Jimmy Carter Discusses Human Trafficking, Says Laws Should Protect Victims

“There’s more slavery now on earth than there ever was in the 19th or 18th century,” Carter said.

He said that in Atlanta, more than 200 people are sold in an average month, and the business of human trafficking is lucrative.

“Statistics show they make an average profit per girl of about $35,000 a year,” he said.

To help address the issue, Carter said the U.S. should consider laws that other countries, like Sweden, have passed that protect victims of sex trafficking. Instead, he said pimps and customers would be prosecuted.

“What it does ─ it says we [will not] punish girls who are prostitutes,” Carter said.  

In Georgia, the decriminalization of young sex workers was originally part of a sex trafficking bill. But it was taken out before the bill passed this week in the Georgia Senate.