(AP)
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Some 2.4 million people across the globe are victims of human trafficking at any one time, and 80% of them are being exploited as sexual slaves, according to the UN. The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, told a daylong General Assembly meeting on trafficking that 17% are trafficked to perform forced labor, including in homes and sweat shops. He said $32 billion is being earned every year by unscrupulous criminals running human trafficking networks, and two out of every three victims are women.
And a law professor adds that the figure of 2.4 million people trafficked at any time is not reflective of the overall problem because "at the end of 10 years you will have a significantly larger number who have gone through the experience." Laws in most of the world criminalize prostitutes and other victims of trafficking but almost never criminalize the perpetrators "without whom that crime could not be performed." According to the office, only one out of 100 victims of trafficking is ever rescued.
