There are times when the day-to-day toll of crime seems almost too much for many communities throughout the country. But in comparison (to the bondage numbers) there were 1,400,000 violent crimes in the United States in 2008. Our collective national suffering from crime (as bad as it is) seems to take on an entirely new dimension when contrasted to the 12 million adults and children held in bondage throughout the world.
How 12 million human beings could be held in sexual or economic bondage in the 21st. century is beyond our understanding. Violent crime in America we can deal with. One hundred-four countries without laws to prevent victim deportation is the moral equivalent of resurrecting the Nazi party.
Crime in America.Net
Human trafficking by the numbers:
Successful trafficking prosecutions in 2009: 4,166
Successful prosecutions related to forced labor: 335
Victims identified: 49,105
Ratio of convicted offenders to victims identified, as a percentage: 8.5
Ratio of victims identified to estimated victims, as a percentage: 0.4
Countries that have yet to convict a trafficker under laws in compliance with the Palermo Protocol: 62
Countries without laws, policies, or regulations to prevent victims’ deportation: 104
Prevalence of trafficking victims in the world: 1.8 per 1,000 inhabitants
Prevalence of trafficking victims in Asia and the Pacific: 3 per 1,000 inhabitants
Source: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/142979.pdf