“Trafficking in persons” and “human trafficking”

“Trafficking in persons” and “human trafficking” are umbrella terms—often used interchangeably—to refer to a crime whereby traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex.  When a person younger than 18 is used to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion involved.

The United States recognizes two primary forms of trafficking in persons:  sex trafficking and forced labor.  The basic meaning of these forms of human trafficking and some unique characteristics of each are set forth below, followed by several key principles and concepts that relate to all forms of human trafficking.

The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA), defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:

• sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an 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 subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

More than 180 nations have ratified or acceded to the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (the UN TIP Protocol), which defines trafficking in persons and contains obligations to prevent and combat the crime.

The TVPA and the UN TIP Protocol contain similar definitions of human trafficking.  The elements of both definitions can be described using a three-element framework focused on the trafficker’s 1) acts; 2) means; and 3) purpose:

• The “acts” element focuses on a trafficker recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining another person for labor, service, or commercial sex. The “acts” element for sex trafficking is also often met when the trafficker patronizes or solicits another person for commercial sex.

• The “means” element focuses on a trafficker’s use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel the other person to engage in labor, services, or commercial sex.

• The “purpose” element focuses on the perpetrator’s goal to exploit a person for labor, services, or commercial sex act.

A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another for the crime to fall within this definition.