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Cassandra Clifford
Executive Director and Founder of BTFF

Friday, September 13, 2013

FACT: 2.5 Million People are in Forced Labor

Image from Little Hands Blog
An estimated 2.5 million people are in forced labor (including sexual exploitation) at any given time as a result of trafficking.Of these:

  •  1.4 million – 56% - are in Asia and the Pacific
  •  250,000 – 10% - are in Latin America and the Caribbean
  •  230,000 – 9.2% - are in the Middle East and Northern Africa 
  •  130,000 – 5.2% - are in sub-Saharan countries  
  • 270,000 – 10.8% - are in industrialized countries
  •  200,000 – 8% - are in countries in transition

Among the victims:

  •  The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age.
  •  95% of victims experienced physical or sexual violence during trafficking (based on data from selected European countries).
  •  43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation, of whom 98 per cent are
  • women and girls.
  •  32% of victims are used for forced economic exploitation, of whom 56 per cent are women and
  • girls.
  • Many trafficking victims have at least middle-level education.


Data Source:

  1. International Organization for Migration, Counter-Trafficking Database, 78 Countries, 1999-2006 (1999)
  2. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Stolen smiles: a summary report on the physical and psychological health consequences of women and adolescents trafficked in Europe (London, 2006)
  3. International Labour Organization, Forced Labour Statistics Factsheet (2007)



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