Human Trafficking in the United States

When we come across the term 'human trafficking', we most often take into consideration people, especially women and children, brought to the United States for the purpose of labor and sexual exploitation. What we fail to notice is the fact that this issue is as serious within the United States as it is at the global level. When we refer to human trafficking in any country, it also includes trafficking of people within the country.

Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective

Human trafficking is one of the most serious crimes in the world, second only to drug trafficking in terms of its magnitude. The term 'human trafficking' in a broad sense refers to illegal trade of humans for the purpose of sexual and labor exploitation. The data compiled by the United Nations suggests that approximately 2.5 million people are trafficked in different parts of the world every year, with as many as 127 countries being directly or indirectly involved in the same. The global market share for this illegal activity is estimated to be of around $42.5 billion in terms of annual worth. The victims of human trafficking are held and forced to work against their will. It is nothing short of modern-day slavery, involving forced domestic labor, bonded labor, child labor, sexual exploitation of women and children, etc. That being said, one shouldn't associate human trafficking with people smuggling, as these two concepts are totally different from each other.

Human Trafficking: The United States Perspective

Over the last few years, the problem of human trafficking in America has increased by massive proportions - with as many as 14,000 - 18,000 people being trafficked within the country every year. As in case of any other illegal activity, it is very difficult to ascertain the exact numbers, and therefore statistics are most often based on estimates by different federal departments and organizations. In America, the United States' Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 acts as a guide for various legal matters associated with human trafficking. This Act defines it as an act involving transportation or harboring of people for sexual and labor exploitation by resorting to force, fraud or coercion. Going by this Act, holding a person back to work off his debt also amounts to human trafficking.

Most of the victims of human trafficking in the United States are people from Mexico and Southeast Asia, along with a few other countries from Africa and Europe. Recent trends, however, reveal that a significant proportion of these victims of are citizens of America itself. Males are more often trafficked into agricultural labor work, crime and drug trade, while females are trafficked into commercial sex trade and domestic work. Human trafficking is virtually reported from every single American state every year. Of the total 1,229 registered cases of human trafficking in the US between 2007 and 2008, 1,018 were that of sex trafficking.

In 2003, the law enforcement agencies all over the country arrested around 1,400 minors for prostitution, some of whom were barely 14 years old. The data compiled by National Human Rights Center reveals that there are approximately 10,000 forced laborers in the United States as of today, of which around one-third are deployed as domestic servants. All these statistics reveal that instances of blatant violation of human rights, such as human trafficking, also exists in developed nations such as the United States.

The federal administration has declared human trafficking a criminal act, and put various laws - such as Section 1584 and Section 1581, in place to curb the same. Most of the states also have tough laws to curb the menace in accordance to the federal laws. The biggest problem, however, is the fact that most of the cases of human trafficking go unreported and that makes it very difficult to find a link to such activities.