Human Trafficking
"If I thought the father was a threat, I would not approach the child. If I thought the child had friends that he would tell, I would not approach him.”
Jack Reynolds, convicted molester of over 300 children, said in an interview after spending 13 years in prison.
Human trafficking is the business of stealing freedom for profit.
"Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.
Men, women, and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world.
The traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims."
United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC
What Human Trafficking Is and Isn’t
Human trafficking is the business of stealing freedom for profit.
In some cases, traffickers trick, defraud or physically force victims into providing commercial sex. In others, victims are lied to, assaulted, threatened or manipulated into working under inhumane, illegal or otherwise unacceptable conditions.
It is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry that denies freedom to 24.9 million people around the world.
Force, Fraud, or Coercion
U.S. law defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor or services against his or her will.
The one exception involves minors and commercial sex. Inducing a minor into commercial sex is considered human trafficking regardless of the presence of force, fraud or coercion.
Action-Means-Purpose
The Action-Means-Purpose (AMP) Model can be helpful in understanding the federal law.
Human trafficking occurs when a perpetrator, often referred to as a trafficker, takes an Action, and then employs the Means of force, fraud or coercion for the Purpose of compelling the victim to provide commercial sex acts or labor or services.
At a minimum, one element from each column must be present to establish a potential situation of human trafficking.
Quick Facts from UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
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Nearly every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, as a point of origin, transit or destination, and victims from at least 127 countries have been reported to have been exploited in 137 States.
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Human trafficking is one of the most lucrative illicit businesses in Europe, with criminal groups making about $3 billion from it per year, making it a considerable criminal business that preys on the world's most marginalized persons.
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In Europe, over 140,000 victims are trapped in a situation of violence and degradation for sexual exploitation and up to 1 in 7 sex workers in the region may have been enslaved into prostitution through trafficking.
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Globally, 1 in 5 victims of human trafficking are children, although in poorer regions and subregions, such as Africa and Greater Mekong, they make up the majority of trafficked persons. Women meanwhile make up 2/3 of the world's human trafficking victims.
National Hotline Number: 1-888-373-7888
Text: 233733
Please note that the staff of the National Hotline is focused on assisting victims and survivors and is not available to answer more general questions about their work or about human trafficking generally for research or other purposes.