WHAT IS SEX TRAFFICKING?

The U.S. Congress has defined and classified human trafficking into two categories – sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Sex trafficking involves the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is younger than age 18. A commercial sex act means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. Types of sex trafficking include prostitution, pornography, stripping, live-sex shows, mail-order brides, military prostitution, and sex tourism.

COMMONALITIES AMONG SURVIVORS

Men, women, and children of all ages can fall prey to traffickers for purposes of sex and/or labor. However, survivors typically share characteristics that place them at higher risk for being trafficked such as poverty, young age, limited education, lack of work opportunities, lack of family support (e.g., orphaned, runaway, homeless, family members collaborating with traffickers), history of previous sexual abuse, health or mental challenges, and living in vulnerable areas. Traffickers target those who struggle with disadvantage and use threats, intimidation, and violence, as well as deception and trickery (e.g., promise of well-paying job and better living conditions) to force or lure their survivors to into slave-like conditions.