What is sex trafficking? You’ve likely heard of it, but what exactly does it involve? How common is it around the world?
Sex trafficking is defined as someone (a trafficker) who compels another person (a victim) to engage in a commercial sex act. In other words, traffickers compel their victims to sell sex. And sex trafficking always involves a buyer: someone who purchases commercial sex.
There are three prongs of involvement: trafficker (seller), buyer, and victim. Traffickers victimize people of all ages in the global sex trade, including women, men, and children. And around the world, local organizations in the Atlas Free Network work daily to restore victims’ freedom and bring traffickers to justice.
Globally, an estimated 27.6 million people are illegally trafficked, with 6.3 million of those forced to sell commercial sex—women, men, and children. Trafficking is more prevalent now than ever before in human history. The numbers rose 10% from the 2017 estimate.
It’s tempting to believe human trafficking exists primarily in the past; however, the modern truth is much darker. Trafficking is a $236 billion criminal enterprise—the fastest-growing on earth. Worldwide, traffickers net more profits than the world’s largest brands combined.
Of that 27.6 million, fewer than 1% (0.37%) of human trafficking victims are identified. Estimates only account for identified victims; therefore, the real numbers are astronomically higher.
The facts about sex trafficking are staggering. Here are some eye-opening stats that provide both context and perspective on the scope of the global sex trade:
Sex trafficking exists because traffickers and buyers perpetuate it in the shadows. Traffickers provide the “supply” as long as buyers demand it. And historically, it has been a low-risk, high-reward crime. Simply put, sex traffickers are motivated by money, and they operate from a strategic business model.
As an industry, sex trafficking is highly coordinated and sophisticated. Organized crime, black markets, and illegal criminal rings have always existed. They operate under the surface and in the shadows, using resources and channels outside of public awareness and perception.
It takes expert eyes, local organizations, and specialized, coordinated collaboration to stop sex traffickers in their tracks. That’s the ethos behind the Atlas Free Network: because traffickers are sophisticated and organized, we must be, too. One lone nonprofit can’t take down this international behemoth, but many specialized organizations working together can help put traffickers out of business permanently.
We shared some facts about sex trafficking, but what about myths? There are many misconceptions surrounding sex trafficking. Atlas Free’s Chief Impact Officer, Former U.S. Ambassador to Combat Trafficking, John Richmond, debunked some of the most common myths he’s encountered through his work to combat sex trafficking.
Myth: Sex trafficking doesn’t exist today; it’s a thing of the past.
Fact: Today, more women and children are trafficked than during all 400 years of the transatlantic slave trade (ca. 1500 to 1900 AD). Scholars estimate that about 12 million people were trafficked from Africa into the Western hemisphere during that time. Modern estimates of today’s trafficking industry are more than double.
Myth: Human trafficking involves moving people across county lines, state lines, and international boundaries.
Fact: Traffickers don’t think in terms of borders or jurisdiction. Moving a victim across a border is risky for traffickers and costs more money. They don’t want to spend more or increase their risk. Therefore, our teams have found that many victims have never left their country of origin. Trafficking can involve human smuggling, but not always.
Myth: Sex trafficking and forced labor are separate issues.
Fact: Forced labor often includes sex trafficking and sexual violence. Many sex trafficking victims that our Network members care for have also experienced labor trafficking; they go hand in hand. Often, labor trafficking victims experience sexual violence as a means of coercion, control, and punishment. Sometimes, sex trafficking victims start as domestic workers; through being assaulted or sold for commercial sex, they eventually move into being sex trafficked.
Myth: Most sex trafficking victims are children.
Fact: As the most vulnerable population, children are the most compelling trafficking cases. However, most sex trafficking victims in the U.S. are adults. Worldwide, children make up 38% of total detected trafficking victims (UNODC 2024).
Myth: Female victims earn money from being trafficked.
Fact: It’s a widespread misconception that female victims make money from being trafficked. Instead, these transactions almost always involve money that moves from the buyer to the trafficker. Women rarely, if ever, receive money during the exchange.
Myth: Sex trafficking victims are always controlled through means like confinement, chains, shackles, and physical abuse.
Fact: Today, traffickers have new means of coercion and control. The three biggest ones we see now include: (1) threatening third parties, such as loved ones; (2) manipulation through debt; (3) taking a victim’s documents, such as a birth certificate, driver’s license, or EBT card.
Myth: Victims hate their traffickers.
Fact: Many victims love their traffickers. They believe traffickers will give them the stability their families of origin never did. There's a promise of a future, even if it's a lie. Therefore, victims may not see that their traffickers have ulterior motives, or never intend to make good on their promises.
Myth: All victims want to be rescued.
Fact: Some victims don’t want to be rescued. When the Atlas Free Network intervenes in an enforcement operation, we disrupt the status quo. For some people, that disruption in itself is traumatizing. On the other hand, many victims do realize what’s happening to them, and they want out. Once separated from the trafficker for a period of time, victims are happy that life has changed for the better and they now have choices they didn’t have before. They get to make basic life decisions they couldn’t before, including who has access to their body.
Ending the global sex trade and putting traffickers out of business for good will take long-term collective action, like the work we do through the Atlas Free Network. There are boots on the ground around the world, and a network of local organizations with expertise on the trafficking situations specific to their localities. Giving to Atlas Free ensures your donation is distributed worldwide, to the organizations with the most pressing needs in the moment.
When you join Team Freedom, you help free an average of 8 lives every 24 hours—that’s around 59 victims per week. Your $20 monthly donation makes a lasting impact worldwide. Traffickers hate to see you donate, so click here to set up your monthly gift now.
