A big reason this gets so little coverage IMO is that specific details or examples of what actually happens to trafficked children is rarely, if ever, Made public. I understand concerns about privacy for the victims, but without details and without specifics regarding the victims and the perpetrators, it will never resonate with people. 300,000 trafficked children is one of those numbers like saying 30 million Americans live below the poverty line It’s an abstraction that is meaningless for most people.
What does it really mean to be trafficked? Are atrocities being committed on these children? Are they being forced to work as slaves for individuals or for businesses? Or even worse, are they being raped? Tortured? Murdered? I don’t know the answer. Maybe they are. But if such atrocities are occurring on such a large scale, why are there no details? You would think that would be a hard thing to hide.
I found an article from a few years ago where some large operation found about 40 kids. It said that 85% of them were runaways, and 9% were family abductions. 40% of them were being sex-trafficked.
When my daughters were young teens I recall reading about how the traffickers target young girls. See them alone or in a small group at the mall, befriend them, etc. Scary stuff.
Our next door neighbor’s daughter ran away when she was maybe 15 years old. He spent all of his time after work driving and walking the streets of Seattle. I forget how she finally got home. But it was awhile - a year perhaps?
She ended up in the military as a medic, served in Iraq, now has a bunch of children.