If you were hungry, what would you do to get a good meal? If you were an addict, what would you do? If you were being threatened with torture, what would you be willing to do?

Three distinctly different levels of seriousness – but any of them are routinely the cause of child trafficking, and, believe it or not, many times the child being trafficked is their own or that of a relative.

What is Familial Trafficking?

Almost half of the identified cases of child trafficking begin with some family member involvement, according to newly released data from multiple organizations that have been analyzed together for the first time. These statistics are based on data released through The Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC); the world’s first data portal to include human trafficking case data contributed by multiple agencies. The extent of family involvement in the trafficking of children is up to four times higher than in cases of adult trafficking, showing an urgent need for enhanced counter-trafficking efforts specifically targeting children and their families.

Look at some unnerving statistics:

And what’s the profile of these children turned over to a trafficker for meals, drugs, or other threats to parents or relatives.

What can you do to help?

Learn the signs of human trafficking, so you might recognize a trafficked child.

Know who to call to report a possible trafficking situation.

Pray! This is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and here are a month’s worth of short prayers you can offer.

Here are even more ways you can help.

Stock photo by Sofia Alejandra from Pexels

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