Each meal you pack, fund and pray over equips FMSC partners to do transformative work around the world. Hunger relief is usually just part of what our partners do — but food is the foundation for so much more.

Hunger and human trafficking | Global

Photo credit: Alberto Gonzalez Farran - UNAMID

When people don’t have enough to eat, they become increasingly vulnerable to exploitation. Traffickers take advantage of desperation, offering false promises of jobs, food and a better future. This situation is especially common in poor areas where basic needs are hard to come by.

Many trafficking victims are tricked with promises of food and work but end up in situations of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Hunger not only pushes people into these dangerous situations but also keeps them trapped, as their need for food makes it hard to escape.

“Girls who are hungry are at increased risk of trafficking.”
— UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Precise statistics are difficult to quantify — trafficking is in the shadows and victims are often shamed, even after rescue — but we know the most vulnerable are women and children facing food insecurity.

Food support is crucial to prevent human trafficking before it starts. When communities have reliable access to food, people are less desperate and less likely to fall for the false promises of traffickers.

FMSC partners are at work in hunger hotspots with the highest trafficking rates in the world, including Afghanistan, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Sudan, Venezuela — and countries we can’t even name for security reasons.

FMSC partners use MannaPack® meals to support anti-trafficking measures, including:

• Rescue operations
• Community stability
• Education incentives
• Vocational training and microbusiness
• Post-rescue counseling and safe housing

Featured partners: Venture, Outreach Aid to the Americas, CEPUDO