Against the Odds 1 | Page 58

a victim , or the victim of another crime not connected to human traficing.

INVISIBLE

SHACKLES

Human trafficking is not always sex. Human trafficking could include domestic work, traveling sales crew, food services, agriculture, (farming) and peddling rings (working extremely long hours), which are all forms of labor. However, sex trafficking is still the largest type of trafficking.

A closer look at todays silent slaves: Human trafficking is what we call modern day slavery. People want to think that it does not happen in the United States - it does. Once someone is involved, they begin to have no rights, and they no longer have control of their own life; they are no longer their own person.

I

WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

n the United States, between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked each year, but only 4,000 are actually reported. It is

estimated there are over 1.5 million trafficking victims in North America and Western Europe.

California is the top place in the United States where human trafficking occurs. Certain areas such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego are hotspots. In California alone, there has been 4,137 calls involving human trafficking and 1,323 cases reported. 839 of those calls were from victims

or survivors. The rest were from community members, family of a victim , or the victim of another crime.

"MY RIGHTS WERE

RIPPED FROM ME"

Most people who are lucky enough

to get out of the trafficking business

do not go to the police because they are

afraid they will be charged with a crime

Article by Catie Brown

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