Sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery in which someone coerces or deceives another person into commercial sexual exploitation for profit. Any child sold for sex is considered a victim of sex trafficking by nature of their age. Simply put, sex trafficking makes a business out of sexual violence. It thrives when law enforcement cannot or does not protect vulnerable children and women.

IJM works to combat sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in Romania, the Dominican Republic, South Asia and the Philippines.

In 2019, IJM launched its first anti-trafficking program in Eastern and Central Europe, in Romania. Read the Press Release about the launch.

Romania has a deep and beautiful culture, but with its porous borders into Central and Western Europe, Romania is a known country for human trafficking crimes. Vulnerable Romanians are exploited in both labour and sex trafficking. These crimes are committed within Romania itself and across borders into other European countries. Romania is the source country of 44% of all sex trafficking-related prosecutions at the EU level (European Commission, 2018) yet in 2018, the government reported that only 48% of confirmed trafficking victims in Romania received assistance (US Trafficking in Persons Report, 2019).

IJM is working alongside government, police and communities in the UK and Romania to end impunity for cross border trafficking.

It aims to do this by building a cohesive and responsive regional network of law enforcement agencies and partner organizations to facilitate proactive cooperation on investigations, prosecutions, and survivor care.

The vast majority of victims of sex trafficking come from backgrounds of poverty. Impoverished women and girls are especially susceptible to traffickers' schemes of deception. Because of their desperate economic situation, they (or their parents or caretakers) are more willing to take risks—so they are more likely to accept fraudulent job offers or insincere marriage proposals from traffickers, to move to another location or migrate to another country, or to believe other deceptive techniques criminals use to entrap people.

Before the internet, customers had to physically go to a bar or brothel to purchase sex. In the Philippines, most customers were opportunistic predators seeking out young women or teenagers. Now, with the rise of Online Sexual Exploitation of Children, sex offenders and abusers located anywhere in the world can use the internet to exploit children without ever leaving their bedroom.

Once trafficked, victims find themselves facing violence as a constant threat. In addition to serial rape, children and adults forced into the commercial sex trade are particularly vulnerable to physical assault from traffickers, owners, recruiters and customers.

Though sex trafficking is a worldwide phenomenon, it is most pervasive in countries with weak justice systems, where perpetrators know they are unlikely to face any significant consequences for profiting from repeated sexual assault.

However, because the crime is an economic one, traffickers and others who profit from the sexual exploitation of children are particularly sensitive to law enforcement action. When the likelihood of serving serious jail time and paying significant financial damages increases, the potential financial rewards are no longer worth the high risk, and traffickers change their behaviour.