In this guide, we will explore what human trafficking is, the different types of human trafficking, and how to recognize modern-day slavery when its present.
What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is when a person or group of people coerce, deceive, and exploit another person for personal or financial reasons. In most cases, victims of human trafficking are manipulated into participating in sex trafficking by making false promises so that the leader or group of trafficking ring can make a profit.
Many human trafficking groups are part of a billion-dollar industry that includes international organizations who work together to capture, groom, manipulate, and threaten victims into involuntary servitude. Commercial sex acts, labor trafficking, and sexual exploitation are often major components of human trafficking, and the sex industry is often where this terrible crime is seen.
The crime of human trafficking is taken very seriously in the United States, and there are multiple human trafficking task forces and groups that constantly work to uncover human trafficking cases both in the United States and internationally.
Types Of Human Trafficking
There are two primary types of human trafficking: labor trafficking and sex trafficking. In both cases, victims are exploited through threats, coercion, manipulation, physical and emotional abuse, and drug addiction to participate in these types of trafficking. Many victims feel that they don’t have a choice and fear going to law enforcement due to the threats and manipulation involved.
The following is a description of both major types of human trafficking:
Labor Trafficking
Labor trafficking is a type of domestic servitude or modern-day slavery that involves victims participating in forced labor as a result of manipulation or force. Many trafficking groups use tactics such as debt bondage, threats against the victim’s family members, violence, and other forms of control to force individuals to work for free against their will in various industries.
Examples of labor trafficking include forcing people to work in factories, in homes, and on farms in inhumane conditions and without proper or any compensation.
A large number of trafficking victims are responsible for the food products and consumer goods that many of us rely on in everyday life. This is due to the fact that labor trafficking is much more cost efficient and faster to produce goods as opposed to hiring and paying employees. Unfortunately, the higher the demand, the encouragement human traffickers have to continue the enslavement of innocent victims.
Sex Trafficking
Sex trafficking, another primary type of human trafficking, is when victims are manipulated and forced to perform commercial sex acts that bring in profit for the traffickers. Sex trafficking victims include both adults and minors. As with labor trafficking, sex trafficking often involves threats, force, control, debt bondage, and other forms of manipulation to keep victims participating in trafficking and to prevent them from seeking help.
Examples of places where sex trafficking may be present include brothels, fraudulent massage parlors, strip clubs, escort services, truck stops, and motels. In most cases, victims are not compensated for sex acts and the profits are given and kept by the trafficking leaders.
Human Trafficking Statistics
Human trafficking is much more prevalent than many people realize. In fact, an estimated 24.9 million people are victims of trafficking, and that number continues to grow everyday. The following are statistics on human trafficking that may give you a better understanding of just how common this terrible crime is:
- 43% of human trafficking victims are found, captured, and enslaved within domestic borders
- 72% of all human trafficking victims are women
- 28% of all human trafficking victims are children under the age of 18
- 21% of identified human trafficking victims are men
- 8,248 human trafficking cases were reported in 2019 alone
- 7.5 million human trafficking victims are forced to work in the mining, hospitality, construction, and manufacturing industries
- Human trafficking victims spend an average of 20 months in forced labor or sex trafficking
- The highest number of victims are found in the Asia-pacific region, following by Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and the United States
- Human trafficking brings in an estimated $150 billion a year in profits for traffickers
- Only 439 human traffickers were convicted in 2016
These alarming statistics are only a small piece of the larger picture of human trafficking. While anti-trafficking groups and the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice are working hard to combat human trafficking, the prevalence of this vicious crime is still on the rise and a major part of the workforce and sex industry in the United States and around the world.
Who Is Most Susceptible To Human Trafficking?
There is not a specific type of person who is targeted for human trafficking. Every sexual orientation, age, race, ethnicity, gender, and education level can be targeted for this crime. However, there are certain types of individuals that human traffickers specifically prey on.
These individuals are usually of low economic status, vulnerable to manipulation, living in unstable or unsafe environments, or who cannot provide for their family. People who participate in recruiting individuals to traffic go to great lengths to coerce these individuals into thinking that working for them will solve all of their problems. For example, a human trafficker may make a false promise that if the person works for them, the trafficker will provide for the person’s family or give them money to send back to their family if they live in a different country.
Trafficking victims can be both United States citizens and migrants from other countries. Additionally, many traffickers prey on illegal immigrants and use this information as blackmail to keep the person working for them.
A few of the most susceptible populations of human trafficking include:
- Those who are questioning or struggling with their sexual identity, such as gay individuals, lesbians, and transgenders
- American Indians
- Alaska Natives
- Those with disabilities
- Homeless people, especially homeless youth
- Those who have experienced previous forms of sexual or physical violence
- Individuals with low self-esteem who are easily persuaded
- Low-income individuals
- Runaways
- Undocumented immigrants
- Those with substance abuse issues
- Those with mental health issues
All of these people are more vulnerable to trafficking due to their life circumstances. Traffickers can identify these vulnerabilities and use them as a way to encourage the victims to form a dependency on the traffickers for their livelihoods. The longer a person is involved in human trafficking, the more difficult it can be to get out of it.
Who Is Responsible For Human Trafficking?
Just as with victims, human traffickers do not have a specific demographic or profile. These individuals can be of any race, gender, ethnicity, sex, and socio-economic status. Some perpetrators may use trafficking to support their power and wealth in the community by creating a constant stream of significant income, while others are from low socio-economic statuses similar to those of many trafficking victims.
Examples of individuals who may participate in this inhumane and often organized crime include:
- Gang members
- Business owners
- Individuals
- Restaurant or farm owners
- Intimate partners
- Parents
- Family members
- Government representatives
- Corporate executives
- Leaders of transnational and national human trafficking rings
- Previous victims of human trafficking
As you can see, the types of people who participate in human trafficking and the use of force to coerce individuals to take part in trafficking run the gamut. It can be difficult to discern whether a person is taking part in the perpetuation forced labor or sex trafficking.
How Can You Recognize Human Trafficking
There are a few key signs that can be an indication that human trafficking may be present. Being aware of these signs just might help you save a life.
Signs of human trafficking include:
- A person is not being paid what they were promised or are working for little or no compensation
- A person does not have control over their identifying documents such as their passport
- Regular threats are being made against a person by a boss or other superior
- A person appears to be regularly monitored by another individual when the person is speaking with others
- An individual is living in an inhumane or impoverished condition that has been provided by a boss or employer
- The individual wants to stop participating in sex or labor trafficking but feels afraid or stuck in the situation
- A person is regularly transported by a guard or chaperone from place to place
- A person regularly feels pressure to perform sex acts and does receive compensation for these acts
- An individual is involved with a controlling person such as an intimate partner or parent
Means
Means refers to the way in which perpetrators keep human trafficking victims working for them and silent about their situations. There are several different means a trafficker can use, and they will likely cater these means to the specific individual and what may motivate or manipulate them most effectively.
Examples of means in which a human trafficker may keep a person in the cycle of human trafficking include:
- Abduction
- Fraud
- False promises
- Coercion
- Threats
- Use of force
- Deception
- Drug addiction
- Abuse
- Promising to give out benefits or payments
Human traffickers will typically use any means necessary and available to attract and keep victims in the cycle of forced labor.
Purpose
The purpose refers to the ultimate goal of human traffickers and perpetrators. There is typically only one component to the element: the exploitation of other human beings.
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