Definition of Human Trafficking

The Oxford American College Dictionary defines trafficking as "the transportation of goods or passengers; the action of dealing or trading in something illegal." Using this definition, Human Trafficking can be defined as the transportation of human beings as goods or the illegal dealing or trading of human beings.

Why PMF has only focused on Sex Trafficking of children in the United States since 2003

There are two primary forms of human trafficking; sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Both are horrific and the worst crimes against humanity. But because our founder, Nathan Wilson, became aware of sex trafficking from the U.S.S.R. while serving in the U.S. Air Force in the European theater in the 1980's; Project Meridian Foundation has chosen to focus our efforts specifically on combating Sex Trafficking of children and young women, forced prostitution, and child sex tourism in the United States.

We commend the efforts of the many governmental, international, and private sector organizations, as well as many NGO's and individuals, who are committed to fighting trafficking in all its forms.

Never before in the history of modern humanity has there been so many victims forced into Sex Trafficking. The numbers are staggering. Today, it is estimated that there are more than 27 million slaves worldwide; 230 million child laborers worldwide, and over 16 million children forced into prostitution worldwide. Millions more are enslaved within national borders. Anywhere from two to four million new trafficked victims are engulfed in this horror, annually.

Of that, approximately 800,000 victims are trafficked across international boundaries. Human Trafficking is truly a world-wide phenomenon -- paradoxically hidden in the shadows yet out in the open for all to recognize!

The following are just a few of the major funding sources for Terrorism.
#1. Weapon Sales
#2. Illegal Drugs Sales
#3. Human Trafficking Sales
(They can't sell the same drug over and over; once it is used it is gone. But they CAN sell a child, teenager or young girl over and over and over each day. THIS EQUALS PROFIT.)

There is a direct link to Gangs and Sex Trafficking.
Gangs in New York, Texas, California, Virginia and other states in the United States kidnap and enslave girls through different types of manipulation via. These victims are between the ages of 11 and 17 and have been kidnapped for the purposes of forced prostitution and trafficked across state lines.

Since 2006, The Commonwealth of Virginia has been the fastest growing area for gang and organized crime in the nation. The greatest activity is between Richmond,Virginia; Petersburg, Virginia; and Tidewater Virginia.

Who are these Gangs / Organized crime?
MS-13, 18th street, CRIPS, Chinese Mafia, Red Mafia "Russian" and Korean Mafia and many other gangs.

Background
It is estimated that over $34 Billion each year of revenue is produced by Human Trafficking. Officials say that 80% comes from the Sex Trade. Research has shown that Human Trafficking enslaves nearly 4,000,000 women and children into the sex slave trade every year, of which 1,000,000 American children in the United States between the ages of 11-17 have been victimized and into sex trafficked across state lines. There have also been documented cases of babies as young as 6 months old being trafficked to use in pornographic videos per the Paul and Lisa Program. It is often thought that Human Trafficking is mainly an international problem; however the statistics sadly show that the Human Trafficking industry is firmly rooted in the United States.

In general, non-profit groups have made valiant attempts to handle problems relating to domestic violence abuse, by making available call centers or safe houses for these victims. However, due to the growing problem of Human Trafficking in the U.S. these facilities are not properly set-up to handle victims of Human Trafficking. One of Project Meridian Foundations goals is to build safe houses for victims; training center for young adults, and call center for Victims. PMF already has volunteers that speak fluent Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Chinese who have been trained to professionally handle translation with victims.

From fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2005, the Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney's Offices filed 91 trafficking cases. This is a 405% increase over the number of trafficking cases filed from fiscal years 1996 through 2000. In these cases, Department attorneys charged 248 trafficking defendants, which is a 210% increase over the previous five fiscal years. In addition, 140 defendants of trafficking related crimes were convicted, which is a 109% increase over the previous five years.

As you can see, the numbers have drastically increased in the past two years. In 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, despite an estimated prevalence of 100,000 to 150,000 slaves in the U.S., fewer than 1,000 victims have been assisted through the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement since 2001, when services for trafficking victims were first made available.

Information on Sex Trafficking
"Sexual Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation (within national or across international borders), transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Sexual trafficking is accomplished by means of fraud, deception, threat of force or use of force, abuse of a position of vulnerability, and other forms of coercion.

Trafficking of persons exists in two distinct types: labor trafficking and sexual trafficking. This new distinction avoids the problem of combining into a single category both labor violations and violations that are more akin to a forcible sexual assault.

According to the United Nations Definition: (from Protocol to Prevent Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Person, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime):

(a) "Trafficking in persons" shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery of practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;
(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered "trafficking in persons" even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) of this article;
(d) "Child" shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.

Scope of the Problem
Worldwide, it is estimated that somewhere between 800,000 and 4,000,000 women, children and men are trafficked each year, and no region is unaffected.

The average age for Sex Trafficked victims worldwide are between the age of 9 years for girls and 12 years for boys. Young women are forced into the Sex Trade by believing they are coming to attend Universities for their education, but instead they are forced into the escort service and are being raped over and over each day for the profit of organized crime and terrorist groups.

"The C.I.A. believes that, in 2007, 50,000 women and children were being trafficked into the United States annually." Per the C.I.A., the numbers have increased 100% in 2008. Now 100,000 victims from outside our borders per year have been enslaved or tricked into believing they are coming to the U.S.A. to attend college or to start a wonderful job.

Results
ICE arrested more than 12,000 illegal alien child predators nationwide in its first four years. The targets include U.S. citizens and non-citizens. ICE has arrested individuals who have committed a wide range of child sex exploitation crimes.

Non-Citizen Child Predators
More than 85% of the arrests made as part of Operation Predator have been arrests of non-citizen sex offenders whose crimes make them removable from the United States. To date, more than 5,500 of them have been deported. These predators have included New Jersey, New York and California men who repeatedly molested their own daughters; as well as, an Austrian-national soccer coach who was convicted of fondling a mentally impaired minor.

Child Sex Tourists
Working cooperatively with foreign governments through ICE attached offices worldwide, ICE agents have made more than 61 arrests under the child sex tourism provisions of the PROTECT Act. For example, on February 21, 2007, Steven Eric Prowler pleaded guilty to federal charges of traveling abroad with the intent to have sex with a minor and to engaging in illicit sexual conduct with minors in another country. Prowler was deported from Thailand after serving one year in a Thai prison for sexual encounters with approximately 100 underage Thai boys. Thai officials and ICE agents investigated the case and discovered detailed journals kept by Prowler of his sexual encounters with underage boys in Thailand, Cambodia and Mexico. Prowler awaits sentencing and faces up to 60 years in federal prison.

Human Smuggling & Trafficking of Children
The criminal networks engaged in human smuggling and trafficking have become more violent and profit-driven than ever before. In one case, a predator tried to purchase 9 -11 year old girls from Mexico. ICE agents arrested the individual when he traveled to Arizona to have sex with the girls. In another case, ICE agents working undercover on the Internet, encountered a Texas predator negotiating for a child online. His arrest led them to two other suspected predators.

Successful Rescues of Victims
In June 2008, 147 victims, from 27 U.S. states, were rescued in Las Vegas, Nevada! These victims were Foster Care children, 12 to 16 years of age, and being sold for $400.00 per one-half hour. Children from Foster Care have been thought to be runaways, but instead many of them have been manipulated via the internet or kidnapped.

June 2007, Raids to brothels by the FBI and ICE in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland. 127 Asian and Hispanic children under the age of 17 years were rescued from brothels.

In 2006, a 9 year old boy was abducted from Short Pump Mall in Henrico County, Virginia. He was rescued due to a woman who photographed the abduction on her cell phone and turned it over to Law Enforcement with a license plate number.

One 20 year old young woman from Russia was also one of these victims. She thought that she was going to be attending a University in Virginia.

These successful rescues show that YOU as a concerned citizen can make a huge difference on this vital issue of Sex Trafficking!!