How many children are exploited each year

The Tier 2 Watchlist is the same level as Tier 2, but these countries have increasing levels of criminal activity. The lowest level is Tier 3, which represents countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so. It is estimated that 1. Traffickers do not fit a single profile. They can range from strangers to a relative or close friend, especially in cases of child trafficking.

South Africa is all three. Ninety-five percent of victims experience violence in trafficking. This figure represents both physical and sexual violence and applies to both men and women. Two categories of children who are commercially sexually exploited are described here. The term child includes both pre-pubescent and pubescent children.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children includes the population of pre-pubescent children who are raped and whose abuse is then captured in a photograph or video and sold. Nearly 26, runaways were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in In , 11, situations of human trafficking were reported to the U.

National Human Trafficking Hotline. Source: Polaris. Children who are victims of sex trafficking are often arrested on prostitution charges and punished as perpetrators rather than seen as victims and survivors who need supportive services.

In , juveniles were arrested for prostitution and commercialized vice. Source: FBI. Source: Rights4Girls. Children who have reached puberty, starting as young as 12 or 13 years old, are incorporated into the adult sex industry. There is no universal number about how many of these children there are in the United States. Here are some local statistics:. Minnesota Dept. This includes reports from 60 counties and 5 tribes. Source: Minnesota Dept. A report by the Louisiana Dept. There were adult victims and 52 whose age was not reported.

Of these, 85 were people under 18 years old. In , 2, children and youth were identified self-reported or determined to be sexually exploited in New York City.

In a study published in , it was estimated that there were approximately 79, minor and youth victims of sex trafficking in Texas. A series of recent studies done by Covenant House, Fordham University, and Loyola University of New Orleans where homeless youth were interviewed in 13 cities showed S ource: www. But by January , according to the European law enforcement agency Europol, at least 10, of them had dropped off the radar completely.

The true figure may be even higher, as missing migrant children are rarely reported and systems to track information are lacking. These include a lack of plans for taking care of them, even when they have arrived in refugee camps. There are several global initiatives working to tackle the issue. The ILO has a programme called the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour that works with governments, charities and other organisations to fight child trafficking.

It helps to protect children at risk, enforce anti-trafficking laws and assist victims in need. Its mission is to address the many factors that cause child trafficking. These include making potential victims less vulnerable, ensuring protection to those who fall prey and catching and prosecuting the criminals involved. An important part of tackling child trafficking is to make sure there are safe spaces, such as schools, where children can be protected from harm.

In times of upheaval and crisis, education is a lifeline. Students in school can get safety information, adult supervision and a higher chance of being identified and documented. Organisations such as Theirworld are committed to helping provide children in crisis with education. After the devastating earthquakes in , there was a huge increase in the number of girls forced into labour and sexual exploitation in neighbouring countries. These helped children were off the streets and made them safe from traffickers.

There they also learned about how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Jacob, 13, left his village when he was promised an education and a job as a house boy in the city. Instead, the men who took him forced him to hunt for scrap metal to sell and he ended up begging on the streets and stealing.