Human sex trafficking is the most common form of modern-day slavery. Scores of women and children, both girls and boys, are trafficked each year within or across national and international borders as part of a $32 Billion annual industry. As the third largest and fastest-growing organized criminal enterprise in the world, sex trafficking is big business. An estimated 800,000 women and children are trafficked across international borders and additional individuals are trafficked within countries.

WHEREAS trafficking occurs in every country, in all fifty states, and in all cities and towns, both large and small;

WHEREAS victims of trafficking are generally under the age of 25, some as young as 12 to 14;

WHEREAS an estimated 293,000 American children are at risk of becoming victims;

WHEREAS sex trafficking promotes a severe breakdown in society, promotes organized crime groups, threatens government authority and encourages widespread corruption among vulnerable populations;

WHEREAS agencies, educators, and law enforcement at all levels must remain alert to this issue and address it vigilantly;

NOW THEREFORE, NA’AMAT USA speaks for women and children in the United States and strongly urges our legislators to enforce existing laws aggressively and enact new legislation with harsh and severe penalties in order to deter those engaged in sex trafficking and purchasers.