In 2012, The International Labor Organization estimated that there were 20.9 million victims of sex trafficking and other types of forced labor worldwide, that means that three out of every 1000 people in the world are victims of modern day slavery. And unforunately, like the United States, the large majority of trafficking victims come from poverty. Like the United States, women and young kids are the most likely to be susceptible to traffickers' schemes. This is likely because they are in desperate economic situations and are more likely to take risks such as fake jobs or marriage proposals from sex traffickers in order to move to new countries to try to make their situation better. Often times these are not sincere and just used as a way for traffickers to capture victims. Before the internet, traffickers or "customers" had to go actually go to bars, brothels or the streets to purchase sex or find victims. 

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In the Philippines, most predators are opportunistic predators that seek out young women and teenagers. Now with the internet, pedophiles and sexual abusers, anywhere in the world can exploit and buy children without ever leaving the comfort of their home/bedroom. Once people are trafficked, they often face violence as one of their constant threats. Children and adult victims are often subject to not only serial rape but physical abuse from their owners, pimps, recruiters and customers. 

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Although sex traffcking is a global problem, it is more common in countries with weak justice systems where sexual predators know they aren't likely to face large punishments for making money off the repeated sexual assaults of victims. However, because the crime is a profitable one, traffickers, pimps and the other people who make money off the sexual exploitation of children and particularly sensitive to police action. When the chance of actually serving serious jail time and having to pay high fines increase, it is found that traffickers find it less worth the risk so they change behaviors but this is obviously not always the case. 

 

Worldwide, almost 20% of all trafficking victims are children. However, in some parts of Africa, children are the majority (up to 100% in parts of West Africa).  A disproportionate number of women are involved in human trafficking, not only as victims but also as traffickers. Surprisingly, in 30% of the countries which provided information on the gender of traffickers, women make up the largest proportion of traffickers. In some parts of the world, women trafficking women is the norm. Although trafficking seems to imply people moving across continents, most exploitation takes place close to home. 

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