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An exciting recent approach to combatting trafficking.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Human trafficking is one of the darkest, ugliest activities on the face of the earth. Is there something that can be done about it? Are there new approaches that could attack the root of the problem and truly make a difference?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, the answers to these two questions are yes, and absolutely yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before examining how to help stop human trafficking, here\u2019s a quick look at just what human trafficking is, and how extensive the problem is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the United Nations, there are more than 40 million people trafficked today. That\u2019s the equivalent of every man, woman, and child in the state of California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human trafficking is the second biggest source of revenue for organized\u00a0crime. Only the illegal drug trade is larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human trafficking is a $150 billion a year enterprise. As Tim Ballard, founder of Operation Underground Railroad says, \u201cTo illustrate just how big it is, imagine this: With the money made in human trafficking every year, you could buy every Starbucks franchise in the world, every NBA team in the nation, and every Target store across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than a million children are sex slaves. For a clue as to how evil this is, typically a 12-year-old girl who is sex trafficked will be forced to have sex with strangers 10 times a night or more. Her life expectancy is less than seven years. She\u2019ll die of\u00a0suicide, overdose, disease, or she\u2019ll be murdered for her organs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Evil Equation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to stopping this monstrous activity is knowing what motivates the traffickers. The trafficker\u2019s\u00a0motivation\u00a0is money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human Trafficking\u2019s Evil Equation is: Obscene Profits + No\u00a0Punishment\u00a0= Unimaginable Suffering<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trafficker\u2019s profits are, frankly, extraordinary. As an example of how lucrative human trafficking is, let\u2019s take the case of a trafficker in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If he has four girls in his \u201cstable,\u201d he can easily have an income of a million dollars a year. That\u2019s tax-free. The girls probably see none of this money, and he can control them by beatings, starvation, torture, or threats of murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lt. Christopher Sharpe, from the NYPD says, \u201cThe pimp can control his victim with either the threat or the fact of personal physical harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharpe has seen that pimps will do the following to put their victims in fear\u00a0of talking about their lives as trafficked people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And by the way, the girls are forced to act with their clients as if they\u2019re enjoying what they\u2019re doing. They\u2019re highly unlikely to let a client know what they\u2019re going through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Traffickers are so adept at controlling their victims that it\u2019s rare to find a victim of trafficking who will testify against his or her trafficker. By some estimates, worldwide the chance of a trafficker doing jail time for this crime is less than one in 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since it\u2019s known what motivates those in the trafficking industry, namely money, there is an exceptionally useful way to attack the industry. If anti-trafficking authorities can find and seize the traffickers\u2019 illegal funds, authorities can use this vulnerability to help drive the traffickers out of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Polaris, one of the largest and most effective US anti-trafficking organizations, is working with other anti-human trafficking organizations to do exactly this. They\u2019re partnering with anti-money laundering professionals and financial services businesses, to make trafficking less profitable, and more dangerous for the traffickers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anti-money laundering professionals have an array of tools for finding illegal money flows. They have high-tech, dark web expertise. They can track the electronic movement of money. They regularly use artificial intelligence\u00a0and big data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, banking officials have a strong incentive to cooperate with authorities when there\u2019s hot money involved. If the bankers don\u2019t cooperate, they face the possibility of fines or being shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since human trafficking is a $150 billion a year industry, there are a lot of rich targets for the anti-money laundering professionals. However, it\u2019s reasonable to ask that if this is such a target-rich environment, and we already have tools to deal with it, why hasn\u2019t this approach already been used on a global and seriously impactful level?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The answer is, up to now, the funding hasn\u2019t been there. The men and women who have these skills often earn in the range of $250,000 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, these anti-money laundering efforts will be funded on an ever-larger scale. Attacking the profits of human trafficking is an effective way of attacking human trafficking itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author and speaker Mitzi Perdue is the Founder and President of Win This Fight, Stop Human Trafficking Now! The organization raises funds and awareness for other anti-trafficking organizations.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Originally published at Psychology Today<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An exciting recent approach to combatting trafficking. By Mitzi Perdue MPA Human traffickers prey on both adults and children alike, generating $150 billion a year.Traffickers use violence to terrorize victims into silence, making the chances…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[2132],"class_list":["post-6374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-human-trafficking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nBy Mitzi Perdue MPA<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What Is Human Trafficking?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Big Is the Problem?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Good News: There\u2019s a New and Realistic Way to Stop This<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n