Understanding Slavery

Modern day slavery, human trafficking, is the exploitation by force, fraud and or coercion of vulnerable people for forced labor, domestic servitude or commercial sex operations.

Slavery is everywhere. It is a global crisis… and it is here in our own backyard.

Statistics reveal that yearly 18,000 to 50,000 people are trafficked into the United States.

Florida is one of the top three "destination states" for trafficking. The beautiful beaches are not the attraction. It is the demand, whether it is forced labor (agriculture industry), domestic servitude (nail salons, hotel industry) or the sex industry.

The modern day slavery industry is a dark and secretive world, which makes it difficult to ascertain the full extent of the problem. Victims do not raise their hands to be counted. Many would not even call themselves victims, as they have been led to believe they deserve what happened to them at the hand of their trafficker because of the poor choices they made throughout their life.