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FAQ
How Big a
Problem is Human Trafficking?
What are the Most Common Forms of Human Trafficking?
What is the Difference between Human Trafficking and Human
Smuggling?
What
can I do if I suspect human trafficking? |
Human
trafficking is nothing short of modern-day slavery. It is
the act of subjecting a person to involuntary servitude,
peonage, debt bondage or slavery, for labor or commercial
sexual services, through the use of force, fraud or
coercion. They are enslaved in situations that are abusive,
exploitative, inhumane, and illegal. Trafficked victims are
primarily economically disadvantaged women and children, but
also men from all over the world. They are forced to work
in the sex industry or in labor such as domestic servitude,
manufacturing, construction, agricultural work, hotels,
restaurants, nail salons, etc.
How Big a
Problem is Human Trafficking?
Human
Trafficking is a global problem that is expanding at an
alarming rate. Human trafficking and the illegal arms trade
are tied as the second largest criminal industries in the
world, with the illegal drug trade in first place. The US
State Department estimates that 800,000 to 900,000 people
are trafficked across international boundaries each year
(not including the large number of people who are trafficked
within their own country). The International Labor
Organization estimates that 12.3 million are in forced labor
worldwide. The ILO also reports that human trafficking
accounts for $32 billion in illicit profits. Of that, $27.8
billion come from forced commercial sexual exploitation.
Due to the underground nature of the crime, it is difficult
to collect exact statistics, but an estimated 18,000 to
20,000 people are trafficked into the United States every
year, with the actual number of people currently in
trafficking situations in the United States estimated to be
in the hundreds of thousands.
What are the Most Common Forms of Human Trafficking?
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SEX
TRAFFICKING: The most well-known form of human
trafficking is sex trafficking, in which primarily women
and children are trafficked, often unwittingly, and
sometimes in large numbers, to work in the sex industry
at their destination, where they may be confined and
abused by their traffickers. The United Nations reports
that the U.S. is one of the top three destination
countries to which such people are trafficked.
International trends show that in industrialized
countries (U.S., Europe, Japan) forced labor for
commercial sexual exploitation is the predominate form
of trafficking.
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AGRICULTURAL WORK: Trafficking of migrant
agricultural workers is another form prevalent in the
United States, in which the illegal status of workers is
exploited by their employers by forcing them to work in
sub-standard conditions for pay below minimum wages,
confined to the fields by threatened or actual
violence. Cases involving hundreds of victims have been
prosecuted in California, Florida, and upstate New
York. Nearly all of those victims were trafficked into
the U.S. across the Arizona-Mexico border.
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DOMESTIC
SERVICE: The Human Rights Center at Berkeley
reports that the second highest incidence of forced
labor in the U.S. takes place in domestic service.
Victims are found virtually or literally imprisoned in
their employer’s house, to be forced to work long hours
under abusive conditions. U.S. citizens and foreign
nationals residing in the U.S. bring in thousands of
domestic workers into the U.S. annually and many of them
suffer abuse. This type of trafficking is characterized
by the demand for cheap household help, the lack of
legal protections for domestic servants, and the absence
of monitoring of work conditions.
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SWEATSHOPS: Forced labor under sweatshop-type
conditions have been found in the United States and
within US territories (such as Guam and American
Samoa). Several large cases have been found in New York
City and Los Angeles since they are natural
concentrations of the U.S. garment and textile
industry. Lack of workplace inspections or enforcement
of labor laws, combined with the context of coercion and
fear the workers live in create an environment for
forced labor.
What is the Difference between Human Trafficking and Human
Smuggling?
Human
trafficking is often confused with the smuggling of illegal
migrants across the border. However, smuggling where a fee
is paid to a smuggler (i.e. “coyote” or “pollero”) involves
the consent of the migrants who are knowingly and willingly
entering the country in search of work. While trafficking
victims in the United States may have consented to be
smuggled illegally in the country, their consent has been
rendered meaningless by the coercive, deceptive or abusive
actions of the traffickers. Even if they contractually
‘consented’ to these conditions, their consent would be
legally void, as under U.S. law one cannot consent to such
abuses. Smuggling ends with the arrival of the migrants at
their destination, while human trafficking continues with
the exploitation of victims at their destination. In
smuggling, migrants are violating the law against the
state. In trafficking, traffickers are violating the law
against the migrants, who are the victims. Finally,
smuggling requires the crossing of international borders.
While this is common in human trafficking, such movement is
not necessary. Trafficking of people within their own
country is a common problem internationally, as well as in
the U.S. in the case of young American girls being
“kidnapped” or coerced into sex slavery.
What
can I do if I suspect human trafficking?
If you believe
somebody is in imminent danger or that there is otherwise an
emergency, call 911 for immediate assistance.
In non-emergency cases, contact the Trafficking in Persons
and Worker Exploitation Taskforce toll-free at
1-888-428-7591. This hotline coordinates trafficking
cases with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights
Division, Criminal Section and the Department of Labor.
Assistance is available in numerous languages.
If you are uncomfortable contacting law enforcement or would
like to ask questions, you can always call the ALERT
toll-free hotline at 1-888-60-ALERT. Please leave a
message after hours and a staff member will return your call
within 24 hours.
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