A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association released earlier this month analyzed the connection between sex trafficking and the spread of HIV.

According to the Associated Press: 

The study, which looked at Nepali women who had been trafficked into the sex trade in India and later repatriated, found that nearly 40 percent of them were HIV-positive with the figure rising beyond 60 percent among those trafficked before age 15.

The report estimated that  around 150,000 girls and women are trafficked in the South Asia region alone, with India having the world’s largest human trafficking problem.  The U.S. State Department stated that the human trafficking situation in India is estimated to be in “the millions”.   Due to the high supply of available humans, children are ofter sold at a cheaper price than buffaloes in areas of India.

To learn more about the Human Trafficking trade, please visit our Human Trafficking page.