Homeless kids saved from human trafficking

Human traffickers often prey on homeless kids, trapping them in hopeless lives of prostitution and forced labor.

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Prevalent even in the United States, it’s one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, and homeless youth are especially vulnerable.

Victims are often subjected to violence, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation, such as stripping or prostitution – or forced labor, such as agricultural, factory, or domestic work. No matter the purpose – or even if they consented up front and are paid – they all share the loss of a cherished human right… their freedom.

Rich or poor, male or female, adult or child – there is no consistent face of a trafficking victim. But, homeless kids are easy prey – and a favorite target for criminal operators.

Read an article written by our president, Kevin Ryan, addressing the problem of human trafficking and our responsibility to help trafficked kids.

Human Trafficking Statistics

Due to the "hidden" nature of trafficking activities, gathering statistics on the magnitude of the problem is a complex and difficult task. The following statistics are the most accurate available, given these complexities, but may represent an underestimation of trafficking on a global and national scale.

  • Each year, an estimated 600,000 – 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders (some international and non-governmental organizations place the number far higher), and the trade is growing. (U.S. Department of State. 2004. Trafficking in Persons Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State.)
  • Of the 600,000 – 800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, 70% are female and 50 percent are children. The majority of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade. (U.S. Department of State. 2004. Trafficking in Persons Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State.)
  • Each year, an estimated 14,500 –17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States. The number of U.S. citizens trafficked within the country each year is even higher, with an estimated 200,000 American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry. (U.S. Department of Justice. 2004. Report to Congress from Attorney General John Ashcroft on U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Fiscal Year 2003. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Editorial about Human Trafficking by Covenant House President, Kevin Ryan

Dear Editor,

Several days ago, the FBI and state law enforcement agencies broke up one of the largest child trafficking operations in the United States. The Bureau arrested more than 500 adults who now stand accused of forcing children into sexual slavery in 29 cities across the country. Agents in states from Florida to Alaska took part in a sweeping crackdown that serves as a stark reminder of the brutality and depravity that awaits homeless and runaway kids on the street. The Bureau’s efforts to protect these hidden victims of violence has led to the rescue of more than 670 children since 2003, including 48 children just last week. The sad reality is that there are still thousands of youth, many of them throwaway kids, living in despair, who remain captive.

The sex industry has rapidly expanded over the past several decades and requires a dramatically amplified effort. More than one million of the world’s children are trafficked for labor or sexual exploitation each year, robbed of their childhoods and forced into slavery and brutality. Here in the United States, as many as 20,000 kids are trafficked within our own borders each year. Last year, Covenant House served more than 50,000 homeless kids in 15 U.S. cities, and many of them had been solicited on the streets or muscled into the sex trade. Time and again, we see sex traffickers target children because of their vulnerability and gullibility, as well as the twisted market demand for young victims.

If we are going to save those thousands of kids, three things are essential. First, the FBI must receive the resources and direction to magnify its extraordinary work in proportion to the scope of the problem. In a world of competing criminal justice exigencies that include the global war on terror and investigating fraud in the collapse of venerable financial institutions, ferreting out the systematic sexual abuse of trafficked children must become a leading national priority.

Second, state and federal law enforcement agencies must target not just the traffickers, but also the rapists who exploit and discard our kids. In almost nine years, there has not been a single conviction for purchasing sex with a child under the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act. In general, law enforcement has targeted those who sell children, but rarely those who buy them. The FBI’s efforts last week to coordinate arrests of both buyers and sellers is an important new step and should be met with encouragement and rigorous prosecution. The nation must deliver a loud and unambiguous message to those who believe they can engage in sex with children with impunity: never again.

And third, we have to acknowledge that we cannot simply arrest our way out of this problem: we have to wake up to the growing number of homeless and abandoned kids on our streets. Alone and isolated, many times disconnected from family and friends, these kids are desperate for alternatives to the streets. On their behalf, I offer an urgent call to service: We simply must reignite, state by state, street outreach efforts by schools, civic groups, police, human services agencies and child advocates to bring our kids into safety before they are solicited or kidnapped by the pimps and gangs who steal their childhoods for profit, then throw them away.

Yours Respectfully,
Kevin M. Ryan
President
Covenant House

Founded in 1972, Covenant House is the largest privately funded agency in the Americas helping homeless kids, providing 24/7 crisis care and ongoing support at 20 facilities, www.NINELINE.org, Covenant House NINELINE (1-800-999-9999) and www.CovenantHouse.org.