The Global Child Sex Trade

The child sex trade is a global problem that affects children of all nationalities, religions, races, and socio-economic statuses.

North America:

One in five children that regularly uses the internet is approached by strangers for sex.

The average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years old.

In the United States, 325,000 children are victims of sex trafficking annually.

In Guatemala, 80% of prostitutes are under the age of 18, and 20% are 15 years or younger.

In Nicaragua, one third of children invovled in prostitution are boys.

Mexico is a major center of transit for trafficking victims from around the world, especially South America and South-East Asia.

In Thailand, 60-70% of child prostitutes are estimated to be HIV positive.

Approximately 1 million children are trapped in the sex trade throughout Asia.

Child sex tourists often travel to countries like Thailand, Japan, and the Philippines, where they exploit children.

In South Africa, an estimated 38,000 children, some as young as four years old, are being prostituted.

In Tanzania, 84% of girls recovering from prostitution have been previously battered, raped, or tortured by the Tanzanian police.

Up to one quarter of prostitutes in Moscow, Russia are children.

In Lithuania, up to 50% of prostitutes are estimated to be children, and children as young as 10 years old have been used to make pornographic films.

2 million children are exploited through the child sex trade every year.

The trafficking of humans is the third most profitable underground trade, only less than illegal drugs and weapons.

The average cost of a slave around the world is $90.

Around 80% of trafficking cases involve sexual exploitation.

Every year, 22,000 children die in work related accidents.