The Difference Between Child and Adult Sex Trafficking

As I continued to investigate the truth behind human trafficking, especially in the US, I wanted to discover
what the differences were between child and adult sex trafficking. I wanted to discover how children are
targeted differently than adults, what countries have the most thriving child trafficking rings, and how
these children's lives are affected?

Did you know that 54% of human trafficking victims are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation?
Not only that, but an estimated 2,000,000 children are sold every year in the global sex trade. The
worst-ranked countries for human trafficking are Russia, China, Iran, Belarus, and Venezuela. Worldwide,
almost 20% of trafficking victims are children. According the the National Human Trafficking Hotline,
“Human Traffickers target victims using tailored methods of recruitment and control they find to be effective
in compelling that individual into forced labor or commercial sex.” These methods of control are the key to
maintaining power over victims, and ensuring that those who are trafficked feel powerless to fight.

I expected in my research to discover that some children are more at risk than others for labor, organ, or sex
trafficking. I expected there to be statistics on what races, socio-economic backgrounds, and/or ages were most
likely to be targeted. However, according to US and international trafficking statistics, child trafficking victims
come to the US from all walks of life, and children who are trafficked internally in the US are just as diverse a
group.

The most concrete statistics I was able to find stated that the average age of child trafficking victims is
between 11 and 14, and that the average lifespan of these victims is around 7 years within the trafficking
rings they belong to. The short span of time is due to high numbers of victims found dead from attack,
overdose, suicide, or STDs.

For victims who survive and are somehow freed from their human trafficking ordeal, the fight is just
beginning. Due to the experiences they suffer through in their formative years, many child victims have
distinct mental, emotional, and psychological deficiencies which must be addressed before they can truly
move on. Even then, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, most of these people
continue to struggle with:

• Sleeping and eating disorders
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Chronic pelvic pain and urinary difficulties from working in the sex industry
• Drug addiction
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Fear, anxiety, guilt, and shame

Most of these children, even the rescued ones, suffer for the experience for the rest of their lives.
If every person committed in some small degree to joining the fight, can you imagine the difference
it would make for these victims?

We can be the generation that ends modern slavery. Why not start today?