Human trafficking in Mexico-U.S. a $300 million dollar industry

Polaris, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern-day slavery and human trafficking, recently released unsettling figures revealing that human trafficking in the US and Mexico combined is a US$ 300 million industry.

According to the report released by Polaris on September 30, 2015, even though Mexico is a “supplier” of victims, the organization's Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline only received 61 calls from Mexicans reporting cases of sexual and forced labor, compared to 821 in the Unite States over the same period.

Furthermore, Polaris found that the majority of traffickers are adult males from Mexico, followed by adult males from the US and then Honduras.

According to information provided by victims who were rescued thanks in part to the Polaris Project, prior to exploiting them, most traffickers offer their victims stable, legitimate jobs; they then deceive and force their victims into a life of prostitution. Other victims reported their oppressors pretending to fall in love with them before forcing them to work extremely long hours without any pay.

Lastly, a small but sizable number of victims reported that members of their own families, including their own mothers, forced them to work the streets or beg for money.

Polaris launched a campaign in Mexico today to fight human trafficking called #AtiQueTePrometieron (what did they promise you?), which aims to bring public awareness to the methods used by human traffickers to lure in their victims.