Human Trafficking
Dealing in the suffering of the impoverished: the terrible trafficking of human beings has become a global problem in recent years.
Human trafficking is a growing problem in the world. Though it hardly registers in public awareness, human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal activity, along with the trafficking of drugs and firearms.
There is currently no consistent, globally binding definition of human trafficking. The most prevalent definition is that from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which defines human trafficking as being distinguished by three core elements: The activity (recruitment, transport, lodging), the method (extortion, lying about facts, abduction, abuse of power), and the motive (forced prostitution, slavery, forced labor, organ trafficking) Since there is no universal definition, it is difficult to compile reliable data regarding the extent of human trafficking worldwide. Noting the difficulties of data collection, the UNODC published a statistic in 2012 that identified 43,000 victims (76% of them female) of trafficking for the time period of 2007-2010, with trafficking in girls on the rise. One can only speculate on the “dark figure”. It is certainly much higher than the number of reported cases, as the majority of victims remain undiscovered.
