When we think of slavery, we think those days are long behind us. We think back to the 19th century, when people used others to do their jobs in exchange for shelter and food. What we don't realize, however, is that slavery is still a widespread problem today, under the name human trafficking. Human traffickers are those who victimize others in their desire to profit from existing demand. People of all ages, even children, are recruited and taken all over the world and forced into acts such as prostitution, war and extreme labor. Many people are completely unaware of these events and more awareness needs to be raised about this. Human trafficking exists for several reasons. One reason is that because the trafficking is little known, the risk of traffickers being arrested is low. When arrested, many trafficked children are charged with prostitution instead of traffickers being charged with kidnapping and child abuse. There are ineffective laws to protect these victims, making trafficking extremely easy. Traffickers also profit significantly from child exploitation, as they earn all the money their consumers pay and do not pay their victims. Human trafficking is a highly profitable route to wealth and power and is, along with drug and arms trafficking, among the most significant criminal activities in the world. Nearly twenty-one million people are victims of human trafficking worldwide. Nearly 4.5 million of these victims are used for sexual exploitation. Most of these victims come from the Asia-Pacific region. Although anyone, regardless of age, can be trafficked and enslaved, 50% of all victims are...... middle of paper ......ficking_of_childrenhttp:/ /www.unicefusa.org/work/protection/child-trafficking/ http://www.cicatelli.org/titlex/downloadable/human%20trafficking%20statistics.pdfhttp://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/10 -surprising-and-counterintuitive-facts-about-child-sex-traffic?page=0%2C1http://www.courtinnovation.org/sites/default/files/CSEC_NYC_Executive_Summary.pdfhttp://www.polarisproject.org/human -trafficking/overview/why-trafficking-exists <---- use this one when you continue http://stophumantraffickingny.wordpress.com/a-survivors-story/http://exoduscry.com/about/human- trafficking/http://www.justice.gov/usao/ian/htrt /htrt_impact.htmlhttp://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/svaw/trafficking/explore/4effects.htmhttp://www.state.gov/ j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/123126.htmhttp://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Trafficking-in-human-beings/Types-of-human-trafficking