The U.S. Government definition of trafficking in persons encompasses: "All acts involved in the transport, harboring, or sale of persons within national or across international borders through coercion, force, kidnaping, deception or fraud, for purposes of placing persons in situations of forced labor or services, such as forced prostitution, domestic servitude, debt bondage or other slavery-like practices."
Trafficking in women has become one of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in the world. Trafficking in women is clearly a human rights violation and a development issue. Trafficking victims suffer physical abuse and threats, including rape, torture, starvation, imprisonment, physical brutatlity, and death. They also may suffer mental and psychological abuse and coercion. These labor conditions are similar to those conditions in used in slavery. Women trafficked into the sex industry are exposed to deadly diseases, including HIV and AIDS. The spread of venereal diseases and HIV/AIDS, along with forced prostitution deprives women of the opportunity to pursue education or a career and to achieve their full potential. This eliminates the chance for woman advancing, not only in their home country, but also on a global scale.
Trafficking networks mostly target women in poverty with poor education or lack of access to education. These women usually are unemployed and have a lack of economic opportunity at home (possibly due to discrimination or their lack of education). Traffickers exploit these conditions to lure their victims. Traffickers lure women by making false promises of good working conditions at high pay jobs. They tell the women they will be working as nannies, maids, dancers, factory workers, restaurant workers, sales clerks, or models. This frequently involves force, deception, and coercion.
Legitimate travel documents are often used to cross international borders. However, after the women arrive in their "new home", their papers are seized, which confines their movement. They are forced to repay heavy debts (costs of documentation and transport), or even led into drug addiction by their exploiters. The women feel trapped because of their situation as illegal immigrants and are often too frightened to seek help.
Trafficking is carried out and organized by sophisticated criminal enterprises. Trafficking is now viewed as the fastest growing source of profits for organized criminal enterprises worldwide. In fact, it is the third largest profit source overall ( behind only drugs and firearms). Often aided by official corruption, this activity threatens the rule of law.
The underlying root causes of trafficking in human beings include:
Poverty
Unemployment
Lack of education and access to resources
Subordination of women in many societies
High demand for sex tourism, sex workers, etc.
Inadequacy of laws and law enforcement in most origin, transit, and destination countries
Disinterest in some governments
Estimations of How Many Women Are Trafficked:
An estimated one to two million women and girls are trafficked annually around the world. It is estimated that over one million people, primarily women and children, are trafficked around the world each year. Approximately 50,000 of these women and children are trafficked into the United States each year.
Trafficking affects virtually every country in the world. The largest number of victims come from Asia, with over 375,000 victims each year. It is believed that over 100,000 are trafficked each year from the former Soviet Union. 75,000 or more are trafficked from Eastern Europe. Over 100,000 come from Latin America and the Caribbean, and over 50,000 victims are from Africa.