SLAVERY STATISTICS
The magnitude of the problem
Statistics on human trafficking are numbers that enable our brains to glimpse the reality of a horror that our hearts cannot contain. Don’t just read the numbers. Try to have your heart translate them into understanding the each number represents real lives – crushed, captive, in agony.
Numerous organizations have developed graphics reflecting the statistics about human trafficking.
99% of Human Trafficking Victims are Never Rescued
You will discover that the statistics for human trafficking do not always match. They are guesses based on limited information analyzed from studying a criminal industry that does not want to be known.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world, with nearly 27 million victims. Generating an estimated $31 billion each year, most of which comes from commercial sexual exploitation. We invite you to take a look at the data/infographic below to learn more about the impact of global human trafficking.
While sexual slavery is a global problem, the needs of each survivor are extremely unique. To learn how Rescue:Freedom provides effective care, sensitive to the cultural and the community context, visit our About section.
- There are an estimated 27 million people in slavery globally. (US State Dept. 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report)
- 800,000+ new victims each year
- $32,000,000,000 / Year Industry – 2nd only to Drug Trafficking
- 80% Women – 50% Children
- Globally, there are 4.5 million victims of sex slavery. (ILO 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labor)
- Between 100,000-300,000 U.S. children are enslaved in sex trafficking each year. (Ernie Allen, President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)
- 17,500 new victims in U.S. each year
- In the U.S., average age of recruitment into sex slavery is 12-14 years old. (Polaris Project: Comparison Chart of Primary Sex Trafficking Networks in the U.S.)
- 1 of 3 runaway children are lured into sex trafficking within the first 48 hours of being on the streets
- 6,000 runaways in Houston each year
- The CIA estimates that 45,000-50,000 women and children are trafficked into the United States. Approximately 30,000 trafficked annually from Southeast Asia, 10,000 from Latin America, 4,000 from the Newly Independent States and Eastern Europe, and 1,000 from other regions. (O’Neill Richard, A. DCI Exceptional Intelligence Analyst Program.1999)
- Approximately 20% of all Internet pornography involves children who are victims of human trafficking. (National Center for Mission & Exploited Children)
DOMESTIC SLAVERY
- 25% of slaves in U.S. are Domestic Slaves
- 20% of calls to Human Trafficking Hotline are for non-sexual labor related
- Domestic Slavery is one of the hardest to discover and rescue
“The domestic servant cases are often the most brutal because of the total isolation in which these women are kept for years and years”
Cathleen Caron, executive director of Global Workers Justice Alliance

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