Globally, trafficking in persons is one of the fastest-growing criminal activities, second behind drug trafficking. Here are some statistics about sexual trafficking:

• The United Nations estimates that 2.5 million people around the globe are in forced labor (incuding sexual exploitation).
• An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.
• 161 countries are affected by human trafficking by either being the source, a transit point, or the final destination.
• In 2006 there were only 3,106 convictions for sexual trafficking, which means that one person is convicted for every 800 persons who have been trafficked.
• The Salvation Army claims that sex trafficking annually generates an estimated $7 billion worldwide.
• Online prostitution advertising generates approximately $33.6 million in annual revenue.
• An estimated 293,000 American youths currently are at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The majority of these victims are runaway or thrown-away youths who live on the streets and become victims of prostitution.
• Human rights investigations by Shared Hope International, discovered minors were sold an average of 10-15 times a day, 6 days a week, totaling between 9,360 and 14,040 sex acts a year.
• 12-14—the average age of entry into prostitution.
• Finally, one stat closer to home: Every month 7,200 men pay for sex with adolescent girls—in the state of Georgia alone.