U.S. Awareness of Human Trafficking

Executive Summary of Survey Findings

A new survey of Americans’ awareness of human trafficking reveals that the majority of
Americans do not realize the severity and scope of this crime that affects nearly every
country in the world, including the United States.

Simply defined, Human Trafficking constitutes forcing or manipulating a person against
their will into sexual or labor exploitation, within their own country or across borders.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

A majority of Americans underestimate, or simply don’t know,
how many people fall victim to human trafficking worldwide

 Nearly nine out of ten Americans (88%) were unaware of the number
of people living in sexual slavery or some form of forced labor in the
world today. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates
that there are over 12 million adults and children living in forced labor,
bonded labor and commercial sexual slavery at any given time.

 Only about one quarter of Americans (28%) knew that 1 million or
more children are victims of the global sex trade each year. It is
estimated by the U.S. Department of State that one million children
fall victim to the global sex trade each year.

A majority of Americans underestimate, or don’t know the amount
of profits generated by human trafficking

 Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in
the world, already worth an estimated $32 billion in annual profits,
according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. Yet, nearly eight in ten
Americans (78%) couldn’t identify just how much profit is generated by
human trafficking each year.

Nearly half of Americans don’t know what human trafficking is;
many confuse the issue with illegal immigration

 When asked what best defines human trafficking, nearly half of
Americans (48%) were unable to choose the accurate definition,
or simply stated they didn’t know.

 Over one-third of Americans (37%) mistakenly believe that human
trafficking is defined as smuggling people without proper documentation
across international borders, when in fact human trafficking happens
primarily within borders. In the U.S. alone, the U.S. Department of Justice
estimates that 100,000 citizens under the age of 18 are prostituted each
year – all of them considered human trafficking victims under the law.

This opinion survey
of 2,500 Americans,
commissioned
by LexisNexis in
collaboration with
Polaris Project,
was designed to
explore Americans’
understanding of
the nature of
human trafficking,
the magnitude of
the problem and
who is impacted
by this fast growing
criminal activity.

For more information
please contact:

Christine Alberti
LexisNexis
212-448-2118
christine.alberti@lexisnexis.com

The survey was conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Global among a nationally representative sample of 2,500 Americans age 18+. The study was conducted online in May 2010 and has a margin of error of 1.96 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

POLARIS PROJECT
FOR A WORLD WITHOUT SLAVERY


LexisNexis