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Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery.
In 2012, the International Labour Organization (ILO) reported 20.9 million people were subjected to forced labor, and 22% (4.5 million) were victims of forced sexual exploitation, 300,000 of them in Developed Economies and the EU. The ILO reported in 2016 that of the estimated 25 million persons in forced labor, 5 million were victims of sexual exploitation.Odhiambo, Agnes & Barr, Heather. (2 Aug 2019). "Opinion:Trafficking survivors are being failed the world over." Al Jazeera website Retrieved 4 August 2019.International Labour Organization. (19 September 2017). Press Release:40 million in modern slavery and 152 million in child labour around the world. International Labour Organization website Retrieved 4 August 2019. However, due to the covertness of sex trafficking, obtaining accurate, reliable statistics poses a challenge for researchers. The global commercial profits for sexual slavery are estimated to be , according to ILO."Human Trafficking by the Numbers". (7 January 2017). Human Rights First website Retrieved 2 December 2018. In 2005, the figure was given as for the total human trafficking.Daffron, Joshua W. (Dec 2011). "Combating Human Trafficking: Evolution of State Legislation and the Policies of the United Kingdom and France." Thesis, M.A. Monterey, Calif.:Department of National Security Affairs. Naval Postgraduate School. Defense Technical Information Center website Retrieved 2 December 2018.Tiziana Luise. (2005). "Are human rights becoming burdensome for our economies? The role of slavery-like practices in the development of world economics and in the context of modern society," Rivista Internazionale Di Scienze Sociali, 113(3): 473.
Sex trafficking typically occurs in situations from which escape is both difficult and dangerous. Networks of traffickers exist in every country. Therefore, victims are often trafficked across state and country lines which causes jurisdictional concerns and make cases difficult to prosecute.
Article 5 of the Palermo Protocol requires member states to criminalize trafficking based on the definition outlined in Article 3; however, many member states' domestic laws reflect a narrower definition than Article 3. Although these nations claim to be obliging Article 5, their narrow laws lead to a smaller portion of people being prosecuted for sex trafficking than would otherwise be prosecuted under the wider definition.
The UN established various anti-trafficking tools, including a Global Report on Trafficking in Persons and an Inter-Agency Coordination Group Against Trafficking in Persons. The Global Report on Trafficking in Person provides new information based on data gathered from 155 countries. It offers first global assessment of the scope of human trafficking and what is being done to fight it. The UN General Assembly passed several resolutions on measuring to eliminate human trafficking. In 2010, the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons was adopted. Various other organizations have engaged in global efforts against sex trafficking. "The UN Protocol's is the bedrock of the international initiatives against human sex trafficking." This protocol defines certain elements of sex trafficking: "action", which describes the recruitment and transportation of victims, "means", which includes coercion, fraud, or abuse of power, and "purpose", which includes exploitation such as prostitution, forced labor or slavery, and the removal of organs. The UN requires member states to establish the trafficking of humans as a criminal offense.
According to ECPAT USA, the average age of entry into street prostitution is between 12 and 14 years old. The demographic of street prostitutes range from impoverished women, children, ethnic minorities, and immigrants. In the United States, sex traffickers often find their victims in public places. Victims are often lured with the promise of money, housing, or jobs, such as modeling work. Vulnerability to certain approaches increase when victims are young or homeless. Emotional and physical coercion are used to build trust between a victim and their abductor. This coercion often makes the relationships between trafficker and trafficked and pimp and prostitute difficult to identify. Often, victims who partake in consensual sex work are tricked into thinking they will have freedom in their work, along with a large sum of money. After the victim has agreed to the pimp's offer, they are forcibly dissuaded from leaving by forcing addictive drugs, withholding money and physical/sexual abuse. Victims are often trapped by finances and basic survival, as perpetrators will often keep money, passports, and basic necessities as insurance. It is very common in the United States for pimps to own a business or store, especially nail salons and massage parlors. It is also very common for sex slavery businesses to be conducted near U.S. military bases."Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States." International Sex Trafficking of Women & Children: Understanding the Global Epidemic, by Leonard Territo, Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc., 2015, pp. 1–13.
Northern Virginia is one of the top sex trafficking hotspots in the United States. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center reported that in 2018, they received 198 reports of human trafficking from Northern Virginia. In 2017 Virginia was ranked 4th as the top ten federal court districts involving domestic sex trafficking cases where prosecutors were involved with minors.
Child grooming is commonly used. The trafficker will first gain the trust of the victim, through emotional manipulation. The trafficker may express love and admiration, offer them a job or an education, or buying them a ticket to a new location. The main types of work offered are in the catering and hotel industry, in bars and clubs, modeling contracts, or au pair work. Once the victim becomes comfortable, they may consensually request sexual acts from the victim. The victim, under the guise that they are in a relationship, may oblige. The requests may progress, and the trafficker may reference previous sexual acts in order to normalize the behavior, as well as participating in blackmail, especially when the encounter occurs over the internet. Victims may become trapped due to fears of social ramifications. Although uncommon, there have been reports of victims being kidnapped. Social media has been used to groom and advertise victims.
After the victim has joined the offender, various techniques are used to restrict the victim's access to communication with home, such as imposing physical punishment unless the victim complies with the trafficker's demands and making threats of harm and even death to the victim and their family. Victims may experience Stockholm syndrome, as captors often manipulate victims into believing they are in a romantic relationship with their captor.
In India, those who traffic young girls into prostitution are often women who have been trafficked themselves. As adults they use personal relationships and trust in their villages of origin to recruit additional girls. Also, some migrating prostitutes can become victims of human trafficking because the women know they will be working as prostitutes; however, they are given an inaccurate description by their "boss" of the circumstances. Therefore, they consequently get exploited due to their misconception of what conditions to expect of their sex work in the new destination country.
Sex trafficking serves as a more cost and time efficient way to make money, as one human trafficking victim can obtain money over the course of many years. Gangs may partner with different gangs in the area, to work as a joint sex trafficking ring. This enables them to increase profits by trading different victims. This gives their client, also known as a john, a greater variety of options to choose from. Clients are often willing to pay a larger price for a 'type' of victim. Another reason that gangs will share victims is because this makes it more difficult for law enforcement to keep track of the victims, preventing them from making a positive identification.
The 'loverboy' has now made a connection with their victim and agrees to go on excursions and romantic getaways. Which is where the 'loverboy' makes his or her move on the victim. If they traveled the 'loverboy' takes his change and confiscates the individuals passport and/or form of identification. Which then makes the individual trapped and typically passes him or her off to the next trafficker. Gang traffickers typically select and groom their victims by establishing trust. This can happen through giving gifts, praise and attention to create a psychological and emotional connection between the victim and trafficker. It's sometimes referred to as the Romeo Method. It consists of different manipulation techniques. A member will take the victim to a restaurant, give gifts, and take them to parties where they are provided with supplies of drugs and alcohol. They also learn their weaknesses and find vulnerabilities that can be used against them.
Megans law puts certain procedures in place to provide the community with information regarding sex offenders who live close to them in the area. This allows parents to be more aware of who their children are surrounded by and makes it easier to keep their children safe. This is a procedure that further prevents grooming.
This form of trafficking is also extremely common outside of the United States. Many families from impoverished areas (India, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, etc.) find themselves in situations where debt or tradition calls for the selling of a loved one, most commonly female. In Thailand there is a tradition known as bhun kun, which establishes the youngest daughter as financially responsible for her parents as they grow old. Author Kara Siddharth interviewed a Thai victim who stated that she was "proud to fulfill her duty to her parents in the form of tiny payments that the brothel owner sent to her father after her trafficking debts were repaid". Many children are sold to repay debts, or to put food on the table for their family. (2025). 9780231139618, Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231139618Brock, J. Brock, M. (Director). (2013). Red Light, Green Light Video. Media Education Foundation.
This type of sex trafficking has surged since the advent of the Digital Age and the development of online payment systems and cryptocurrencies that hide the transactors' identities. Millions of reports of its occurrence are sent to authorities annually. New laws and police procedures combating cybersex trafficking are needed in the twenty-first century.
A forced marriage qualifies as a form of human trafficking in certain situations. If a woman is sent abroad, forced into the marriage and then repeatedly compelled to engage in sexual conduct with her new husband, then her experience is that of sex trafficking. If the bride is treated as a domestic servant by her new husband and/or his family, then this is a form of labor trafficking.
Approximately 140 million girls under the age of 18, which is about 39,000 a day, were forced into early marriages between 2011 and 2020. Forced marriage, which is identified by the United Nations as a "contemporary form of slavery", occurs without full consent of the man or woman, and is associated with threats by family members or the bride/groom. Forced marriage occurs not only in foreign countries but in the U.S. as well. The service providers in the United States cannot successfully respond to forced marriage cases because they lack clarity and a true definition of what a forced marriage is.
Many scholars critique the power hierarchies based on gender, race, and class which underlie economic systems as perpetuators of victims' vulnerability to sex trafficking. Copley argues that women in underdeveloped countries are powerless due to these hierarchies of power. Ideas of gender are thus perpetuated through globalization, leaving women vulnerable. Matusek cites masculinity as privileged with power and control in these hierarchies. Femininity, she notes, is associated with submissive and passive qualities. Femininity's lack of power leaves women to be used by men and consequently be seen as disposable. This view of women is perpetuated through the globalization of power hierarchies, which Matusek argues justifies and normalizes violence and power against women. This normalization of violence and power is a key player in the existence and continuation of sex trafficking. Vesna Nikovic-Ristanovic also cites this normalization of violence and power as a cause of sex trafficking.
Nikovic-Ristanovic analyzes the role of perceived femininity in women's vulnerability to sex trafficking, by specifically looking at the links between militarism and female sexuality. Nikovic-Ristanovic cites a connection between war rapes and forced prostitution and sex trafficking. The way women's bodies are used in war relate to the normalization of violence and power against women. Nikovic-Ristanovic argues that military presence, even in times of peace, promote ideas of gender which render women vulnerable. These ideas concern hegemonic masculinity, which Nikovic-Ristanovic defines as the hyper sexuality of men and the submissiveness or passivity of women and girls. Nikovic-Ristanovic notes that the global acceptance of this definition justifies exploitation and violence against women since women are viewed as sex objects for the fulfillment of male's sexual desire. This Western ideal of heteronormative sexuality, Nikovic-Ristanovic argues, is also perpetuated through media and advertisements, in which women are encouraged to appear sexually attractive for men.
Kim Anh Duong argues that social narratives about women which arise from power hierarchies, coupled with women's economic realities, render women vulnerable to exploitation and sex trafficking. Duong identifies the prevailing narrative of women as the disadvantaged victim. She cites powerlessness as the result of this narrative, which is further perpetuated by social and economic realities which result from development process which leave women dependent on men. This overall powerlessness, according to Duong, makes women easy targets of exploitation and violence.
Susan Tiefenbrun, like Duong, notes women's lower status of power and consequential dependence on men. Tiefenbrun, unlike Duong, cites cultural norms as the cause of this vulnerability. She argues that cultural norms deprive women of access to and time for receiving an education or learning skills to improve employment opportunities. This lack of education and access to employment results in women's dependence on men. Tiefenbrun argues that women's dependence renders them more vulnerable to traffickers.
Another school of thought attributes women's migration for work in a context of strict immigration controls as the primary factor in women's vulnerability in becoming trafficked for sex. There has been an increase in women migrating within and across borders. Duong cites a demand for women migrant workers which encourages migration. The globalization of neoliberalism has shifted the global economy's focus to export production. Duong notes that there is a demand for women in export production because employers are able to pay them the lowest wages. Another reason for the demand of women workers is that there is a demand for care work. Since care work is gendered as women's work, Duong argues that women are encouraged to migrate to fill this demand. Janie Chuang is one scholar who notes the strict border controls which leave women who migrate for work in informal labor sectors, such as for care work, with little opportunity for legal migration. Chuang notes that women are thus more vulnerable to being taken advantage of by sex traffickers who provide opportunities for illegal migration. Strict immigration laws are also cited by Tiefenbrun as a key factor in individuals entering sex trafficking because women will agree to and sex traffickers' incentives to flee their social and economic realities.
One cause for women's migration that is widely agreed upon by scholars is the economic pressure upon women due to Neoliberalism globalization. Siddharth Kara argues that globalization and the spread of Capitalism drive inequality and rural poverty, which are the material causes for sex trafficking. Dong-Hoon Seol points out unequal development between countries as an effect of the globalization of neoliberalism. He argues that the growing disparity of wealth between developed and underdeveloped countries leads to migration of women from underdeveloped countries.
Duong cites Structural adjustment programs (SAPs), an aspect of development policies in the globalization of neoliberalism, as a cause for women's poverty, unemployment, and low wages which promote migration. SAPs affect men and women differently, she argues, because men and women experience poverty differently. This is known as the feminization of poverty. Much of women's time is spent doing unpaid labor such as housework and care work, leading to an overall lower income. Duong further argues that women are placed at a greater disadvantage due to their lack of access to land and other resources. Matusek also argues that the unequal distribution of resources and power lead to both push and pull factors of migration. According to Matusek, women are pushed to migrate on account of a lack of education and employment opportunities.
Other scholars focus on the demand for sex itself as a cause of sex trafficking. The pull factor comes from globalization creating a market around sex. Matusek cites the commodification aspect of capitalism as the cause for the industrialization of sex. The pull factor comes from globalization creating a market around sex. Seol also cites the globalization of the commodification aspect of capitalism as a cause of sex trafficking.
In the United States, research has illustrated how these qualities hold true for victims, even though none can be labeled as a direct cause. For example, more than 50 percent of domestic minor sex trafficking victims have a history of homelessness. Familial disruptions such as divorce or the death of a parent place minors at a higher risk of entering the industry, but home life in general influences children's risk. In a study of trafficked youth in Arizona, 20 to 40 percent of female victims identified with experiencing abuse of some form (sexual or physical) at home before entering into the industry as a sex slave. Of the males interviewed, a smaller proportion, 1 to 30 percent, reported former abuse in the home.
The main motive of a woman (in some cases, an underage girl) to accept an offer from a trafficker is better financial opportunities for herself or her family. A study on the origin countries of trafficking confirms that most trafficking victims are not the poorest in their countries of origin, and sex trafficking victims are likely to be women from countries with some freedom to travel alone and some economic freedom.
There are numerous fake businesses that sound realistic that convince people to apply for the job. Some places have a reputation for holding an illegal business to attract their victims.
Children are at risk because of their vulnerable characteristics; naïve outlook, size, and tendency to be easily intimidated"., citing The International Labor Organization estimates that of the 20.9 million people who are trafficked in the world (for all types of work) 5.5 million are children. In 2016, it was estimated that approximately one million children worldwide were victims of sex trafficking. Both boys and girls may be trafficked, though girls are more frequently victims; 23% of human trafficking victims identified by a United Nations Report were girls, compared to 7% for boys. Female child trafficking victims are more likely to experience sexual exploitation: 72% and 27% incidence rates for girls and boy, respectively.
In the U.S., children do not need to be forced into sexual exploitation according to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 to be considered victims of sex trafficking. Under this act, a child is defined as anyone under the age of 18, however the exploitation of children under the age of 14 carries a harsher punishment, though this is rarely enforced. The Bureau of Justice Statistics states that there are 100,000 child victims of sex trafficking, but only 150 child trafficking cases were brought to court in 2011. Of these, only 81 convictions were made. Many children who are trafficked are also at higher risk of turning to prostitution, a crime that many of them face criminal charges for, even under the age of 18.
The mental health implications range from depression to anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the abuse and violence victims face from their pimps or "johns". § : For example, authors Le and Perry, in their systemic review of “Advancing the Science on the Biophysical Effects of Human Trafficking” discuss that throughout many studies done among sexual trafficking survivors, mostly girls, “elevated burdens of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),” are revealed (175). Of course, this seems obvious, considering that these women are enduring constant abuse and manipulation. Looking at just post-traumatic stress disorder, which is “a mental disorder that may develop after exposure to exceptionally threatening or horrifying events,” it seems evident that these women would walk away with lasting mental health effects (Bisson et al. 1). Another study done through BMC Public health revealed that there was a negative relationship between the how much girls and women were exposed to SEA (sexual exploitation and abuse) and their “social status” (Gray et al. 1). These girls were subjected to more public shame and isolation. So, even after the fact, they continue to experience isolation, which certainly isn’t benefitting their mental health or healing.
With such a mindset, many individuals develop alcohol or drug addictions and abusive habits. § According to Chon in “Supporting Individuals at the Intersection of Human Trafficking and Substance Use”, traffickers would use drugs to keep their victims chained to them. They would give them the drugs and then manage their withdrawal symptoms to the point where the victims needed them to live. However, Chon also explains that, even those who did not endure this type of abuse, still reported using drugs and alcohol to cope with what they had gone through. § In “Understanding Human Trafficking in the United States" the authors express that “many victims are forced to commit… illegal activities such as drug use” and that because many of these victims are having their legal documentation withheld from them, they can’t do anything about it for fear of criminal prosecution (Logan et al. 6). So, they become stuck in a cycle, forced into something they likely didn’t want, but now reliant on it. Many victims use these substances as a coping mechanism or escape which further promotes the rate of addiction in this population. In a 30-year longitudinal study conducted by J. Potterat et al., it was determined that the average lifespan for women engaged in prostitution in Colorado Springs was 34 years.
It has been estimated that two-thirds of trafficking victims in the United States are U.S. citizens. Most victims who are foreign-born come into the U.S. legally, on various visas. State Department estimated that between 15,000 and 50,000 women and girls are trafficked each year into the United States.
The Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), an organization based in New York, claims that the majority of girls in the sex trade were abused as children. Poverty and a lack of education play major roles in the lives of many women in the sex industry.
According to a report conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, anywhere from 100,000 up to 300,000 American children at any given time may be at risk of exploitation due to factors such as drug use, homelessness, or other factors connected with increased risk for commercial sexual exploitation. However, the report emphasized, "The numbers presented in these exhibits do not, therefore, reflect the actual number of cases of CSEC in the United States but, rather, what we estimate to be the number of children 'at risk' of commercial sexual exploitation." Richard J. Estes, one of the report's authors, noted that the report was based on 25 year old data, and was out of date because the world of the 1990s "was quite a different one from that in which we live today." A report from the University of New Hampshire says that only 1,700 kids reported having engaged in prostitution. David Finkelhor, one of the authors of that report, said "Given that running away has declined, I wouldn't put any stock in these figures as indicators of what is going on today". People of color may also have high risks of sex trafficking due to lack of documentation, fear, distrust, etc. They often have difficulties contacting authorities or others for support due to inabilities to understand the language or the laws of the area.
In 2003, 1,400 minors were arrested for prostitution, 14% of whom were younger than 14 years old. A study conducted by the International Labor Union indicated that boys are at a higher risk of being trafficked into agricultural work, the drug trade, and petty crime. Girls were at a higher risk of being forced into the sex industry and domestic work. In 2004, the Department of Labor found 1,087 minors employed in situations that violated hazardous occupation standards. The same year, 5,480 children were employed violating child labor laws. Due to the secretive nature of trafficking, it is difficult to piece together an accurate picture of how widespread the problem is.
While there are no organizations in Canada focused exclusively on ending sex trafficking in Canada, The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking (CCEHT) is the only nationally coordinated effort focused on ending human trafficking more broadly in a Canadian context. The CCEHT aims to organize collective action and systemic change in Canada. The organization works with other nonprofits, businesses, and stakeholders to establish what the best practices are, and ensure that no duplicate efforts are happening due to miscommunications between various actors. The CCEHT also provides services for survivors of sex trafficking in helping them return to society. Many other organizations in Canada aim to reduce sex trafficking as one of several objectives. Initiatives exist at federal, provincial and municipal levels. Covenant House Toronto leads a national campaign called Traffick Stop. Traffick Stop helps people develop skills to recognize the indicators of sex trafficking. This campaign aims to inform Canadians about the existence of sex trafficking in Canada and its prevalence.
In 2000, the Knesset amended the Penal Law to prohibit sex trafficking. In 2006, an Anti-Trafficking Law was enacted. In 2001, Israel was placed in U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report Tier 3. Between 2002 and 2011 Israel was placed in Tier 2. Since 2012 through the recent 2019 report Israel has been ranked Tier 1 (full compliance with the TVPA's minimum standards).
Approximately 87.8% of trafficking victims have come in contact with a healthcare professional either during or after their time of exploitation and labor. On February 26, 2018, the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services passed the SOAR to Health and Wellness Act of 2018. SOAR which is an acronym which stands for Stop, Observe, Ask, and Respond is a training program which aims to properly equip professionals with the necessary resources and methods to identify victims of human trafficking. The training aids to help others recognize key indicators and characteristics of human trafficking as well as aid in key communication techniques that are effective for everyone involved. Response tactics can be key to identifying victims without causing harm and putting them in increased danger. The trainings also provide key communities with the support and resources they may need to bring attention to a crime which may be heavily impacting that area. The training can either be taken online or in person and can be personalized based the role of the professional. SOAR is available to anyone who may be interested in learning how to identify victims or situations of human trafficking in a healthcare setting. Trainings are available for social workers, medical and public health professionals, and even educators.
Physicians against the trafficking of humans (PATH) is a program of the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) that was started in 2014 with efforts to encourage medical professionals including physicians, residents, and medical students to become more aware of human trafficking. The initiative was initially brought into discussion by Dr. Gayatri Devi in 2012, the president of AMWA at the time. She identified human sex trafficking as a key issue to be addressed. This discussion then progressed into forming a Human Trafficking Committee to handle the issue. PATH has since been creating content for hospitals and other medical facilities to use to educate professionals and students on the identification and advocacy for human trafficking. PATH has also been featured in many media outlets such as Politico and TEDx.
There are three main tactics social workers use to aid in the recovery of sex trafficking survivors: ecological, strengths-based, and victim-centered. Using the ecological approach, the social worker evaluates their client's current environment and goals for reintegration into the community. By examining how justice systems, legal, and medical services impact their client, they can help them look into areas of future employment, gaining legal status, and reuniting with family. The strengths-based approach aims to create a bond of trust between the social worker and their client to build confidence as well as autonomy and leadership skills. Lastly, when using the victim-centered approach, social workers develop services and plans for the future specifically catered to their client's individual needs. These services are developed through a survivor's lens, which allows social workers to easily meet the needs of their clients. All three methods have proven to be effective in the recovery of sex trafficking survivors.
Another mechanism used to understand control is the BITE Model created by Steven Hassan. The BITE Model describes four categories of coercion used on sex trafficking victims: behavior control, information control, thought control, and emotional control. He says that it is essential to understand the loss of identity victims experience to help them get out or recover from sex trafficking.
Efforts to combat sex trafficking are often linked to efforts against prostitution; however, this is often problematic in regards to legal recourse of sex trafficking victims. While prostitutes are nominally working by choice, sex trafficking victims do so under duress. Recognizing this, many states have passed legislation that allows sex trafficking victims amnesty under prostitution laws, however many fail to do so due to legal illiteracy and institutional prejudices. As such, sex trafficking victims often risk legal persecution when alerting authorities to their situation.
Jane Addams was one of the most notable reformers during the Progressive Era, and refined the still early concepts of white slavery and sex work in her book A New Conscience and an Ancient Evil. She, among others, fought to classify all people coerced into prostitution as victims of sexual slavery, and believed that all sex work was sexual exploitation of women by more powerful men. Addams also believed that abolishing white slavery would bring more women into the suffrage movement. Alex Smolak, a physician, has studied many of the health risks faced by women in white slavery during the Progressive era. She says in her article titled "White Slavery, Whorehouse Riots, Venereal Disease, and Saving Women..." that "The Progressive Era was a time when society was rapidly changing, with influences stemming from urbanization, industrialization, commercialization, immigration, and civilizing morality, all interacting with one another to fuel both prostitution and the anti-prostitution movement." Along with "The U.S. White Slave act of 1910", the "International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade" was ratified by 13 nations, including the United States in 1904. Throughout the next 45 years the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children was adopted by the League of Nations and the term white slavery was replaced by trafficking, the word used commonly today.
In 2011, the United Nations reported that girl victims made up two-thirds of all trafficked children. Girls constituted 15 to 20 percent of the total number of all detected victims, whereas boys comprised about 10 percent. The UN report was based on official data supplied by 132 countries.
In 2013, a resolution to create the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons was adopted by the United Nations. The first World Day against Trafficking in Persons took place July 30, 2014, and the day is now observed every July 30.
Current international treaties include the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages, entered into force in 1964.
The Commercial Sex Act18 U.S.C. § 1591 makes it illegal to recruit, entice, obtain, provide, move or harbor a person or to benefit from such activities knowing that the person will be caused to engage in commercial sex acts where the person is under 18 or where force, fraud or coercion exists.
Towards the end of President Clinton's administration, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), intended to fight human trafficking globally. Under the George W. Bush Administration, fighting sex trafficking within the scope of TVPA became a priority, framing human trafficking and sex trafficking as modern-day slavery. The TVPA intends to strengthen services to victims of human trafficking and sex trafficking, increase law enforcement's ability to prosecute traffickers by incentivizing survivors to cooperate in the prosecution, increase education about human trafficking, and train law enforcement to identify human trafficking. TVPA also has a mandate to collect funds for the treatment of sex trafficking victims that provided them with shelter, food, education, and financial grants. Internationally, the TVPA set standards for other countries to follow to receive aid from the U.S. to fight human trafficking. TVPA also establishes two stipulations an applicant can meet to receive the benefits of a T visa. First, a trafficked victim must prove to being trafficked and second must submit to prosecution of his or her trafficker. While providing incentives for survivors of trafficking to assist in the prosecution process, some scholars see these incentives as invalidating as they force the burden of proof to fall on the victim. An example of an alternative can be found in Connecticut, where there are safe harbor laws for minor victims of sex trafficking. These laws provide immunity to the survivors and shifts the burden of proof away from the individual. In general, incentivizing survivor cooperation in the prosecution process can be helpful considering the emotional manipulation and perceived romantic attachment that often stop survivors from accusing their traffickers or seeking help. After TPVA's initial implementation, several agencies and task forces were created. The Act has also undergone multiple revisions and authorizations. In February 2000, the Department of Justice established a Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force hotline that increased the number of trafficking cases that were opened and investigated. In 2001, the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons was established. In both 2001 and 2003, new criminal statues were added to TVPA to make it easier to prosecute traffickers. In 2003, TPVA was amended to provide access to civil remedies to trafficking cases to reduce a survivor's reliance on the criminal justice system. The Act was reauthorized in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2013. The State Department publishes an annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Reports), which examines the progress that the U.S. and other countries have made in destroying human trafficking businesses, arresting the traffickers, and supporting the victims.Soderlund, Gretchen. "Running from the rescuers: new US crusades against sex trafficking and the rhetoric of abolition." nwsa Journal 17.3 (2005): 64–87.Feingold, David A. "Human trafficking." Foreign Policy (2005): 26–32.
On the state level, sex trafficking legislation varies in terms of definitions and approaches. California sex trafficking legislation offers legal protection for women so they can make choices outside the criminal justice system and pursue civil remedies. California legislation also offers case worker privileges in sex trafficking cases. In Connecticut, in addition to safe harbor laws for minor victims of sex trafficking, there is also an emphasis on educating employees in the hotel industry to identify sex trafficking. The logic is that since trafficking activities often happen in hotels, employees need to be able to identify and report these occurrences. There are also arguments that the hotel industry needs to be offered incentives to report sex trafficking since they benefit financially from having guests in their hotels. Another provision in Connecticut's sex trafficking legislation is increased punishment for purchasers of sex.
In July 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a month-long operation to detect and detain sex traffickers and recover child victims. More than 100 sex trafficking victims were successfully rescued across the United States, under the initiative called "Operation Independence Day". Besides, a total of 67 suspected traffickers were arrested.
Towards the end of 2021, President Joe Biden signed an updated plan to fight against human trafficking. It is titled The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (NAP). The new version is targeted toward those in society that are most impacted by trafficking. This includes marginalized groups who disproportionately face social and economic inequalities and are thus more susceptible to being trafficked. It is a three-year plan that entails improved protection for victims, a stronger indictment of traffickers, and other preventative measures. The National Action Plan requires collaboration between all levels of government and agencies to effectively support anti-trafficking services and policies. It relies on trafficking survivors' advice on what preventative measures should be taken as well as what protections and resources need to be allocated to survivors. The plan aims to address the needs of marginalized communities by improving racial and gender disparities, improving workers' rights, and establishing safe migration.
Starting with President Obama, in 2010, every consecutive President has declared January to be the month to educate and raise awareness regarding human trafficking. January has become "National Human Trafficking Prevention Month". During this time, efforts and progress to prevent trafficking are celebrated. The U.S. Department of State is tasked with disseminating information regarding human trafficking internationally. This is to continue the conversation and emphasize the importance of anti-trafficking efforts around the globe. During January, individuals are taught how they can work together to identify, prevent, and respond to trafficking.
Raising awareness can take three forms. First, governments can raise awareness among potential victims, particularly in countries where human traffickers are active. Second, they can raise awareness amongst the police, social welfare workers and immigration officers to equip them to deal appropriately with the problem. And finally, in countries where prostitution is legal or semi-legal, they can raise awareness amongst the clients of prostitution so that they can watch for signs of human trafficking victims. Methods to raise general awareness often include television programs, documentary films, internet communications, and posters.
Studies of sex work and anti-sex trafficking efforts, intended to combat sex trafficking or provide support to victims, have raised concerns over the unintended effects of certain national and international policies, law enforcement strategies, and activist efforts on both sex-trafficked individuals and non-trafficked sex workers. For example, The United States' Tier 2 assessment of Japan on its 2004 TIP Report encouraged the Japanese government to add additional constraints to its procedures and policies for obtaining an entertainer visa, sometimes used by migrant workers seeking employment at businesses within the sex industry. (2025). 9780804778169, Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804778169 However, these regulations provided opportunities for some third-party facilitators of these visas to exploit migrants while also limiting migrants' ability to leave employers with poor working conditions or overly restrictive practices, such as holding their passports or limiting their ability to leave the premises of the business. (2025). 9780812206920, University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812206920 Practices of law enforcement officers in some countries have also been criticized for incentivizing non-trafficked sex workers to declare themselves to be trafficking victims and enter aid and rehabilitation programs to avoid prison sentences for prostitution charges. (2015). 9780520960688 ISBN 9780520960688
There are also survivor-led organizations that provide services to victims of exploitation and trafficking including Treasures, founded by Harmony Dust in 2003 and GEMS founded by Rachel Lloyd in 1998.
There are also national non-governmental organizations working on the issue of human trafficking, including sex trafficking. In Kenya, for example, Awareness Against Human Trafficking (HAART) works on ending all human trafficking in the country. HAART has also participated in the UNANIMA International Stop the Demand campaign.
In India, J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam has opened a school called School for Justice. Here, survivors of sex trafficking are educated to become lawyers. The entire program is expected to take five to six years for each girl to complete. The women will graduate with law degrees, with a special focus on commercial sexual exploitation cases. JWT hopes that one day they may become prosecutors, or even judges, empowered to combat the criminals who once exploited and abused them.
NGOs often have the best of intentions when combating sex-trafficking. NGOs are often funded by the West and are implemented in countries that have a very different culture. Research shows that employees of the Western NGOs are slow to adapt to the culture of the community they are providing services to. This often leads to a disconnect between the NGO and the community. Employees of NGOs hold the responsibility of relaying the narrative of sex-trafficked people. This can create a hierarchical structure that makes the voice of Western NGOs as more legitimate than the voice of the people they are serving. Thus, reinforcing the essentialized notion of third-world women as backwards and other.
Japan is a popular place for sex-trafficking. Japan has a long history with the trade of women for sex. For a good part of the country's history, sex work was legal in Japan. This makes it difficult for the government to decipher between legal sex work and illegal prostitution. This is where NGOs step in to assist the government. NGOs provide services in countries where the government policies are failing to combat a specific issue. However, in Japan it is difficult for NGOs focused on issues with women to receive local funding. This weak political support makes the work for NGOs in Japan much more difficult. Japan's lack of support for women's rights shows why the role of NGOs is so important in that country.
In the past ten years, Spain has seen a surge of sex trafficking. In light of this crisis, social movements, organizations and government institutions have enacted policies like the Second National Plan against Sex Trafficking and Anti-Trafficking laws. Campaigns to fight against sex trafficking in Spain between 2008 and 2017 have been examined by researchers. Their research showed that many campaigns focus on the narrative of the victim as vulnerable and weak, rather than focusing on the actual crime of sex trafficking and the economic system that allows it to flourish. According to the research these narratives disempower sex trafficked people through repeated language of vulnerability and innocence. The researchers explain that the lack of information provided in these campaigns hinders their success. Campaigns will throw out huge numbers of women exploited into sex work but gives no context to the system that allows sex trafficking to flourish.
In 1994, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women was established to combat trafficking in women on any grounds. It is an alliance of more than 100 non-governmental organizations from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. The Demi and Ashton (DNA) Foundation was created by celebrity humanitarians Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher in 2009 in their efforts to fight human trafficking (specifically focusing on sex trafficking of children) in the U.S. In September 2010, the pair announced the launch of their "Real Men Don't Buy Girls" campaign to combat child sex trafficking alongside other Hollywood stars and technology companies such as Microsoft, Twitter, and Facebook. "Real Men Don't Buy Girls" is based on the idea that high-profile men speaking out against child sex trafficking can help reduce the demand for young girls in the commercial sex trade. The popular TV channel MTV started a campaign to combat sex trafficking. The initiative called MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) is a multimedia initiative produced by MTV EXIT Foundation (formerly known as the MTV Europe Foundation) to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking.
Another campaign is the A21 Campaign, Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century, which focuses on addressing human trafficking through a holistic approach. They provide potential victims with the education and valuable information on how to best reduce their likelihood of being trafficked through strategies that reduce their vulnerability. The organization also provides safe environments for victims and runs restoration programs in their aftercare facilities. In addition, they provide legal council and representation to victims so they can prosecute their traffickers. Another key component of the campaign is to help influence legislation to enact more comprehensive laws that place more traffickers in prison. The Not for Sale (organization) Campaign works in the United States, Peru, the Netherlands, Romania, Thailand, South Africa, and India to help victims of human trafficking. In 2013 alone, they provided 4,500 services to 2,062 individuals. The vast majority of victims who received assistance were from the Netherlands and the number of victims served increased by 42 percent from 2012. The campaign allocates the majority of their funds to providing victims health and nutritional care and education. Not for Sale provides a safe shelter for victims and empowers them with life skills and job training. This helps trafficked individuals re-enter into the workforce through a dignified form of work. In the organization's 2013 Annual Impact Report, it was determined that 75 percent of the victims had been sexually exploited.
While globalization fostered new technologies that may exacerbate sex trafficking, technology can also be used to assist law enforcement and anti-trafficking efforts. A study was done on online classified ads surrounding the Super Bowl. A number of reports have noticed increase in sex trafficking during previous years of the Super Bowl. For the 2011 Super Bowl held in Dallas, Texas, the Backpage website for the Dallas area experienced a 136 percent increase on the number of posts in the Adult section that Sunday. Typically, Sundays were known to be the day of the week with the lowest number of posts in the Adult section. Researchers analyzed the most salient terms in these online ads and found that most commonly used words suggested that many escorts were traveling across state lines to Dallas specifically for the Super Bowl. Also, the self-reported ages were higher than usual which conveys that an older population of sex workers were drawn to the event, but since these are self-reported the data is not reliable. Despite a lot of media hype about a supposed spike in sex trafficking surrounding the Super Bowl, academics and anti-trafficking campaigners have said this is largely a myth. They say that while the commercial sex market does grow modestly during large events, sex trafficking is a year-round problem. Twitter was another social networking platform studied for detecting sex trafficking. Digital tools can be used to narrow the pool of sex trafficking cases, albeit imperfectly and with uncertainty.Latonero, Mark. "Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds." USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy. Available at SSRN 2045851 (2011).
The Atlanta campaign ran from 2006 to 2008 and was titled "Dear John". It ran ads in local media reaching out to potential johns to discourage them from buying sex. The ads mimicked a break-up letter to John.
Critics of the Dear John campaign focus on the 'male demand' aspect of the campaign and find that this style of campaign reinforces gendered, racialized and sexualized assumptions about johns and trafficked women. The historical discourse in the U.S. concerning johns is racially charged. An example of this racialized nature is associated with the temptations of Thai massage parlors. Despite these objections, lawmakers have found this messaging morally compelling. The campaign was run by locals of Atlanta. Advocates for the campaign informed citizens through media that young women were the ones being arrested while the johns were not. Contextual analysis research has shown the essentialized nature of the campaign. The Dear John campaign posters define women in terms of their relationship to sex. They also only depict white girls in the images inferring that the only victims worth caring about are young white and innocent.
There are no images of johns in the campaign posters. A plausible explanation for this would be an effort by the campaign to widen the scope of the messaging and to avoid racial stereotypes. Conversely, the racial stereotypes of trafficked girls is made clear. This excludes a majority of victims who do not identify with the image that the poster conveys. Lawmakers in Atlanta were fully behind the campaign as a statement to the public that they will not tolerate the purchasing of sex. These public statements are in stark contrast to the actual amount of funding that the city gave to organizations who provide housing and services for victims. The city did no research into the effectiveness of the campaign and therefore there is no data on its actual impact on the city. It is also important to note that the campaign ads were only in English and many people are not familiar with the Dear John reference. Lawmakers believe that the campaign was effective in bringing awareness to the issue and therefore shaped public opinion and policy.
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Proponents of various forms of criminalization, legalization, or regulation of prostitution, may all argue their model decreases sex trafficking. The Dutch model of legalization and regulation and the Swedish model of criminalizing purchasers and pimps but not prostitutes are often discussed. The difference of these models casts the prevention of trafficking against the rights of voluntary sex workers and purchasers. It is argued that a hybrid model of licensing sex workers and criminalizing the purchase of unlicensed sex would reduce trafficking without crushing civil rights.
The General Assembly in 2010, adopted the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, encouraging Governments around the world to undergo drastic measures in order defeat human trafficking. The goal was to put the fight against human trafficking into the United Nation's programmes to strengthen positive development and security around the world. A main section of the plan is to place a United Nations Trust Fund for the women and children who fell victim of trafficking. The Trust Fund in the plan ensures to assist and protect the victims of trafficking through grants to certified NGOs. In the future, the goal is to make the victims a priority who are come were victims and had issues with migration. It also places a focus on the aid to victims who were trafficked by their perpetrator for the goal of sexual relations, organ removal, forced begging, forced criminality, and emerging exploitative reasons.
The General Assembly in the year 2013, gathered a meeting to go over the world's plan of action. Numerous states also declared July 30 as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons. They came to the conclusion that day of remembrance and awareness was crucial to remember the victims, the right's they possess and their protection.
The slogan with the same billboard artwork was also used by buyingsexisacrime.ca in 2017 throughout Canada including Edmonton, Alberta. The slogan was also picked up by the Edmonton Police's own awareness initiative. In 2018, a new campaign was launched at buyingsexisacrime.org sponsored by the Vancouver Collective Against Sexual Exploitation. The collective is a Vancouver, British Columbia, based abolitionist group of lawyers, judges, social workers, professionals, teachers, activists and advocates working to end sexual exploitation.
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