Freedom

Our generation will sacrifice for freedom, and put an end to global slavery.

Today there are more than 27 million people in slavery around the world -- more than at any other time in human history. These slaves are kidnapped, deceived, or sold to brothel owners or factory owners. They are held by brutal force and often beaten severely, starved, and forced into grueling work or violent rape and sexual abuse. Its victims are primarily the poorest of the poor. Often these victims are young children in poor villages or slums. Their parents are deceived by a trafficker -- and they are sold into slavery by their own parents. No statistic can do justice to the immense cost of human dignity and human life brought on by this toxic global plague of trafficking in persons.

In Asia, trafficking most often takes the form of forced sex slavery. In Africa, young children are kidnapped into rebel armies and given guns to fight in wars they don't understand. In other cases, children in poor villages or slums are promised a job, and are deceived by a trafficker who enslaves them in forced labor. Some 15,000 people are trafficked into the US each year, with 50% of those being children. Over 800,000 are trafficked globally each year, trapped in this dark underground industry.

The illegal trafficking of human beings is the second largest black-market crime in the world, generating $5 to $9 billion in revenue each year. The majority of this criminal industry involves kidnapping young girls - often between 8 to 14 years old - who are forced into unthinkable sexual acts with strangers who are adult men. This despicable trade constitutes the global sex tourism industry. We absolutely must stand with the victims of this despicable crime, to work on prevention, law enforcement, and rehabilitation, addressing the crime from all angles. We must be a voice for the voiceless and stand up for freedom.

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