Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is one of the world’s fastest growing criminal industries. Traffickers use force, fraud or coercion to trap millions of people across the globe into lives of forced servitude. The majority of trafficking victims are women and girls, many of whom are targeted for sexual exploitation, the most common type of human trafficking.

Human Trafficking in the United States

Many people believe that human trafficking is not a problem in the United States. In fact, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are trapped in lives of forced servitude in this country. Traffickers tend to target individuals from marginalized populations, exploiting their victims’ vulnerabilities to ensnare and retain them.

Most traffickers rely on a network of individuals and businesses to support and expand their criminal endeavors. Businesses commonly implicated in human trafficking include: hotels and motels, beauty salons, restaurants, agriculture and animal husbandry, construction, and the health care industry. Human traffickers are increasingly using technology as a means of finding and exploiting their victims.

Human Trafficking Survivors

If we are to curb the growing epidemic of human trafficking, we must hold traffickers and the systems that support them accountable. Trafficking survivors must be able to access resources that will aid them in healing from the trauma inflicted upon them.

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