Human trafficking is the 3rd largest international crime involving the illegal trade of human beings for forced labor and sexual exploitation. It began with the slave trade from Africa to the Americas in the 1700s and increased child labor. The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and increased global migration contributed to higher trafficking. Groups provide direct services like counseling, medical care, translation and legal aid to victims while organizations like UNICEF and La Strada advocate against trafficking. Criminal groups net billions annually from trafficking with the average slave costing $90 and approximately 27 million slaves worldwide, half under age 18.