Human Trafficking Quick Facts

According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, human traffickers victimize an estimated 27.6 million people worldwide.

• 77% of all victims are in forced labor
• 23% of all victims are in sex trafficking
• 57% are men and boys  
• 43% are women and girls
• Within sex trafficking
  • 78% are women and girls and 22% are men and boys
  • 92% are adults and 8% are children
• Within forced labor
  • 33% are women and girls and 67% men and boys
  • 73% are adults and 27% are children

Although there is no reliable estimate of human trafficking within the United States, human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, on Tribal land, and within U.S. territories.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines human trafficking as:

• Sex trafficking — The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act 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. (22 U.S.C. § 7102(11)(A)).
• Forced labor — 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(11)(B)).

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 created the modern criminal statutes under which human traffickers are primarily investigated and prosecuted:

• 18 U.S.C. § 1589, Forced Labor
• 18 U.S.C. § 1591, Sex Trafficking of Children OR by Force, Fraud or Coercion
• 18 U.S.C. § 1592, Unlawful Conduct with Respect to Documents in Furtherance of Trafficking, Peonage, Slavery, Involuntary Servitude, or Forced Labor (aka Document Servitude)
• 18 U.S.C. § 1594, Attempt/Conspiracy/Forfeiture
• 18 U.S.C. § 1597, Unlawful Conduct Regarding Immigration Documents
• 18 U.S.C. § 1351, Fraud in Foreign Labor Contracting

Additionally, DHS conducts criminal investigations of related offenses that traffickers commit including fraud, drug trafficking, immigration, human smuggling, money laundering, visa fraud, child sexual abuse materials, interstate prostitution, sexual exploitation of children, and obstruction.

There is no single profile of a human trafficker; their only commonality is that they are driven by profit at the expense of others. Traffickers are men and women of all ages. They can be relatives, romantic partners, or close family friends. Or they can be the people behind an employment ad or a new friend on social media or online gaming.

Human traffickers can be part of a transnational criminal organization, a local criminal network, or a gang. However, they can also be the owners of restaurant in the community, a local business offering janitorial services, a farm labor contractor supplying harvesters, or the couple next door with a live-in domestic worker or nanny. On a larger scale, traffickers can be a factory owner producing garments or electronics, or the captain of a commercial fishing vessel out at sea for months. They can be a child sex offender traveling abroad or a pimp.

Traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion to compel labor or services and commercial sex.

• Force can include the threat of and actual physical assaults and sexual violence to the victim and others around them which makes the threat even more credible, or family members.
• Fraud is often false promises – of education, a relationship, a specific job, good pay and days off, paying off a debt, sending money home to support the family, or generally of a new more secure life – but the reality is something different and inescapable.
• Coercion can be subtle or overt. Some common tactics include taking identity documents and threatening arrest and/or deportation, inhumane treatment, blackmail, shaming, isolation, addiction, and economic coercion, which can be taking advantage of existing debt or creating a debt.

Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of whether any form of force, fraud, or coercion was used. Learn more through recent HSI investigations that were successfully prosecuted.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducts criminal human trafficking investigations worldwide. In the United States, HSI forced labor investigations have uncovered human traffickers operating within agriculture, landscaping, construction, hospitality, manufacturing, domestic work, restaurants, elder care, grocery retailers, salon services, and janitorial services, to provide just a few examples. Learn more through recent HSI investigations that were successfully prosecuted.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has the authority to deny entry at any U.S. ports for goods produced with forced labor and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducts criminal investigations into entities that subvert the denied entry.

In recent years, CBP has prohibited entry for numerous products, including but not limited to work gloves, cotton, tomatoes, computer parts, apparel, hair products, raw sugar and sugar-based products, tobacco, disposable gloves, palm oil and palm oil products, sea salt products, stevia extracts and derivatives, aluminum extrusions and profile products, and seafood. Learn more about CBP’s forced labor efforts through trade enforcement.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducts criminal human trafficking investigations worldwide. Within the United Sates, HSI sex trafficking investigations have uncovered human traffickers operating in bars, illicit massage parlors, hotels, truck stops, apartment complexes, street prostitution, and escort services. Sex traffickers increasingly use social media and other online platforms to recruit, advertise, and exploit victims.

There is no single profile of a human trafficking victim because traffickers are willing to exploit anyone who can earn them a profit regardless of age, sex, socioeconomic background, nationality, or immigration status. The following are examples of groups that may be at increased risk:

• Individuals who have experienced childhood abuse or neglect
• Children and youth involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems
• People experiencing homelessness
• Individuals living in poverty
• Survivors of violence such as intimate partner or domestic violence
• Unaccompanied alien children
• Individuals displaced due to political instability, war, and disaster
• Individuals working in industries with fewer legal protections

Given traffickers’ debilitating forms of control, trafficking victims suffer short- and long-term consequences. Their physical health may be impacted from injuries, infections, or lack of medical attention for an extended period of time. Mental health consequences can include anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as sleep and memory issues. Victims also suffer financial consequences from trafficking since they are often left destitute, in more debt, and have lost collateral such as homes. If they were mistakenly arrested or deported related to the trafficking, victims can face difficulties in securing a job, housing, or education to name a few.

All victims in HSI investigations receive statutorily mandated assistance in compliance with the Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act, 34 U.S.C. § 20141, and the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3771. For human trafficking victims, this can mean community services referrals for emergency food and shelter, medical and mental health care, safety planning, and legal services, among other stabilizing recovery services. Referrals to local service providers not only increases victims’ safety and stability but also contributes to their ability to become an effective witness and participate in the criminal justice process. Additionally, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services helps to protect victims of human trafficking and other crimes by providing immigration benefits to eligible victims.

The term “trafficking” usually means clandestinely moving goods across a border. For instance, under federal law, tangible items such as weapons, wildlife and drugs are “trafficked” into the country. However, “human smuggling” is the term used when people are being clandestinely moved across a border and is a criminal violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324.

The criminal statutes that prohibit human trafficking – 18 U.S.C. § 1589, Forced Labor and 18 U.S.C. § 1591, Sex Trafficking of Children OR by Force, Fraud or Coercion – do not require a border crossing. In fact, many human traffickers and victims are U.S. citizens.

• Human smuggling, which is a distinct federal crime charged under 8 U.S.C. § 1324
• Prostitution, which is state misdemeanor crime in most of the United States
• Labor exploitation, which can be a federal or state civil labor violations of minimum wage, overtime, or workplace safety
• Child labor, which can be a federal or state civil labor violation of youth under the age of 18 performing prohibited, dangerous work
• Illegal adoption, which can be a federal or state fraud violation
• Forced marriage, which is a crime in some U.S. states and in all states other state crimes can be charged such as domestic violence, child abuse, rape, assault, kidnapping, threats of violence, or stalking

DHS routinely coordinates with federal partners to increase efficiency and avoid duplication of efforts. The President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF) is a cabinet-level entity created by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, which consists of 20 agencies across the federal government responsible for coordinating U.S. government-wide efforts to combat trafficking in persons. The Secretary of State chairs the PITF. The DHS Secretary is a task force member.

The TVPA as amended in 2003 established the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG), which consists of senior officials designated as representatives of the PITF agencies. The SPOG brings together federal agencies that address all aspects of human trafficking. Five standing committees meet regularly to advance substantive areas of the SPOG’s work including the Research and Data Committee, Grantmaking Committee, Public Awareness & Outreach Committee, Victim Services Committee, and the Procurement & Supply Chains Committee. The DHS representative to the SPOG is the Director of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking.

Two federal reports provide descriptions of the whole of government effort – including DHS efforts – to address human trafficking and include relevant statistics related to enforcement, victim protection, and prevention:

• The U.S. narrative in the U.S. Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report
• The Attorney General’s Annual Report to Congress on U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons Report (under Reports to Congress)