Human Trafficking... Wings of Refuge fights to end exploitation for “one more girl”

The numbers are staggering...3.5 million people worldwide willingly purchase another human being every day for their own personal use - a slave to fulfill their desires.

Statistics show that 27 million people worldwide are the victims of some form of Human Trafficking, that’s more than at the height of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (when 10 - 12 million enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16th to 19th Century).

Eighty percent of these Human Trafficking victims are sexually exploited - in hotel rooms, private homes, on the internet, at spas and nail salons, clubs, truck stops, etc. Some are even forced into pornography. They are men, women, adults, kids, foreigners, and U.S. residents. There is no bias.

In the United States alone, there are an estimated 403,000 slaves, averaging 8,000 - 10,000 per state. The average age of entry into prostitution - 11 to 14 years old.

Kelly Butcher, a direct care and development assistant with Wings of Refuge out of Iowa Falls, Iowa said that so many fall prey to Human Trafficking because predators seek out those with insecurities. They are the vulnerable.

“They are easy targets for exploitation,” she told members of the Eagle Grove Rotary Club, where she was giving a presentation in hopes they would support the Wings of Refuge cause.

For the full story, see this week's Eagle Grove Eagle. Subscribe by calling 1-800-558-1244 ext 122 or email Deb at circulation@midamericapub.com or by clicking here.