What is Sex Trafficking and Exploitation?

What is human trafficking?  According to the United Nations - This definition outlines human trafficking as the sum of three component parts, namely  1. Action 2. Means and 3. Purpose. This defines human trafficking as: 

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.

According to this definition; transportation and movement are not required for an incident to be considered trafficking. Human trafficking can occur either internationally (when an individual is trafficked across an international border) or internally (when all stages of the crime occur within the borders of a given country) (Chuang, 2013). Canada was among the first countries to sign and ratify the UN Trafficking Protocol in 2002 and shortly thereafter introduced legislation explicitly criminalizing this activity.

In the United States traffickers are given a 155 year sentence and in Canada they are given a maximum of 8 years. We are so thankful that recently Alberta has put into place a Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force will have 7 members. This is such an amazing start to end trafficking and helping the victims. You can read more about it on alberta.ca

Human trafficking is the third largest growing crime in the world and continues to have a steady increase. 72% of victims are under the age of 25. In 2016, the global commercial profits for sexual slavery were estimated at $99 Billion. In 2005 the profit was estimated at $9 Billion, a $90 Billion increase in 11 years.

above diagram credit actalberta.org