The Trafficker

The range of perpetrators is broad and varies. In many cases, they will be part of

international, organized criminal groups often specialized in the trafficking of arms, drugs, and/or human beings. In other cases, they may be small groups with loose structures (often including family members of the victim). Statistics show that 46% of trafficked victims are done so by someone they know. In some cases individual entrepreneurs who do not have connections to big groups get involved in trafficking. Astounding as it may seem, some of these people are woman who have been victims of trafficking themselves. The most successful perpetrators involved in trafficking tend to be the people who have ties to law enforcement or government officials.  This form of trafficking becomes extremely difficult to uncover because of the corruption that takes place.

 The high potential for profits and the minimal risk of detection and punishment make trafficking in human beings a very lucrative enterprise in many countries of the world. Conviction for human trafficking is likely to attract only minimal sentence in most countries. This light sentence in itself makes this racket attractive for organized criminals. According to the United Nations (2007), statistics show that 52% of those recruiting victims are men, 42% are women and 6% are both men and women. More commonly than not, traffickers are trafficking people from the same country they live in. In the process a victim can cross the hands of four people before getting to her buyer.

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