Human Trafficking 101
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What Is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is a crime that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain labor or a commercial sex act. All commercial sex involving a minor is legally considered human trafficking, regardless of force, fraud, or coercion.
According to the International Labour Organization, 27.6 million people—or 3.5 out of every 1,000—were victims of human trafficking in 2021, including 77 percent through forced labor and 23 percent through commercial sexual exploitation.
Their average trafficking situation is 15.4 months.
Who Is Exploited?
The majority of forced labor victims are male, and the majority of commercial sexual exploitation victims are women and girls.
In the United States, children and adults are exploited through human trafficking across every state and territory, and in urban, rural, and tribal areas. In 2023, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received a total of 30,162 substantive signals nationwide and received reports of 9,619 potential human trafficking cases referencing 16,999 potential victims.
The non-cumulative types of trafficking reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2023 included 5,572 sex trafficking situations, 1,558 labor trafficking situations, and 1,021 situations that included both sex and labor trafficking. Non-cumulative case demographic information for 2023 included 6,676 adults, 2,535 minors, 6,863 females, 1,480 males, 1,152 foreign nationals, and 934 Lawful Permanent Residents.
In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 18,400 reports of possible child sex trafficking, and 1 in 6 (4,800 cases) of the more than 28,800 cases of children reported missing in 2023 were likely subjected to child sex trafficking.
Common Industries for Human Trafficking
Commercial sex trafficking may be found in the stripping, illicit massage, escort, prostitution, and pornography industries, among others.
Forced labor can occur in every industry, but housekeeping, childcare, construction, farming, and the food service industries are particularly vulnerable.
How Victims Are Lured and Recruited
Acting alone or as part of an organized criminal enterprise, human traffickers recruit individuals in-person and online with false promises of a better life, employment, educational opportunities, conflict-free environments, temporary housing, access to basic necessities, or even a seemingly loving family, relationship, marriage, or home.
An analysis of trends of calls received in 2021 by the National Human Trafficking Hotline found that the top traffickers were employers (43 percent), family members (26 percent), and intimate partners (22 percent), and that most individuals subjected to human trafficking (65 percent) were recruited online.
Human trafficking is a crime often occurring in plain sight, as fear of traffickers often keeps individuals subjected to human trafficking from seeking help.
Traffickers coerce or force individuals into human trafficking through emotional, psychological, economic, and physical abuse. The National Human Trafficking Hotline’s analysis of trends of calls received in 2021 found that emotional abuse (28 percent), economic abuse (26 percent), and threats (23 percent) remained the most frequently reported methods.
Traffickers also restrict the freedom of movement of individuals they subject to human trafficking by holding them in debt bondage, forcing them to work excessive hours, confiscating their earnings, controlling their movements, threatening them or their loved ones, and threatening law enforcement action.
Risk Factors
Sex, race, sexual orientation, economics, and citizenship status correspond with increased vulnerability to human trafficking among some populations, including women and girls, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQI+ individuals, disconnected youth, survivors of other forms of violence, people experiencing housing instability, people with a history of substance use, immigrants, and migrant workers.
A 2022 study of 457 sex and labor trafficking survivors by the NGO Polaris, which operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, found that the majority had experienced a series of adverse childhood experiences. Among a range of 435 to 450 respondents, 96 percent had experienced physical, sexual, or emotional abuse; 91 percent experienced mental health challenges; 83 percent experienced poverty; 69 percent ran away from home; and 62 percent experienced substance abuse.
Victims and Traffickers
Victims can be anyone, regardless of age, sex, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, religion, national origin, education level, or citizenship status.
Similarly, perpetrators of human trafficking also vary. Traffickers can be a victim’s friend, family member, romantic partner, employer, acquaintance, or a complete stranger. They can act alone or as part of an organized criminal enterprise.
Language barriers and/or fear of their traffickers often keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a crime hidden in plain sight.
Human Trafficking in the Transportation System
Why the Transportation Sector?
The transportation sector serves as a critical connector that can both facilitate and prevent human trafficking. Transportation entities can play a key role in helping to intercept and prevent human trafficking by ensuring that their employees and travelers are equipped with the knowledge to recognize and report suspected instances of human trafficking.
While some individuals subjected to human trafficking are transported locally, traffickers transport others to new locations, exploiting the inherent anonymity and mobility associated with transportation networks as they move individuals discreetly across regions and borders.
Many traffickers transport individuals on circuits through multiple regions and cities, then quickly move them to ensure their dependence and avoid identification.
Runaway youth and individuals experiencing homelessness may be more vulnerable to recruitment at bus and train stations, as traffickers target these transit hubs. The transient nature of transportation hubs and the high volume of travelers make effective detection and monitoring difficult for authorities.
Transportation-Related Data
Transportation-related data on human trafficking includes the International Organization for Migration’s Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative’s 2020 analysis of over 80,000 individuals subjected to human trafficking from 171 countries. The data indicates that nearly 80 percent of international human trafficking cases crossed official border entry points, including approximately 34 percent by bus, 33 percent by train, 20 percent by airplanes, 11 percent by car, and 1 percent by boat. Unofficial border entry methods included 28 percent by car, 26 percent by bus, 15 percent by train, and 12 percent by boat.
Transport-related data in the U.S. includes the Human Trafficking Institute’s (an NGO) 2023 Federal Human Trafficking Report of federal sex trafficking cases filed in 2023, which found that private vehicles (38 percent) were the most common form of transportation. Defendants also used airplanes (7 percent), rideshares (7 percent), rental cars (3 percent), commercial vehicles (3 percent), buses (2 percent), and trains (1 percent). Fifty-four percent of cases had an unknown form of transportation.
Survivors of human trafficking report being subjected to the crime through all modes of transport. The NGO United Against Slavery conducted a National Outreach Survey for Transportation (NOST) in 2021 that included 159 survivor respondents that utilized transportation during recruitment, exploitation, and extraction or escape. The NOST found that 81 percent of 107 survivors of human trafficking utilized transportation during their recruitment, 76 percent used transportation during the course of their exploitation, and 52 percent stated that transportation facilitated their exit or escape from their trafficking situation.
Although transportation questions are not systematically asked of individuals reporting domestic tips to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, from January 1, 2011 to March 31, 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline documented 320 human trafficking reports intersecting with buses or bus stations, 269 reports intersecting with airlines or airports, and 118 reports intersecting with taxis or commercial driving services. Another 2,250 calls were made to the Hotline between 2007 and 2018 by callers identifying themselves as truckers.
A 2018 Polaris study of 104 survivors found that during their experience, 81 percent were transported by the trafficker’s vehicle, 47 percent by rental vehicles, 47 percent by taxis, 38 percent by airplanes, 33 percent by public buses, 27 percent by the victim’s vehicle, 19 percent by subway, 19 percent by long-distance buses, 11 percent by long-distance rail, 10 percent by moving trucks and vans, 9 percent by ridesharing, 4 percent by business vehicles, and 3 percent by cruise ships.
Human Trafficking versus Human Smuggling
Human trafficking is distinct from human smuggling, as human trafficking is the illegal exploitation of a person and does not require movement, while human smuggling is the illegal movement of a person across a border (that can turn into human trafficking).
Survivor-informed training helps law enforcement screen for human trafficking indicators during smuggling operations and protect individuals potentially being subjected to human trafficking.