What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Anyone can be a victim: children, women, and men from any background.
Defining Human Trafficking Victims
As defined under U.S. federal law, victims of human trafficking include children involved in the sex trade, adults age 18 or over who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of “labor services.” These include domestic workers held in a home or farmworkers forced to labor against their will.
Children Cannot Consent
Children under 18 cannot under ANY circumstances consent to commercial sexual exploitation. They are sometimes considered “child prostitutes.” These children are not child prostitutes because they are “exploited children.”
The Cost of Exploitation
Human trafficking is a $32 billion industry affecting 161 countries worldwide. According to the National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: America's Prostituted Children, “children exploited through prostitution report they typically are given a quota by their trafficker/pimp of 10 to 15 buyers per night. Utilizing a conservative estimate, a domestic minor sex-trafficking victim would be raped by 6,000 buyers during the course of her victimization through prostitution.”
Report a Tip
If you believe you are a victim of human trafficking or may have information about a potential trafficking situation, please contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline at (888) 373-7888. Hotline Call Specialists are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to take reports from anyone in the country related to potential trafficking victims, suspicious behaviors, and/or locations where trafficking is suspected to occur. All reports are confidential. Interpreters are available.