Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that enslaves nearly 25 million people worldwide. United States law defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor or services. However, when a minor is induced into commercial sex it is considered human trafficking regardless if force, fraud, or coercion is used by the trafficker. A minor cannot consent to commercial sex in the United States and in most countries.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline website provides the elements generally required to constitute the crime of trafficking: there must be acts, means, and purpose. The trafficker must ACT by inducing, recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for labor, services or commercial sex. The MEANS by which a trafficker acts must be by force, fraud, or coercion. The trafficker can accomplish this in many different ways. They can threaten physical harm to the person or people they care about, withhold payment for work done, confiscate identity documents like passports or visas, use psychological threats and coercion, manipulate with addictive drugs, and use debts to manipulate. The PURPOSE of the trafficker is to exploit a person through labor, services or commercial sex acts. Trafficking can occur in legal and illegal settings, from private to public arenas. Trafficking survivors can be found in legal industries like agricultural, hospitality, and retail. They can also be found in private homes, brothels, and in drug trafficking operations. Labor and sex trafficking can involve children and adults, though labor trafficking can be much harder to recognize as it often involves activities that are not seen as illegal.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline provides a comprehensive list of red flags and situations that may indicate something is not right or someone is vulnerable to being trafficked. Those that are vulnerable to trafficking may be:
- the homeless or those with unstable living situations
- runaways or children involved with the juvenile/foster court system
- undocumented immigrants
- those addicted to drugs or alcohol
Red flags for labor trafficking could be:
- No control over passport or other identity documents
- Isolated working conditions
- Living in inhumane conditions provided by employer
Red flags for sex trafficking could be:
- Want to stop working in commercial sex trade but scared or unable to leave
- Have a “pimp” or “manager”
Work in an industry where it is common to be pressured into performing sex acts for money like a strip club or illicit massage parlors.
There are many common myths surrounding human trafficking
Myth: All human trafficking involves commercial sex
Reality: Experts believe that there is more labor trafficking worldwide, with 16 million of those trafficked in private industry.
Myth: Human trafficking involves moving, traveling, or transporting a person across state or national borders.
Reality: Movement is not required at all, and survivors can be trafficked in their own cities and in their own homes.
Myth: Traffickers target victims they don’t know.
Reality: Many victims are trafficked by romantic partners and family members. Parents can traffick their own children.