Human trafficking is one of the most serious criminal justice issues facing our society. Illegally trading human beings for commercial gain, whether through forced labor, sexual exploitation or any other form of slavery, is one of the worst crimes one can commit. Women and children, particularly those from underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds, are the most common victims of this kind of abuse. The powers that be in the United States and around the world, however, have made great strides in combating this deplorable practice.
Statistics about Human Trafficking in the United States
• Between January 2008 and June 2010, task forces used federal funding to open 2,515 suspected human trafficking investigations.
• More than half of human trafficking perpetrators are over the age of 25, while only 13% of victims are above this age.
• Out of all human trafficking criminal suspects, 81% are male.
• Labor trafficking victims are more likely to be Latino or Asian, with a high percentage being undocumented aliens; sex trafficking victims are more likely to be white or black U.S. citizens.
• Federal funding is more likely to go to labor trafficking investigations than sex trafficking investigations — 29% of human trafficking investigations focus on labor, and only 7% on sex crimes.
Fighting Back Against Human Trafficking
In order to fight back against human trafficking in the United States, the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act was established in 2000. Since then, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 have also been established to strengthen these protections. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was set up to give law enforcement agencies the proper tools to combat trafficking here and abroad, and to establish coordinated efforts among all enforcement agencies.
Similar actions have been taken within the international community, such as the United Nations’ Trafficking Protocol. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, became part of the United Nations’ doctrine in 2000. The protocol established an agreement on what constitutes human trafficking and how societies can cooperate in the investigations of these crimes. According to the U.N.’s definition, any harboring, receipt, recruitment, transfer or transportation of people by means of abduction, abuse of power, coercion, deception, fraud, giving or receiving of payments, or any threat of harm constitutes human trafficking.
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