For tens of thousands of illegally trafficked people in the U.S., slavery has not been eradicated. It’s just gone underground.
The U.S. State Department estimates that more than 600,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders every year. More than 14,500 of them cross into the United States. No one knows how many end up in Chicago.
According to the latest United Nations Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, 79% of human trafficking victims are women or underage girls. Conversely, only 9% of victims are underage boys. Certainly not a figure to dismiss (and that’s not what I would suggest), however, I find it quite telling that they would create a PSA ad and choose to illustrate it with the less likely group to be trafficked. Did they think that a girl in the same age range would have less of an emotional impact? Did they think that a girl would be less likely to get the attention of those viewing the ad? What about a woman (considering almost 80% of global victims are female)? Would that have been less effective? Or even in the scale of human horror a little boy is still viewed as more of a victim that his female equivalent?
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