The Hidden Crisis: Human Trafficking in Developed Nations

Globally, an estimated 50 million individuals are trafficked for labor or sex. While it’s tempting to believe that human trafficking is only a problem in developing countries, it’s more common in developed countries like the United States.

“I think people will be really surprised to hear that 52 percent of those who are in trafficking are living in the wealthiest countries in the world—in those that are developed,” said Preston Goff, senior director of communications for the anti-trafficking organization The Exodus Road.

“It certainly happens in places like Thailand, but here in the US, the most recent estimate is that there are 1.1 million people.”

Then why are the elites in this country against spreading the word about it? Why did the powerful in Hollywood go out of their way to hold off Sound Of Freedom from hitting the box offices for 5 years? Why did nearly every mainstream news outlet try to downplay human trafficking? Rolling Stone magazine went out of its way to trash the movie, going with the headline, “Sound Of Freedom’ Is a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms,” and the subtitle, “The QAnon-tinged thriller about child-trafficking is designed to appeal to the conscience of a conspiracy-addled boomer.”

The Exodus Road is a 501(c)3 organization based in Colorado that was founded in 2012. It employs a three-pronged strategy to combat human trafficking, which is defined by the Department of Homeland Security as the use of “force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.”

First, it focuses on search and rescue teams of highly trained nationals who work with law enforcement to combat human trafficking by employing cyber analytics to detect trafficking, assisting in the identification of victims, and assisting law enforcement in the development of effective cases. Second, through its Traffick Watch Academy, it educates law enforcement and communities. Finally, the Beyond Rescue program offers human trafficking survivors treatment, a place to live, and education to help them begin a new life.

According to Mr. Goff, The Exodus Road and many anti-trafficking organizations rely on International Labor Organization statistics. While exact figures are tough to get due to the nature of human trafficking, the ILO’s Global Slavery Index, issued every few years, is often regarded as the most accurate.

In 2016, the ILO estimated that there were 40.3 million victims of human trafficking worldwide. According to the most recent report, by 2021, that figure had risen to 50 million, a 25% increase.

The rise has been even more pronounced in the United States. According to Mr. Goff, the projected number of trafficked individuals in the United States in 2016 was between 400,000 and 500,000.

According to the most recent Global Estimates of Modern Slavery report, which includes 1.1 million victims, human trafficking in the United States has more than doubled in just five years. According to the ILO’s 50forfreedom campaign, more people are trafficked today than at any previous time in human history.

According to ISO, human trafficking generates around $150 billion in revenue globally each year, making it the third most lucrative criminal enterprise behind drugs and weapons trafficking—but not for long.

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal sector. It has already surpassed the gun-running trade and will soon take over drug-running as the most profitable criminal enterprise in the near future. Mr. Goff stated that desperation is a major role in the rise, which Som, which is an alias to preserve her privacy, understands firsthand.

Som’s father died when she was 12, leaving her mother, herself, and her two elder brothers to fend for themselves. “It’s my personality to help them as much as I can,” Som explained to The Exodus Road. And because Som lived in a tourist-heavy area of Thailand, that yearning led to sexual exploitation beginning when he was 14 years old.

“This work will eat you up gradually. It will rot your heart. Every time a customer came to me, I felt like they took from me, and then they let me go, like a cycle.”

“I’m proud of myself that I could leave … but it wasn’t easy. There were people who helped me,” she said.