About 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.
Close to 21/2 million people are put into forced labor as a result of trafficking.
More than 40 percent of trafficked victims are forced into the sex trade.
ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING* 161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking.* Most trafficking victims are aged 18 to 24, but an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.* 43 percent of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation and 98 percent of those are women and girls.Source: UN. Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking10/40 CONNECTIONS* A faith-based nonprofit that has several programs in Nepal and India including schools and water wells.* The anti-trafficking effort includes five surveillance centers across the border between Nepal and India.* Trafficking victims who accept help are sent to a counseling center. From there, they may go back home or to a recovery home to live and learn a skill.* In order to make the project sustainable, the women are mentored to start businesses including tailorshops, candlemaking and taxi service.Source: Leslie Segraves, executive director of 10/40 Connections.ON THE WEB* 1040connections.org* Follo them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-for-Hope/168747496496120?v=wall
Such statistics encouraged a local group of stay-at-home moms to face the problem and try to make a difference.
The women get together a couple of times a month to knit headbands, make books and organic soaps and sew baby slings to support the local organization 10/40 Connections, which works to stop the trafficking of women from Nepal to India.
They held their first official sale, to benefit Hands for Hope, during the MainX24 event on Dec. 4 and made close to $600.
"On our own we wouldn't have had the success we did; it's coming together that has made it successful," said Amy Nichols, a 34-year-old mother of four.
10/40 Connections is an interdenominational nonprofit started 10 years ago by Chattanooga native Leslie Segraves and her husband, Chad. The organization gets money from individual donations, churches and some grants, she said.
One of its projects is preventing the trafficking of women from Nepal into the red-light districts of India, Segraves said. Every year, 10,000 to 15,000 women are trafficked from Nepal to India, she said.
10/40 Connections has five surveillance centers along the Nepal/India border to try to detect trafficking. The goal, Segraves said, is to have 18 checkpoints along the porous border.
In a year, the group has rescued about 1,200 women -- the youngest was 12. The women are taught skills such as tailoring in the hope that they can learn to support themselves. 10/40 Connections wants to start businesses, including tailoring shops or a taxi service, so the program eventually can become sustainable, Segraves said.
Group member Linda Green is 32 and expecting her fourth child. She contributes to the cause with her photography.
"In some ways it feels really small [what we are doing] when you look at the magnitude of the problem," Green said. "[But] at the same time it just feels like God can use it, and every little bit helps."
The local moms hope to raise both money and awareness.
Christy Righter, 34, has two children. She knits and crochets things like baby booties to raise money for 10/40 Connections.
"We are just 10 women plus friends doing this, but if we can get the word out and inspire other people to figure out what they can do to help the situation, I think that would be awesome," Righter said.
Contact staff writer Perla Trevizo at ptrevizo@times freepress.com or 423-757-6578. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/Perla_Trevizo.