Human Trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of a person for labor, services, or commercial sex.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its subsequent reauthorizations recognize and define two primary forms of human trafficking:
- Sex trafficking is 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 is 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)).
Additional legal definitions are contained in 18 U.S.C. Chapter 77 (criminal definitions) and 19 U.S.C. § 1307 (includes definition of “forced labor” for purposes of implementing the federal prohibition on importation of goods produced with forced labor).[1]
Human trafficking victims may be U.S. citizens or foreign nationals, and the crime does not require an element of transportation. Human smuggling, a related but different crime, generally involves the consent of the person(s) being smuggled. People often pay large sums of money to be smuggled across international borders. Once in the country of their final destination, they are generally left to their own devices. Smuggling can become trafficking when an element of force, fraud, or coercion is introduced.
NIJ's Role in Human Trafficking Research
NIJ funds rigorous research and evaluation on human trafficking. NIJ is committed to assisting with the detection, measurement, and prevention of human trafficking and with identifying best practice services for people who are victims of trafficking. NIJ-funded research projects focus on:
- Strengthening the science of measuring the prevalence of human trafficking.
- Preventing trafficking.
- Improving the identification, investigation, and prosecution of traffickers.
- Evaluating best practices for identifying and providing services to victims.
In addition to funding research projects, NIJ also co-leads the Research and Data Committee of the Senior Policy Operating Group along with the Department of State.
Human trafficking is a largely hidden crime that has gained the attention of law enforcement, human rights advocates, and policymakers. Research in the field continues to evolve and has focused almost exclusively on victims and survivors. However, rigorous evaluations are needed to advance the evidence for effective service provision for victims of human trafficking. Reliable data are needed, especially about the characteristics of victims and those who traffic them, the mechanisms of operation, and trends.
In addition, law enforcement officials must overcome substantial legal, cultural, and organizational barriers to investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases. These barriers, and strategies to overcome them, are still being identified and evaluated. Multidisciplinary Enhanced Collaborative Model task forces to combat human trafficking are becoming increasingly prevalent, and NIJ continues to focus on rigorous evaluations of these task forces.
Review a list of NIJ-funded research and evaluation projects.
Read articles from NIJ to learn more about select research findings.