on the state and local level. When law enforcement and prosecutors decide to drop these cases or charge defendants with lesser crimes, they unintentionally reinforce the idea that human trafficking is not a problem in the United States. Why? a) They have insufficient resources for training, staffing, and investigating the full scope of labour and sex trafficking, b) Often focus narrowly on identifying sex trafficking of minors, usually U.S. citizens. c) Dont have specialized units or personnel to investigate labor trafficking cases. d) Usually lack the diversity, cultural competence, and language skills to communicate with immigrant populations and trafficking victims or to infiltrate criminal networks. e) Use reactive strategies to identify trafficking cases, such as waiting for first-person or third-party reports of victimization. f) Rely on victim statements as the most important element of a human trafficking investigation. g) Dont investigate human trafficking cases when prosecutors typically dont choose to prosecute them. h) Lack specialized services to support victims, especially secure housing. A loophole in North Carolina law allowed a convicted child rapist from New York to live in Denver and not register as a sex offender with local law enforcement. Corrupt and inadequately trained police officers can be complicit in sex trafficking and/or commit violence against sex workers, including sex trafficked victims. Certain countries have a no visa law which makes it even easier for traffickers to smuggle victims across borders. Antitrafficking agendas from different groups can also be in conflict. Criminalization of sex work also may foster the underground market of sex work and enable more sex trafficking. There is a need to develop an institutionalised system of co-ordination between the law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who sometimes prove to be more effective than government agencies in exposing human trafficking networks.

Interwoven in other forms of organized crimes, such as beggars syndicates, drugs etc. Difficulty in tracking down victims. Even when victims are found and rescued, they are often traumatized and refuse to reveal any information about their perpetuators and the organization activities out of fear. (continuous profit) The average cost of a slave around the world is $90...yet the pimp that controls them will make an average of between $800 and $1,000 a day, that's seven days a week, 30 days a month. Traffickers use explicit sites and underground sites (e.g. Craigslist, Backpage, MySpace) to market, recruit, sell, and exploit females.

There is an urgent need to create awareness among the public about human trafficking. The media can play a very effective role here. Governments need to take human trafficking cases more seriously and enforce more effective laws involving country borders. One of the main problems with human trafficking NGOs are that they lack public support. Most people choose to ignore when it comes to this topic because it is considered taboo and they are simply not concerned because it is not happening to them. What they are unaware of is that this global crime is actually happening too close to home. They need the publics support to help widen their outreach to help these invisible victims who are not going to report themselves without help. Movies like the Bulgarian film, "Svetlana's Journey," based on a true story of a 13-year-old girl who was sold into sexual slavery and Human Trafficking which roughly exposes how an underground organization works can help educate the public. Educate the poor (mainly youths) on how to identify and avoid traffickers.