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What is Human Trafficking?<\/strong> Types of Human Trafficking<\/strong> What does a victim of human trafficking look like?<\/strong> Identifying a victim<\/strong> Identifying a trafficker<\/strong> Where does trafficking occur?<\/strong> Statistics of Human Trafficking<\/strong> <\/p>\n
Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, harboring or receipt of a person, by means of threat, force, or other forms of coercion, for the purpose of exploitation. Human trafficking does not require that a person be moved from one country to another; a person can be trafficked within their own country and\/or home. It is considered modern day slavery. Age, race, ethnicity, and nationality are not factors when considering who can potentially become a victim.<\/p>\n
Sex trafficking is defined as a traumatic form of human trafficking in which commercial sex is often induced by force, fraud, or coercion. Sex traffickers can control their victims by use of confinement, sexual or physical abuse, forced drug use, and even threats of violence or harm. The law does not require force, fraud, or coercion to be present if the person committing commercial sex acts is a minor under 18 years old.
Labor trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use or force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or slavery.<\/p>\n
There is no particular age, gender, or nationality to become a victim. Human trafficking can happen to people of all ages, genders, races, and religious backgrounds. While victims of human trafficking are from all demographics, runaway youth are considered some of the most vulnerable for becoming a victim. Runaway youth are often lured from their home, shelters or public places by traffickers who try to befriend them.<\/p>\n
While some victims are hidden behind locked doors, most victims are hidden in front of our eyes. For adults, evidence of force, fraud, or coercion must be present, but here are some red flags that a person may be a victim of human trafficking:<\/p>\n\n
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A trafficker can be of any race, gender, ethnicity and age. A trafficker can live in any area of the world. Traffickers will often try to control their victims either by not allowing them to speak for themselves, or by holding their important documents.<\/p>\n
Trafficking can occur anywhere. Traffickers lure victims from in their home, public places, shelters, and more often social media. Traffickers sometimes initially befriend their victims in an attempt to develop the victim\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n
It is very difficult to find accurate statistics because human trafficking is hard to prove and many victims do not outcry. That being said, here are some general estimates:
According to Polaris, who runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline Number, there were 10,583 reports of human trafficking reported for the year of 2020 in the United States. This included over 16,000 victims and survivors. While recruitment from strip clubs, foster homes, and schools was down in 2020, recruitment online increased 22%.
In Texas, many agencies are now using the Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Identification Tool (CSE-IT) and out of 21,000 screenings done in 2021, 12% showed a score of “Clear Concern” — a high probability that exploitation had occurred.<\/p>\n