HUMAN TRAFFICKING

“We are like a meal … when everyone’s done eating, into the dumpster we go, and nobody gives a sh*t.” This quote came from a 14-year-old girl who’d been trafficked for sex and later committed suicide by walking onto a freeway at night. Not only should this quote impress upon you this experience’s effect on the human spirit, but also the reality that you might see someone like her being trafficked every day without realizing it. It’s a world of psychological shackles.

In order to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding human traf ficking, we interviewed several experts on the front lines. We hope to help you better understand how it operates and improve your ability to recognize it. In spite of what many believe, no one is immune to its reach, and it can happen in any community. As technology advances, so too does its ability to infiltrate people’s lives and exploit their vulnerabilities. It’s a worldwide, multi-billion-dollar business, and those involved will stop at almost nothing to protect their cash flow.

What is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is a type of slavery involving the illegal exploitation of a person. In essence, it’s been around for centuries, but the globalization of commerce, a thriving sex trade, and diversification of information sharing have also contributed to the growth of this form of enslavement. Human trafficking is different than “human smuggling,” which is helping someone illegally cross a border. In order to understand how it works, we must first define it according to the United States Criminal Code. The U.S. Department of Justice website states the following:

“Human Trafficking is a crime that involves exploiting a person for labor, services, or commercial sex. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its subsequent reauthorizations define human trafficking as:

A) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or

B) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. (22 U.S.C. § 7102(9)).

Human trafficking crimes, which are defined in Title 18, Chapter 77, focus on the act of compelling or coercing a person’s labor, services, or commercial sex acts. Coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological, but must be used to compel a victim into performing labor, services, or commercial sex acts.”

What Are Trafficked Victims Used For?

The Polaris Project, a nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to fighting human trafficking, has identified 25 types of modern slavery. The two biggest categories of human trafficking are sex trafficking and forced labor, which also overlap.