Human Trafficking is defined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the following:

“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.”

Human trafficking consists of three core elements and we find this diagram from the UNODC really helpful!

The exploitation that victims are subject to varies and can take many forms. These include:

• Sexual exploitation
• Forced labour e.g. in factories, mines or the agricultural sector
• Debt bondage
• Domestic servitude
• Organ removal
• Forced begging
• Child soldiers
• Forced marriage

This practice of acquiring people and exploiting them, is believed to be the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. It occurs in every region of the globe, and while impacting men, 7 out of 10 victims are women and girls (UNODC).* Often human traffickers will target either migrants OR people who come from poor communities and whose economic situation makes them more vulnerable to the deception that traffickers offer. The profits made from the exploitation of others through trafficking is estimated to be an incredible $150 billion USD a year.

In addition to working with survivors of sexual abuse and severe domestic violence, Hagar has also walked the recovery journey with women and children in Cambodia and Vietnam who have been trafficked and exploited in a variety of different circumstances.

Some of our clients were promised a good job in China but arrived to find that they had been tricked and were instead forced to marry Chinese men. Some of our clients have been forced into domestic servitude, working for little or no pay in abusive conditions. Others have been trafficked into sexual slavery, working in brothels day after day after initially being promised good jobs. The stories and circumstances may vary but there is one thing Hagar staff see in all survivors of trafficking and that is severe trauma. The experience of being trafficked and exploited by others is deeply impacting for all survivors and often a client will arrive at Hagar suicidal, void of hope and/or deeply depressed. Seeing our clients overcome the trauma of their experiences and living transformed lives is why Hagar is so passionate about what it does!

Read these stories of Hagar clients who have survived trafficking and exploitation but now have hope and happiness!

*To read the UNODC report referenced, head here: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tip/2021/GLOTiP_2020_15jan_web.pdf