Similar situations exist elsewhere. Some 200 thousand women and girls from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are sold into sexual exploitation each year in Western Europe. Other sources can be found in Africa and Latin America. Worldwide, an estimated 700 thousand to 1 million women and children are shipped across national boundaries each year and sold into slavery-like practices. Other forms of modern slavery involve forced labour in sweatshops or as domestic workers under debt-bondage arrangements.
Victims think they are being recruited for a better life abroad.
Their dream of a better life turns into a nightmare. The traffic in human cargo may not at first appear to be a threat to security. The link, as in drug trafficking, is the money. Profits are so high that some drug traffickers are reported to be switching cargos from heroin to humans. This degree of money in the hand of criminal groups can undermine legitimate authority.