The document discusses human trafficking, which it defines as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons through force, fraud or coercion for the purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labor. It provides details on human trafficking situations in Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and the United States, including statistics on numbers of trafficked individuals. It also discusses the physical and mental health impacts on trafficking victims and campaigns that have been established to help address the issue.

1. The Ugly Truth on HUMAN TRAFFICKING By: Celeste Gonzalez

2. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGWhat is it?The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons:by the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion, or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, and for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.Now let me break it down for you…

3. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGSo here it is.“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons…” Trafficking does not require transnational movement of persons; anyone can be a victim of human trafficking: documented and undocumented immigrants, migrant workers, US citizens and residents.

4. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGSo here it is. “By the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion…”Trafficking can result from a real or a perceived threat, the victim only has to believe that they (or loved ones) are in danger, they do not actually have to be in danger. The victim believes that if they does not do what the trafficker demands (regardless of the traffickers actual ability to follow through with said threats) there will be dire (physical, financial, or other) consequences. Traffickers use a variety of techniques to control their victims. Or the trafficker actually does a harmful thing, causing the victim to reasonably believe they have no other choice but to do as what the trafficker tells them.

5. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGSo here it is.“Or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person…”This means that the trafficker has given another person payment (of some kind) for the use of the victim. For example, a trafficker may pay an impoverished parent for their child or a smuggler may sell a person to a trafficker.

6. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGSo here it is.“For the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.”This simply means that the trafficker uses the victim for their personal usage, or gain.

7. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGThe Ugly Truth. CambodiaAn estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Vietnamese women are in Cambodia as sex workers.

8. It is estimated that 20.2% of the country’s sex workers are the trafficked and of 20,829 sex workers in brothels, massage parlors, streets and nightclubs in 2003, 3.7% were children.

9. The reported ages of sex workers vary between 13 and 44 years old. The majority of sex workers are above 18; few of them are above age 27.

10. In March 1995, minors (aged 12 to 17 years old) comprised nearly 31% of prostituted persons in Phnom Penh and other 11 provinces.

11. The local industry for sexually exploited children is exploding for two reasons: Many Khmer –and other Asian men– believe sex with a virgin will renew their vigor and youth, and the fear of contracting HIV is fueling a demand for younger and younger virgin girls.HUMAN TRAFFICKINGThe Ugly Truth. Burma It is estimated that between 30,000 to 40,000 Burmese women and girls (some as young as 12 years old) have been trafficked to Thailand alone, with thousands of new arrivals each year.

12. The severe economic mismanagement of the military junta has resulted in a sharp increase in migration making women extremely vulnerable to trafficking for prostitution.

13. A booming sex industry in Burma and across the border in Thailand is virtually the only option of employment for many women.HUMAN TRAFFICKINGThe Ugly Truth. Thailand Around 80,000 women and children have been sold into Thailand’s sex industry since 1990, with most coming from Burma.

14. In Thailand, trafficking is a $500 billion annual business, which is 50%-60% of the government’s annual budget and more lucrative than the drug trade.

15. 50% of the prostituted women in Chiang Rai are Burmese. Thousands of indigenous Burmese women from Shan State in the north and from Keng Tung in Eastern Burma have been sold into brothels in Bangkok and throughout Thailand.

16. Experts fear a resurgence of commercial sexual exploitation, child prostitution and human trafficking across the region, because Thailand’s economic meltdown has doubled unemployment to more than 2 million people; pay cuts have reduced living standards for millions more and the government has cut social security funding.HUMAN TRAFFICKINGThe Ugly Truth. Our Own Backyard The United States of America is principally a transit and destination country for trafficking.

17. It is estimated that 14,500 to 17,500 people, primarily women and children, are trafficked in the US annually.

18. 244,000-Number of American children and youth estimated to be at risk of child sexual exploitation, including commercial exploitation, in 2000.

19. The average age of first involvement in prostitution is 12 to 14 years old.

20. California: 559-Potential victims identified between December 1,2005 and March 12,2007.Virginia: 43-Number of trafficking victims served by 4 organizations in West Virginia.Wisconsin: 200-Number of identified cases of sex and labor traffickers.

21. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGDisease Epidemics. With one of the most serious HIV epidemics in Southeast Asia –an estimated 360,000 Burmese people were living with HIV at the end of 2005.

22. One in three of Burma’s sex workers were infected with HIV in 2005.

23. South Asia is currently home to more than 2.5 million HIV-infected people, 95% of whom are from India.

24. About 300,000 women and children are trafficked across Asia each year, accelerating the spread of HIV/AIDS.

25. In Nepal, HIV prevalence among women in prostitution is 20%.

26. In South Africa it is 70.4%.

27. In Cambodia, 28.8% of women in prostitution are HIV infected.

28. In Zambia, where there is a thriving sex trade, there is a 31% HIV prevalence in red light areas.HUMAN TRAFFICKINGVictims.Physical Symptoms: Sleeping and eating disorders

29. STD’s, HIV/AIDS, pelvic pain, rectal trauma and urinary difficulties from working in the sex industry.

30. Chronic back, hearing, cardiovascular or respiratory problems from endless days toiling in dangerous agriculture, sweatshop or construction conditionsMental Symptoms:Fear and anxiety

31. Depression, mood changes

32. Guilt and shame

33. Cultural shock from finding themselves in a strange country

34. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

35. Traumatic Bonding with the trafficker

36. Suicidal tendencies

37. Dissolution of trust and security

38. Immense stress and mental pressureHUMAN TRAFFICKINGWhat You’re Saying About It.“The families often sell their daughters into the sex trade or they don't inquire about the money they receive. With this money, they are able to have a better lifestyle and more importantly, are able to give bigger donations to the local temple.”“If you were to put yourself in the shoes of a young girl who thought she was going to work with daddy for the first time ,but instead ended up being sold to a brothel .”^^“I feel that people that are expose to human trafficking is the same thing people are being expose by the eyes of other people and it's you don't have the right to do that and its the same here she's trying to cover herself with the jacket…”“This is a crime that strips away human dignity and exploits those who are most vulnerable in society. It doesn't receive a lot of attention and as the world moves into an era of globalization and modernization it is something that has to be eradicated”

39. HUMAN TRAFFICKINGCampaigns Against Human Trafficking.

40. Help End The War of Human Trafficking. Bring Them Home.HUMAN TRAFFICKING

41. Sources "Human Smugglers Jailed In UK." The Financial Times Limited 11 June 2009. Print.

42. Kelleher, Olivia. "Child traffickers 'well organised'" The Irish Times 19 May 2008: 5+. Print

43. Surdin, Ashley. "3 Americans Face Child-Sex Charges; Men Arrested in Cambodia Are the First Prosecuted Under Trafficking Initiative." The Washington Post 1 Sept. 2009, sec. A: A03

44. "Unwanted visitors; Child-sex tourism in South-East Asia." The Economist [Bangkok] 23 Aug. 2008.

45. Shin-who, Kang. "Kore's Cited as Source of Sex Trafficking." Korea Times 6 June 2008.

46. Gray, Laurence. "Tourism's ugly links to human trafficking." South China Morning Post 18 Dec. 2007: 13.

47. Doyle, Kevin. "Burma: Child prostitutes available at $100 a night: the human cost of junta's repression: Military officials profiting from sex industry as sleazy trade flourishes amid poverty and misrule, say international campaigners." The Guardian (London) - Final Edition 30 Oct. 2007: 19.