Breaking Free's $10,000 On-line Giving Challenge

“Human Trafficking” is a phrase that we are beginning to hear more about on the news and in papers and it has also been the topic of several recent major movies and awareness events around the globe. But what does that term mean exactly? Is sex-trafficking the same as prostitution? Are our own U.S. citizens at risk? The answer is YES! In short, human trafficking is slavery. It is the purchase of another human being for the sole purpose of exploitation on every level of….. mind, body, and spirit. Human trafficking is increasing at an alarming rate that the world has never seen before.

Statistics:

• UN estimates that there are over 27 million people enslaved in the world right now. This is more than at any othe time in history.
• 80% of them are women and children sold primarily for sex.
• Human trafficking is the fastest growing black market crime on the planet second only to drugs and tied with arms dealing. How is this possible?
• Internet access to pornography and the insatiable sexual appetite of perpetrators has given birth to a whole new type of crime. On-line and on-demand rape of women and children.
• Exact statistics are difficult to determine but it is reported that MN ranks as 13^th in the nation in terms of incidence and recruitment of minors.
• It is believed that in MN alone 8,000-12,000 women and children being sold for sexual purposes every year.
• 85% of the women and girls Breaking Free serves have been raped/molested before the age of 18.
• The average age of entry into prostitution and sexual slavery in the U.S. is 12-14 years old.
• There are fewer than 20 small organizations across the country doing this work and Breaking Free is one of only a few that actually provide safe housing and THE ONLY program to provide permanent supportive housing to victims.

Last year, Breaking Free provided services to 497 women, girls and their children. This is a 25% increase in service outputs while our budget has been decreased nearly 50%. We need your help to continue to provide desperately needed support to women and girls escaping this horrific life.