Angels whisked her away

to her childhood ethereal wildflower fields

Ripples of gentle waves dancing upon crystalline waters

Reflected her lithe frame waltzing in the midst

But then

She woke up

bleeding and freezing

in an empty bathroom

balled up in the corner

on an icy rocklike floor

A shadow towered over her

Cracking his bullwhip in the air

Then she remembered

 where she was . . .

all rights reserved ©Nancy Jean Walker

Globally millions of children, women, and men suffer minute by minute, locked away in darkened places and tortured by non-human traffickers. Yet the overwhelming taboo subject seems to make those of us who are free flee.

Why? Here are some facts:

• It staggers the mind and triggers painful emotions
• People are simply unaware the crime exists
• We don’t realize that it is happening in our own backyards – in our cities, rural areas, and the suburbs, maybe at the house down the street or next door
• The internet has become the number one hunting ground for traffickers and pedophiles, invading games like X-box and many chat rooms sites. Traffickers are clever in luring their prey. They take their time grooming unsupervised naïve and/or latchkey kids and vulnerable teens
• Sex traffickers target an estimated 1-6 runaways
• Poverty drives some parents to sell their children, even in countries like the United States
• Pedophile cults breed children for the specific purpose of exploiting them, starting as young as two years old
• Did you know that several massage parlors masseuses are human trafficking victims?
• Many of the goods we buy come from corporations that use forced laborers, the most being child slaves
• Traffickers lurk in malls, near parks, and schools watching patterns of children and teens who are often alone

The list goes on and on.

Human trafficking (also known as Modern-day Slavery) is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world grossing an estimated 150 billion dollars a year according to the International Labour Organization(ILO).

Between 20 and 30 million people are enslaved today, more than 50% are children. 80% involves sexual exploitation.

The ILO estimates that there are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking globally (forced labor):

• ◦68% of them are trapped in forced labor.
• ◦26% of them are children.
• ◦55% are women and girls.
• The International Labor Organization estimates that forced labor and human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide.
• The U.S. Department of Labor has identified 136 goods from 74 countries made by forced and child labor.
• In 2014, an estimated 1 out of 6 endangered runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were likely child sex trafficking victims. ◦Of those, 68% were in the care of social services or foster care when they ran.
• There is no official estimate of the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. Polaris estimates that the total number of victims nationally reaches into the hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors and sex trafficking and labor trafficking are aggregated.

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.

Here is a list of twenty ways you can help:

 U.S. Department of State