Human trafficking is the trafficking of human beings usually for the purpose of sexual slavery or forced labor. Sex trafficking, also known as sexual slavery, is defined as the exploitation of women and children, within national or international borders, for the purpose of forced sex (soroptomist.org). Sex trafficking occurs all over the world, but is more common in poor countries. It is estimated that around two and a half million people are victims of trafficking worldwide. 43% of the 2.5 million people are victims of trafficking exclusively for sexual purposes. 1.2 million of these people are children. These children are typically trafficked into forced labor with little or no pay or forced sex work. The sex trafficking industry brings in approximately thirty-two million dollars a year. Many of the poorest and most unstable countries have the highest incidents of sex trafficking. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Thailand, China, Nigeria, Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine are among the countries that represent the largest sources of human trafficking. Every person on the face of this earth deserves the right to live freely and we must all come together to prevent human beings from being enslaved and trafficked, especially for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Victims of sex trafficking can be men or women and of any age. They tend to victimize children and women more due to high demand from customers. It is estimated that eight hundred thousand women and children are trafficked across international borders every year. Many trafficking victims go unseen and operate in unreported brothels in unsuspecting areas. An unsuspected area would be that of a suburban neighborhood. Victims are sometimes also... middle of paper... of their beliefs. Another organization is HTAP. The sole purpose of this organization is to raise public awareness in order to put an end to trafficking. The organization does this by empowering communities to educate and train individuals, creating informed community partnerships, and supporting research and dissemination of information. These two organizations are wonderful in my opinion. Sex trafficking must be stopped and the first step to stopping it is to raise awareness among more people. If people are not informed about sex trafficking, there is no way they can help put an end to it. We need more organizations like HTAP and Shared Hope to support and restore victims of sex trafficking. No human being should be enslaved and we, as free humans, should not be complacent until we know this industry has been eliminated.