When innocence is violated, it constitutes a significant crime against humanity. Sex trafficking is the epitome of this crime, as it exploits and degrades the body and mind of the victim. A common belief is that sex trafficking is a practice that occurs primarily in foreign countries. Research indicates that it is already a thriving market in the United States and continues to grow each year. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center has estimated that there are one million children in commercial sexual exploitation worldwide (Human Trafficking 1). Among these statistics, they estimate that 244,000 American minors are “at risk of child sexual exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation” (2). There is an obvious problem with these estimates. Sex trafficking is a very secretive activity, so the number of victims may be higher. Sex trafficking is a term that covers a wide range of activities. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines it as "a modern form of slavery in which a commercial sexual act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act is aged less than 10 years. » 18 years old » (The Campaign 1). Victims of sex trafficking may be forced to engage in a number of activities to earn money for their traffickers. These include “prostitution, pornography, striptease, live sex shows, mail-order brides, military prostitution, and sex tourism” (10). Wherever there is a demand for the sexual exploitation of a certain type of individual, such as adolescent girls, young boys or children, traffickers will find people to meet that demand. Unfortunately, this puts innocent people in situations where they are exploited. Traffickers mentally manipulate their victims... middle of paper ...... fficking In the United States. " Polaris Project. 1, nd Web. July 20, 2010. .Greene, Elizabeth. “Shedding light on a hidden tragedy.” Chronicle of Philanthropy 14.2 (2001): 9. Academic research completed, July 28, 2010. “Statistics on the Human Trafficking.” National Human Trafficking Resource Center: Polaris Project 1-4, 2009. Web, July 20, 2010. “Men Who Buy Sex From Adolescent Girls: A Scientific Study” Network. The Schapiro Group 1-15, 2010. Web July 30, 2010. “Teen Girls' Stories of Sex Trafficking in the United States.”. 2010. .