Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that enables people to profit from the control and exploitation of others. It’s a crime in which both children and adults are bought and sold into forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation through force, fraud, or coercion. Human trafficking dehumanizes people, turning them into commodities. It is a global problem that affects people in every country in the world. Traffickers prey on individuals who are vulnerable. Situations including poverty, homelessness, family breakdown, societal exclusion, disasters, and conflict are some of the factors that create vulnerabilities to trafficking.

Around the world,

• There are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking
• percent of those people are trafficked for labor and are forced to produce goods like chocolate, coffee, shoes, textiles, and more
• Victims of human trafficking include women, men, girls, and boys, and they cross all racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and educational backgrounds

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries partners with local churches in anti-trafficking efforts that range from awareness and education campaigns to prevention efforts that lower individuals' risk of being trafficked to protection and care for victims of trafficking, like Shechem.

As a member of the Wesleyan Holiness Consortium, the Church of the Nazarene helped to craft and has endorsed a Declaration for Freedom, and NCM’s anti-trafficking work aligns with this declaration.