Who does the law define as a survivor of human trafficking?
Human trafficking involves individuals of all ages, who may be subject to sexual or labor exploitation as a result of being tricked, lured, coerced, or forced into a vulnerable situation by traffickers.
Federal law, through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, defines trafficking as:
(1) “Sex trafficking 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;” or
(2) “[T]he 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.”
Human trafficking comes in a variety of forms and may be difficult to distinguish. It may include individuals involved in prostitution, exotic dancing, domestic servitude, sweatshops, begging and/or agricultural work.