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The numbers don't lie: Hawaiʻi is home to a prolific slave trade. Approximately 150 high-risk sex trafficking establishments operate in the islands, with 1,500-2,500 victims being exploited each year on our shores. 

 

Researchers from Arizona State University found that 1 in every 11 adult males living in our state buys sex online. When visitors are also counted, that number worsens to 1 in every 7 men walking the streets of our island home.

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These statistics are grim. Yet, numbers don't reveal the humanity of the survivors of Hawaiʻi's sex trade. For their sake, we must do all we can to combat sex trafficking and declare that slavery has no place in paradise. 

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SEX TRAFFICKING FACTS AND FIGURES

 

  1. Average age of entry into sex trafficking: 12-14 (Department of Justice).

  2. Average age of a victim’s initial encounter with first responders: 15 (Dr. Melissa Farley).

  3. 4.5 million victims of forced sexual servitude globally (International Labor Organization).

  4. 100,000 sex trafficked children in the United States (ECPAT-USA).

  5. Up to 2,500 sex trafficking victims in Hawai’i every year (Imua Alliance).

  6. 150 high-risk sex trafficking establishments in Hawai’i (Imua Alliance). 

  7. 80,000 online ads for Hawai’i-based prostitution posted each year (Imua Alliance).

  8. 1 in every 7 men walking the streets of our islands is a sex buyer (Arizona State University).

  9. 1.6 million to 2.8 million runaway youth in the U.S. (National Runaway Safeline).

  10. 1 out of 6 runaways are likely victims (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children).

  11. Up to 95 percent of prostitutes sexually abused before the age of 18 (Dr. Melssa Farley).

  12. Average lifespan of a prostitute after first encounter: 7 years (Dr. Melissa Farley).

  13. At least 90 percent of prostitutes are controlled by a pimp (Dr. Melissa Farley).

  14. Sexually exploited persons are 13 times more at risk of contracting HIV than the general public (AVERT).

  15. Sex trafficking victims are twice as likely to suffer from PTSD as soldiers in a war zone (Dr. Melissa Farley).

  16. Globally, one person is convicted of trafficking for every 800 victims (US State Dept.).

  17. 80 percent of prostitutes report being raped (Council for Prostitution Alternatives).

  18. 95 percent of prostitutes report being physically assaulted (Dr. Melissa Farley).

  19. 90 percent of prostitutes report that they want to escape (Dr. Melissa Farley).

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