It's a terrible thing indeed and unfortunately there is much worse things can happen to the children. There was a committe hearing on human trafficking at the United States House of Representatives where Ricky Martin who is Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF & President of the Ricky Martin Foundation talked about this horrible thing. He is very dedicated to fight against this and puts all of his fame to raise the awareness. Here is a part of his speech.
"Child trafficking is a global nightmare. It is the modern day form of slavery.
Despite the nature of child trafficking, few people understand the scope of the
tragedy. The facts, however, speak for themselves:
- Each year 2 million people are victims of human trafficking.
- Of those, UNICEF estimates 1.2 million children are trafficked each
year.
- Every country on this planet is entangled in the child trafficking web,
either as a source, a destination, or a transit point.
At a time when children should be learning to read and write, they are forced to
enter the world of trafficking. Public safety mechanisms, designed to protect,
are paid to look the other way or, worse, to cooperate in this criminal activity.
Traffickers have many different faces. They are members of highly
sophisticated networks of organized crime; they are family members; they are
friends of the victims; and often, they are former victims of trafficking
themselves.
But despite the serious and widespread nature of child trafficking, few people
understand the magnitude of the tragedy. The effects of trafficking can be found
on every continent:
- In Mexico, an estimated 5,000 children are involved in prostitution,
duck tailsography and 0.0 tourism.
- In Thailand, there are about 200,000 children involved in its 0.0 trade,
and 86% of the patrons are local.
- In Africa, 200,000 boys and girls are trafficked and forced to work on
plantations, mines, fishing boats, and brothels each year.
- In Brazil, about half a million children work as prostitutes. Many of
them are trafficked to the gold mines of the Amazon.
- And in the United States 50,000 women and children are trafficked from
no fewer than 49 countries every year.
We must also recognize that human trafficking does not happen in isolation, but
rather that its roots lie in poverty and hopelessness. Supporting the children and
families at risk of being exploited by traffickers will help them avoid
exploitation."
You can read the whole speech
HERE if you are interested.
