HUMAN Trafficking
“MODERN DAY SLAVERY”
Human trafficking is a crime that exploits people for compelled labor, services, or commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion. Under federal law, commercial sexual exploitation of a person younger than 18 is human trafficking even when force, fraud, or coercion is not proven.
Because trafficking is hidden and national data systems are incomplete, no single statistic captures every victim or case. CSAT uses dated, source-linked figures and distinguishes reported incidents, supported cases, and global estimates.
Why We Exist
Child trafficking, abuse, and exploitation can affect children in communities of every size. But no child should ever be introduced to the world only by what was done to them.
At CSAT, we first see the child: a person with a name, a family, a history, a body that must never be owned, and a future that must not be erased.
Children Such as These exists to help adults recognize danger, respond responsibly, and build communities in which every child is seen, protected, and treated with dignity. Our Christian faith calls us to serve with truth, compassion, humility, and action.
The Crisis We’re Facing
In 2025, NCMEC supported 32,167 missing-child cases. It reported that 29,013 were resolved and 3,154 remained active. NCMEC also explains that changes in reporting practices can affect annual totals.
NCMEC’s CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports in 2025, including 1.4 million reports concerning online enticement. These are reports of suspected incidents; a report does not by itself establish that a crime occurred.
The International Labour Organization estimates that 3.3 million children are in forced labour worldwide and that more than half are exploited in commercial sexual activities. It separately estimates $236 billion in annual illegal profits from forced labour in the private economy. That estimate is broader than child trafficking and should not be described as a U.S. child-trafficking total.
Sources:
NCMEC 2025 Impact Report — https://www.missingkids.org/ourwork/impact
ILO, Profits and Poverty (2024) — https://www.ilo.org/publications/major-publications/profits-and-poverty-economics-forced-labour
The scale is serious. Accuracy matters too. CSAT will use current evidence, distinguish reports from confirmed cases, and never turn a child’s suffering into a slogan.
What Harm Can Hide
People who harm or exploit children do not always appear threatening. They may seek trust, access, secrecy, or control through familiar relationships, institutions, or online spaces.
A child who has been harmed is never responsible for the crime committed against them. Children may be frightened, controlled, confused, or unable to speak.
CSAT helps adults notice patterns, respond without blame, and take safe, responsible action—without confronting a suspected offender or placing a child at greater risk.
The CSAT Child-First Standard
We first see the child—a person with a name, a family, a history, a body that must never be owned, and a future that must not be erased.
Every CSAT story, image, statistic, program, and invitation must protect that child’s dignity. We use names and photographs only with lawful authority and informed permission. We distinguish reports, allegations, charges, and confirmed findings. We do not use graphic imagery, manufacture urgency, or reduce a child to a case, statistic, or fundraising device.
Our standard is simple: tell the truth, protect privacy, preserve dignity, offer one safe next step, and follow through. Our faith calls us to serve “the least of these” with humility, truth, and care. — Matthew 25:40
Our Promise
Every child deserves safety, freedom, belonging, and the chance to remain fully themselves.
We will never make a child’s suffering our spectacle. We will tell the truth, protect privacy, honor families and cultures, and be clear about what CSAT can—and cannot—do.
Every child deserves an adult who refuses to look away.
Choose One Responsible Action
Learn one warning sign.
Share one verified missing-child notice from an official source.
Talk with a child about a safe adult and a family code word.
Support a trusted child-serving organization.
Invite CSAT to provide education or build a community partnership.
If a child may be in immediate danger, call 911. Do not confront a suspected offender. Report suspected online child exploitation through NCMEC’s CyberTipline.
You do not need to be a hero. You need to act safely, responsibly, and with the child’s dignity first.
