Human Trafficking Statistics 

The most common forms of human trafficking globally are:

• Sexual exploitation
• Forced labour

The most common form of human trafficking detected by authorities, is trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

23% Of global human trafficking takes place in Africa. According to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, over 9.2 million people living in Africa are living in modern slavery .This makes up nearly a quarter of all human trafficking around the globe. Similar to the experience in West Africa, human trafficking is prevalent in Southern Africa. Countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, and Lesotho are source, transit and destination countries for human trafficking. Children account for half of the victims of human trafficking. In fact, the average age that a young person are forced into sex trafficking is 12 years old.

3 Major causes of human trafficking in South Africa are:

• Poverty and inequity
• Conflict situations
• Gender discrimination within the family and the larger community
• Tolerance of violence against women and children.

The 2022 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons also examines court cases showing that female victims are subject to physical or extreme violence at hands of traffickers at a rate three times higher than males, and children are subjected almost twice as often as adults. 

Human Trafficking is a crime that deprives millions of people of their dignity and freedom. An estimated 27.6 million are currently victims of trafficking worldwide, and, sadly, many of them are often hidden right in front of us.

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