Trafficking in Children: A Worldwide Crisis
The past decade has seen tremendous growth in human trafficking worldwide, a blatant abuse of human rights with devastating consequences for the millions of children, families, and communities affected by this horrific crime. UNICEF estimates that over one million children are trafficked each year, the majority into sex slavery and prostitution.
The Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos converge, is home to a vast and growing network of human traffickers, seeking out troubled and impoverished families with few options.
These traffickers promise jobs as waitresses or maids in distant cities. Instead, girls as young as eight years old are confined to brothels where they may be forced to service up to 20 men per day, at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS or other diseases. Older girls are often sold overseas, where they are stripped of their documentation and left powerless to escape.
