What do we mean by “trafficking of women and children?”
The most recent and most comprehensive US federal law addresses “severe forms of trafficking in persons” defining it as:
- sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion OR
- sex trafficking in which the person induced to perform a commercial sex act has not attained 18 years of age, OR
- 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 subjugation to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
Is it the same thing as “sexual abuse?”
- Sexual abuse is related to the issue of trafficking, but they are not necessarily the same crime.
- Trafficking often, but not always, includes sexual abuse. See the definition of severe forms of trafficking .
Is it the same thing as “prostitution?”
- Prostitution is related to trafficking, but they are not necessarily the same crime.
- Victims of trafficking often end up, through force, coercion, or fraud, as part of commercial sex trade. Also, according to current US federal law, when the person induced to perform a commercial sex act has not attained 18 years of age, commercial sex is considered to be trafficking. In other words, anyone profiting from sexual involvement with a person under age 18 is a trafficker of children.
- Prostitution is one of many forms of exploiting women, men, and children. When we talk about human trafficking or slavery in the sex trade, we add to this the sale of human beings, the transportation of humans for “labor or services” through the use of force, coercion, or fraud for the purposes of involuntary servitude, debt bondage, peonage, or slavery.
Is human trafficking the same thing as “illegal immigration” or “smuggling?” of people?
Human trafficking is not alien smuggling or illegal immigration. Smuggling involves a contractual relationship between the person being smuggled and the coyotes or other agents, for the purpose of crossing an international border. Once in the destination country, the relationships among the individuals end because the fee has been paid up front.
- According to US law, alien smuggling is a crime against the state. Both the agent and the individual being smuggled commit a crime against the state.
- Human trafficking, on the other hand, is a crime against a person- the person being sold or transported for labor or services through the use of force, coercion, or fraud for the purposes of involuntary servitude, debt bondage, peonage, or slavery.
Is trafficking actually a problem in the USA?
Definitely. Trafficking of women and children for the sex industry, for labor in sweatshops, plantations, mines, on farms, as beggars, and as domestic servants is nearly invisible, but an estimated 50,000- 70,000 women and children are trafficked annually to the United States.
- Trafficking also includes illegal adoptions where children are sold, and trafficking in organs.
- Most are trafficked by small crime rings and loosely connected criminal networks.
- Trafficked persons live in every state. Visit here to see recent press coverage.
- Trafficking also includes those who are transported within the US borders.
- International trafficking victims in the US traditionally come from Southeast Asia and Latin America, however, increasingly, they are coming from the New Independent States and Central and Eastern Europe. However, many victims of human trafficking in the US are born and raised in the US.
Are there US laws that prohibit trafficking?
The Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude (holding another in service through force or threats.)
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act of 2000 (TVPA), effective in 2000, and reauthorized in 2003, 2005, and 2008, and 2011, supplements existing laws that apply to human trafficking, including those laws passed to support the 13th Amendment. TVPA also established new tools and resources to combat trafficking in persons, and requires an array of services and protections for victims of severe forms of trafficking. The TVPA applies to victims physically present in the fifty states of the USA, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Under the TVPA, the following are federal criminal offenses:
- slavery and peonage (holding someone to work off a debt) are criminal acts,
- unlawful confiscation of a victim’s documents is a federal offense,
- sex trafficking of children and adults is an offense.
- There are also federal criminal statutes that may apply in specific cases. The following are criminal acts under US laws:
- Human smuggling,
- Kidnapping,
- Transportation for prostitution or any criminal sexual activity,
- importation of aliens for unlawful activities, including prostitution, organized crime, racketeering, fraud, and false statements, money laundering, and visa fraud.
- Prior to the TVPA, trafficking was still illegal, but it was considered a violation of sovereign borders under the Mann Act, rather than a criminal act against an individual victim. Prior to the TVPA, perpetrators were prosecuted, but victims were not necessarily protected. Violations of the Mann Act do not require proof of involuntary servitude; TVPA rules do require that proof. Thus, US attorneys typically use these two laws in tandem to persecute traffickers. Convictions can include prison sentences of up to thirty years for some offenses, and up to life for others. Convicted traffickers may also be required to pay substantial fines and must provide full restitution to the victims. They may also be subject to forfeiture of their property.
- The PROTECT Act of 2003 (Prosecuting Remedies and Tools Against Exploitation of Children Today) is an attempt to improve victim services and increase federal ability for apprehending and prosecuting those who sexually abuse children. Among other things, this federal law:
- makes sexual tourism (traveling with the intent to engage in sexually exploitative behavior) illegal,
- provides for harsher penalties for those convicted of sexual child abuse,
- increases sentences for those convicted of exploiting children through child pornography,
This law is often used in tandem with trafficking legislation in situations where children are being sexually exploited.
Are there state laws that prohibit trafficking?
Yes. Many but not all states currently have state anti-trafficking legislation which complements and strengthens national legislation.
- State laws help to strengthen federal laws and involve local law enforcement directly (rather than only the federal law enforcement agencies).
- State laws also raise awareness of the crime of trafficking on a local level.
- State laws may also provide additional training resources for law enforcement and the public, as well as direct service resources for victims of slavery.
Are there international laws that prohibit trafficking?
- There are international (United Nations) “standards,” “protocols,” and “conventions” that provide a framework in which countries can address the issue of trafficking. When signed and ratified, these instruments are binding at the juridical level.
- There are also several Declarations and Programs of Action of the major United Nations World Conferences that call for concerted action by governments, by inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, and others to stop and prevent such crimes. While these are not binding at a juridical level, they have both a political and ethical influence and can therefore be helpful at national, local, and regional levels.
- Some examples of these international Conventions include:
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which prohibits slavery, servitude, and the slave trade, as well as torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
- U.N. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffick of Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949), which provides a variety of measures against all forms of trafficking in women and the exploitation of prostitution.
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), which includes a provision dealing specifically with trafficking of women and requires that all of the ratifying countries take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of trafficking in women and the exploitation of prostitution of women.
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which requires that all ratifying nations protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, to prevent the abduction of, sale of, or traffic in children for any purpose or in any form, and require provision of recovery and reintegration for all child victims of these crimes.
- United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000).
- An annotated guide to the UN Anti-Trafficking Protocols is located here.
Are there different types of slavery today?
- Involuntary servitude
- Sex Slavery
- Child Sex Tourism
- Domestic Servitude including nannies, maids, gardeners, etc.
- Slavery in Manufacturing, Agriculture, Retail, Begging
- Bonded and Peonage Labor
- Children as slaves including child soldiers
- Sale of body parts
- Illegal adoptions of children and babies
