It’s almost impossible to imagine life without freedom. But for millions of sex trafficking victims, it’s a dark reality.For sex trafficking victims, freedom feels impossible. Around the world, people are vulnerable to coercion, exploitation, and trafficking by criminals with no regard for human life, much less freedom. Women and children are especially vulnerable.Right now, sex trafficking is a profitable criminal enterprise. It offers a low-risk, high-reward business model to the traffickers who victimize the vulnerable. Justice systems are weak, and when left unchecked, fail to punish traffickers adequately, much less stop child trafficking or achieve real justice for victims.As long as demand for trafficked humans remains high, and as long as this criminal enterprise profits traffickers, the business model will continue to thrive. Here’s why:
People are Vulnerable
Traffickers prey on individuals who are economically disadvantaged, socially marginalized, or otherwise vulnerable. Traffickers often lure people with false promises of better opportunities. This approach is lucrative–traffickers make an average of $27,252 per victim annually (International Labour Organization, 2024).
Freedom Feels Impossible
Once trafficked, many victims worry that no one cares, and even if they obtain freedom, they have nowhere to go. Victims experience extreme trauma and often lack the resources, tools, trusted support, and community they need to find freedom.
Justice Systems are Weak
Despite growing awareness, human trafficking convictions have dropped by 25% over the last four years, reflecting a systemic failure to hold perpetrators accountable (U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report’s Global Law Enforcement Data, 2024). This lack of adequate legal action emboldens traffickers and perpetuates the cycle of abuse.
Demand Remains High
The illicit commercial sex trade thrives on a market of sex buyers, which governments fail to hold accountable. Sex buyers’ demand fuels the supply, creating a continuous cycle of trauma and abuse.
Effective work requires effective people, from Network Members to everyday people who are passionate about freeing sex trafficking victims.
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Human trafficking is the abuse of men, women, and children for profit; it is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex or labor.
Worldwide, human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise, generating $236 billion in illegal profit. That's more profit than Walmart, Visa, Meta, and Amazon combined.
Sex trafficking is when someone uses force, lies, or intimidation to cause another person to perform a commercial sex act.
Sex trafficking is the practice of illegally transporting people from one country or area to another for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
It is the act of profiting from the exploitation of men, women, and children through prostitution, pornography, public or private sexual exhibition, public or private exhibitions of a sexual nature, sex tourism or any other paid sexual activity.
Sex trafficking happens in every country in every part of the world—no community is immune. Sex trafficking happens in homes, schools, legal and illegal brothels, illicit massage parlors, hotels, strip clubs, cantinas, escort services, street prostitution, online sex acts, pornography, and any other place where traffickers and buyers can think of.
We believe that everyone is affected by trafficking. Trafficking affects communities and individuals, and it ultimately affects us all because we can all feel the impact in one way or another. If one is not free, then none of us are free.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) is a phrase similar to sex trafficking and is used globally to describe trafficking crimes where the primary form of forced labor is in sexual services.
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) specifically applies the conditions of CSE to people under the age of 18.
Exploiters take advantage of differences in age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or social and economic power to sexually exploit more vulnerable people. Commercial sex markets—prostitution, pornography, sugaring, sex tourism, etc.—were built upon and perpetuate inequity and violence against our most marginalized populations.
Traffickers target the vulnerable and thrive in vulnerabilities such as youth, political instability, conflict, systemic discrimination, poverty, prior victimization such as child sexual abuse or trauma, substance abuse, lack of housing, lack of education, generational exploitation, migrants, and racism.
We intervene, prevent, advocate, and disrupt sex trafficking and exploitation. Since freedom and exploitation look different in every region, so does our strategy. Our global network understands the vulnerabilities of sex trafficking and exploitation, which makes the network effective at comprehensively combatting the issue.
We value proven solutions in the local context. See how we work here.
In collaboration with a global network, we have built a holistic framework that addresses essential issues in four key areas to resource the fight against sex trafficking and exploitation. See how we work here.
No, that's part of what makes our work scalable and unique. We also initiate new projects when we can’t find a sustainable solution in a given country or region. We invest in what's working and build what's missing. See more here.
We believe in local expression and a contextual approach to tackling unique problems in a given country or region. Those who are cultural experts and instigators of change are our best chance at ending sexual exploitation. Learn more here.
We watch global trends, study cultures, pay attention to governments and legislators, learn from successful programming, and invest in what is already working. See more here.
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