Sex Trafficking

Trafficking at a glance

Human trafficking has been likened to modern-day slavery that subjects children, women, and men to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. This horrific practice can include prostitution, pornography, and sex tourism as well as labor for domestic service, factory or construction work, and migrant farming.

Human trafficking affects more than 20 million men, women, and children worldwide, five and a half million of whom are children. Human traffickers have created an international market for the trade in human beings based on high profits and demand for commercial sex and cheap labor. Trafficking affects 161 countries worldwide. Trafficking is an extremely profitable industry with $150 billion in yearly profits; $99 billion of this is from commercial sexual exploitation.

There is not a consistent type of profile of a trafficking victim. Based on U.S. federal law, trafficked persons in the US can be men or women, adults or children, and foreign nationals or U.S. citizens. Some are well educated, while others have no formal education. Some immigrant victims are currently in the U.S. legally, and others are undocumented. Some form of vulnerability tends to be the common thread amongst all different trafficking victims.

While human trafficking spans all demographics, there are some circumstances or vulnerabilities that lead to a higher susceptibility to victimization and human trafficking. Runaway and homeless youth, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, war or conflict, or social discrimination are frequently targeted by traffickers.

Frequently, the victims are children who were sexually abused at home by a family member or family friend, children who ran away or were thrown out of their homes, children who are in foster care, or children of poverty.

Sex trafficking includes commercial sexual exploitation of children, as well as every instance where an adult is in the sex trade as a result of force, fraud, or coercion. Sex trafficking occurs within numerous venues in the broader sex industry, commonly found in street prostitution, online escort services, residential brothels, and brothels disguised as massage businesses.

While the majority of victims are trafficked by organized crime groups, employment agencies, and strangers, many are recruited by relatives and friends. Women are often recruited for ostensibly legitimate work, and subsequently sold into slavery. Some victims are on student visas, others are documented workers who have their passport confiscated and become refugees with no status and nowhere to turn for help.

What needs to be done to stop this horrific crime?

        1. Greater funding
        2. More public outreach
          • Build awareness
          • Public education in schools
          • Hospitality industry – training of bell men and staff in hotels and motels
        3. Better legislation
          • Curb demand by strengthening laws to punish buyers
          • Laws to criminalize the third party that commissions trafficking
          • Greater enforcement of current laws
        4. Stronger partnerships with civil services
          • Interagency coordination of labor, health, and child welfare organizations
          • Greater coordination with non-profit governmental agencies and governments abroad
        5. Stopping the money trail
          • Financial institutions are beginning to recognize patterns of spending on prepaid credit cards to track down traffickers
        6. Training of judges to recognize victims fear in testifying against trafficker
          • Cases need to be victim focused but not victim dependent
        7. Greater corporate responsibility
          • Working with human resource departments to ensure that each layer of the organization is free of slave labor

What can you do to help?

      • Know your slavery footprint: Purchase fair trade products and be aware of the footprint of your purchases: If you work for a corporation, especially in a senior role, demand greater regulation of the supply chain. Know who is working for your company and how it is getting sourced. Does slave labor play a role? For more information, check out www.slaveryfootprint.org.
      • Get involved: Provide financial contributions and/or volunteer to help organizations dedicated to stopping gender-based violence, such as sex trafficking, and to helping victims
      • Curb demand: Help curb demand by leading by example and not propagating stereotypes of women, through the media and programming you support and conversations in which you engage.
      • Spread the word: Help spread the word that violence against women is unacceptable. See the Real Men Campaign which asks men to send out the message that Real men do not abuse and control women – physically, emotionally, sexually or financially.