TRAFFICKING AWARENESS - TOTE BAG GIVEAWAY

To be in to win this ‘Art’s Devotion Tote by Jasmin Darnell’ from ModCloth, just reblog this post with the trafficking awareness information still attached. A winner will be selected with a random results generator, and announced later on this blog (the winner will also be notified via their blog ask/fanmail).

HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM AND WE NEED TO SPREAD AWARENESS. The following information is from the A21Campaign website.

LIFE FOR A SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIM

After a trafficking journey that typically involves deception, rape, beatings, and constant threats, victims are often forced to live in confining and unsanitary conditions. Once formally put to work, human trafficking victims can be forced to service from 40 to 110 customers in one day¹. Malnutrition, sleep deprivation, as well as emotional and physical abuse become part of the day-to-day routine.

In addition to the abuse, forced abortions and the contraction of STI’s, Hepatitis B and C, and AIDS are ever looming probabilities. Life for a victim of sex trafficking is hell on earth. This injustice is the reason The A21 Campaign exists.

THE STATISTICS: FOCUS EUROPE

• Human trafficking is the second largest global organized crime today, generating approximately 31.6 billion USD each year. Specifically, trafficking for sexual exploitation generates 27.8 billion USD per year².
• There are 1.39 million victims of commercial sexual servitude worldwide³.
• Over 25 percent of sex trafficked victims are trafficked from Southern and Eastern Europe⁴.
• 90% of victims trafficked into the European Union member states will end up in the sex industry⁵.
• Tragically, only 1-2 percent of victims are rescued, and only 1 in 100,000 Europeans involved in trafficking are convicted⁶.

GREECE - A PRIMARY DESTINATION

Greece is known as ‘the center of trafficking in Europe.⁷ A primary destination and transit country for human trafficking, Greece is the primary gateway for trafficked victims to enter the European Union, host to 90% of all EU illegal immigration⁸. Trafficked victims are moved frequently, both internally and across borders, to evade detection. Human trafficking is a hidden crime here, with most citizens unaware of the gross human rights abuses occurring in their own city. Approximately 20,000 women, including 1 000 girls between the ages of 13-15, remain in the Greek sex industry⁹. According to The Trafficking in Persons Report, these victims are primarily from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Nigeria.

There’s much more info on the A21 site, including:

WAYS YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

You will see here that absolutely everyone has something they can do to help in some small way.

If you are not interested in the giveaway, feel free to copy this post to spread awareness. There are more people living in slavery in the world right now than at any other time in history!