What Is Human Trafficking?Human trafficking is a criminal activity in which people profit from the control and exploitation of others. Two forms of human trafficking are sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Human trafficking can occur anywhere, within and across U.S. borders, victimizing both U.S. citizens and non-citizens, both children and adults, and across all gender identities.

The federal Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act defines human trafficking, in part, as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purposes of commercial sex acts or labor services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. "Force" includes physical restraint, bodily harm, or confinement. "Fraud" includes deceitful employment offers or work conditions, false promises, or withholding wages. "Coercion" refers to threats of serious harm, bodily harm against any person, abuse of legal process, withholding legal documents, and creating a climate of fear.

​For more specific information, visit:  https://polarisproject.org/resources/resources-by-topic/sex-trafficking

Who are the victims of human trafficking?

• Foreign nationals
• Runaway or homeless youth
• LGBTQIA youth 
• Victims of abuse or domestic violence
• Those living in poverty or debt
• Oppressed and marginalized groups
• Those desperate for education, jobs, and better opportunities
• Displaced people (as a result of natural disasters or civil unrest)

Victims are often targeted based on their perceived vulnerability, and they are recruited using various methods. Traffickers might promise a legitimate job to the victim, promise love and marriage, or be a trusted family member or friend. Other methods include debt bondage, abduction/kidnapping, blackmail/extortion, and smuggling. 
Who are the traffickers?

• Single or multiple traffickers (multiple traffickers often exist in networks)
• Organized crime and gangs
• So-called "pimp" traffickers
• Family members, which can be parents, intimate partners, or others

For more specific information, visit:  https://polarisproject.org/resources/resources-by-topic/sex-trafficking