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Here is a compilation of resources to help you learn more about human trafficking. While we may not agree with everything each group says, we have found these sites helpful and trust that you will, too.

Caution: information on this page is graphic and deals with mature subject matter.

Human Trafficking:

Do we really have slavery today? Didn't we get rid of it years ago? Actually, the problem is even worse today. Over the period of 1666-1800, there were approximately 10.6 million slaves bought and sold. Today, there are approximately 27 million people enslaved. That is equal to about 8.88% of the U.S. population. According to Free the Slaves, "An average slave in the American South in 1850 cost the equivalent of $40,000 in today's money; today a slave costs an average of $90." Because it is so easy and inexpensive for people to buy other people, the slaves become, in effect, disposable. This is simply unacceptable. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

What are slaves used for today? There are many kinds of enslavement in the world today. At Hear the Call, we focus on three main areas: labor trafficking, s_x trafficking, and child soldiers. Keep reading to learn more about each type.

To Learn More About Trafficking:

• Slavery Still Exists, a pamphlet produced by Free the Slaves. It describes slavery in the U.S., how to recognize the signs of it, and what we can do to help.
• A short fact sheet from the Department of Health and Human Services that describes how people are trafficked and the services available to victims.
• Slavery Today, as described by Free the Slaves, including trends contributing to slavery and how slavery affects us.
• Top Ten Facts About Modern Slavery by Free the Slaves.
• Understanding Victims' Mindsets, produced by Polaris Project, gives a good description of how victims of slavery think and act, and why it isn't necessarily the same way we think we would think and act in their place. It also helps us understand the difficulty of identifying victims.
• Trafficking in Persons Report 2009, produced by the U.S. Department of State. A very detailed overview of trafficking around the world.
• A map of slavery today (from Free the Slaves).
• Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) from Free the Slaves.
• A student designed this interactive website for her senior project.  You can follow the story of a former slave  and learn more about slavery in the process.

Labor Trafficking:

Picture this: your child is sick and in desperate need of medicine, your other children need schooling, and your parents are growing old and frail. But you have no money. The job you currently have is simply not adequate. What would you do if you were told that there was a really great job open for you in another country? Take it a step further. What if you were illiterate, you couldn't read the contract, you didn't know about slavery and you were simply going on the word of the recruiter? Or perhaps there isn't a job out there, but you simply took a small loan from a new employer and then needed to work for him in order to pay him back. Unfortunately, this is the case for many people in the world: they go to their new job only to discover that they have limited to no freedom. They are told that they need to pay back their 'debt' they have accumulated from transportation, food, shelter, etc. A debt that never goes away because they are barely paid anything and their owner increases their debt on every possible occasion. In addition to all of this, the women are sometimes raped, the people are beaten and abused, and the children are deprived of schooling.

This is happening in America, too. Domestic slavery, in addition to other forms of forced labor, is abundant here, and often the slaves do not know the language, where they are or where to get help, making their situation much worse. There are probably slaves in your town. Are you observant? Do you notice when something seems off? Do you have enough courage to contact the authorities if necessary? Do you care about these people who are enslaved?

[Photo: Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department.]

Learn More About Labor Trafficking:

• Is This Slavery? A brief explanation of what constitutes slavery.
• Real Stories from North America, produced by Not for Sale. In particular, notice Louis' story, about halfway down the page.
• A story about a slave who was able to escape from the rice mills, by International Justice Mission.
• An excellent documentary, Dreams Die Hard, that describes the stories of people who were enslaved in the United States.
• A brief fact sheet produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, describing forms of labor trafficking, how to identify victims, the health impacts of labor trafficking and the services available for victims.
• Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States, produced by Free the Slaves.
• A short success story of a freed slave, by Free the Slaves.

Child Soldiers:

According to Amnesty International, there are an estimated 250,000 children serving in armed forces. Most of them are 14-17 years old, but there are some as young as 9 years of age. These boys and girls are involved in all aspects of the military, including fighters, cooks, guards and spies. In addition, many of the girls are forced to 'marry' or have s_x with officers.

The children are often forced to watch the torture and killing of their friends and family and even to participate in it themselves.  They suffer injuries and death, and if they are able to escape and return home, their communities often reject them. Not only this, but they suffer all the trauma of war, and are often severely damaged psychologically. David Batstone, in his book Not for Sale, describes the torture of one girl who tried to escape. Escape is punishable by death, but the victim is typically tortured first. After the commanders repeatedly stabbed her, the senior officer decided that she needed to be punished by "one of her own." He picked out three girls and "ordered boy soldiers to lend their clubs to his handpicked assassins. At first, the girls aimed their blows at their victim's body, but it only prolonged her suffering. So one by one they crashed their clubs down on the girl's skull until she breathed no more" (page 133). Stop a moment. Did that sentence make you feel sick to your stomach? Please don't just brush this off, but remember the plight of the children in Africa who are forced to go through this type of thing on a daily basis. They don't get to just read this from the comfort of their home, but they must live through it. Don't forget these invisible children. They have no way to defend themselves or to speak up for their rights. We must do it for them.


[Photos courtesy of Invisible Children.]

Learn More About Child Soldiers:

• Real Stories from Africa, by Not for Sale
• Read what former child soldiers say here (Amnesty International).
• The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers provides information about children in the military, explains why children join, describes where we are in the fight to end the use of child soldiers, provides reports (like the one listed below), lays out ways we can get involved and more.
• Child Soldiers Global Report 2008. Published by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, this detailed report describes where each country is in regards to using child soldiers.
• Amnesty International provides background information on the use of child soldiers, stories from child soldiers and ways you can take action politically to end the use of child soldiers.

S_x Trafficking:

UNICEF reports that there are as many as two million (2,000,000) children in prostitution worldwide. According to Demand, the report put out by Shared Hope, International, "the U.S. Government estimates that as many as 600,000-800,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders each year...80% are women and girls...An estimated 1000,000 to 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk for commercial s_xual exploitation at any time."

[Photo: "Young women used in prostitution wait for customers/exploiters in Mumbai's red light district. They face routine violence from pimps and customers and a wide range of diseases and adverse health effects - from s_xually-transmitted diseases and tuberculosis, to rape, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, and murder.' Courtesy of Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department.]

These girls and women are not there because they chose that lifestyle. Rather, they have been coerced or forced into s_x slavery. Sometimes it's through a pimp that poses as a boyfriend, trying to gain some level of trust before taking them away and forcing them to perform s_xual acts to make money to 'pay him back' for what he has done for her. Other times women are told that there is a waitressing or housekeeping job waiting for them, and as they need money to provide for themselves or their families, they accept the job offer; only to find out that their 'job' is to be raped multiple times every night. Some girls are kidnapped from their families, gang-raped and then told that since they've already been violated and are no longer virgins, they might as well keep on giving s_x to men because they will never be accepted back into their families and villages because of the shame. Unfortunately, this is true, and the girls accept it because they have nowhere else to turn.

[Photo: "Bar girls, like these young women in Southeast Asia, are typically trafficked from impoverished rural communities and neighboring countries. They are required by the bar's owner or 'mama-san' to entice male patrons to buy drinks for them. If they do not meet their monthly quota, they may be beaten or brutalized. Other girls work in discos and massage parlors where s_x is for sale." Courtesy of Kay Chernush for the U.S. Sate Department.]

They are drugged - to the point that even though they may be able to escape, they are pulled back in because they are addicted to the drugs that their pimps provide. They are forced to have abortions; in one documented case, the 300-pound 'house mother' tried to abort a girl's baby by jumping on her back (From Congress to the Brothel by Linda Smith, page 50). They are beaten, starved, punished. And in addition to all this, they must 'service' dozens of men a day - and act as though they enjoy it, for fear of more punishment.

And don't think this only happens overseas or in little, out of the way places. This is happening in America. In Amsterdam. In Cambodia. In Thailand. In India. In plain sight of the authorities, who do nothing about it. What will you do?

Learn More About S_x Trafficking:

• Real Stories from Asia, by Not for Sale. Read the story of Srey Neang.
• Real Stories from Europe, by Not for Sale. Read Nadia's story.
• The National Report on Domestic Minor S_x Trafficking, produced by Shared Hope, International. (Or click here for a brief fact sheet based on this report.)
• Demand. A Comparative Examination of S_x Tourism and Trafficking in Jamaica, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States. A report produced by Shared Hope, International.
• A two page fact sheet produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Common Myths about Commercialized S_x - a one page fact sheet from The Defenders USA that dispels myths about s_x trafficking and pornography.