Spotlight on Criminal Justice: National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month—January

An estimated 27.6 million victims around the world are exploited for profit and compelled to perform legal or illegal labor each year. Some are hidden in plain sight performing agricultural, janitorial, or retail work; others are coerced into illicit activities like drug smuggling, pornography, and prostitution. The United States recognizes two primary forms of human trafficking: forced labor and sex trafficking.

An International Effort to Prevent, Prosecute, and Protect

Since 2010, each president has proclaimed January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in an effort to combat modern slavery and domestic and international human trafficking. In 2020, the Trump administration released a three-pillar National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (NAP) to “prevent trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and protect survivors” at home and abroad. President Joe Biden released an updated action plan in 2022 and renamed January National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. “Partnership” became the fourth pillar in 2023, outlining federal, multi-agency, and international collaborative efforts to reduce and respond to global trafficking. Today, more than 180 countries have joined the United Nations’ Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children. Jan. 11, 2024, is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Advocates are encouraged to wear blue to raise awareness and fight against trafficking.

Congressional action addressing human and sex trafficking, forced labor, and involuntary servitude dates back to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. It defines labor trafficking as “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” and names “trafficking in persons” as the “largest manifestation of slavery today.” The rapid expansion of technology, the global marketplace, and cryptocurrencies make it easier for traffickers to target and recruit victims but more difficult for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute multi-country trafficking schemes. From 2011 to 2020, there was a 62 percent increase in the number of people investigated and an 84 percent increase in the number of people prosecuted for federal trafficking offenses.

Forced Labor and Sex Trafficking Data

The majority of human trafficking cases involve women and girls as victims who are recruited and exploited by men. According to the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2022, “Of the 208 defendants charged with peonage, slavery, forced labor, and sex trafficking, 78% were male and 50% were black. In comparison, of the 529 defendants charged with sexual exploitation and other abuse of children, 93% were male and 72% were white.”

Marginalized individuals—especially those who are impoverished; desperate for housing or employment; experiencing household dysfunction, neglect, or abuse; or living in the United States as undocumented migrants—are frequently targeted. People are exploited for a multitude of reasons, such as forced marriage, the selling of children, organ removal, forced begging, recruitment as child soldiers, sex working, and forced labor. Females are more commonly trafficked for sexual exploitation; males for forced labor. Sex trafficking of minors—also known as domestic minor sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children—occurs in all 50 states, and the majority of victims are U.S. citizens. High-risk sectors for forced labor include agriculture/horticulture, construction, garment/textile industries, catering/restaurants, domestic work, entertainment, and the sex industry.

While the clandestine nature of forced labor and sexual exploitation makes it difficult to assess the true prevalence of these activities, data collected from victims who have contacted authorities indicates that human trafficking occurs in every region of the world. Any state, region, or country can be an origin, transit, or destination location—or all three combined. Victims can be exploited right in their own neighborhoods, making human movement across a border unnecessary.

Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, and Partnership

The NAP outlines the federal government’s commitment to strengthening its response to forced labor and sex trafficking. Prevention efforts include enhancing education and outreach, reducing demand, identifying and addressing labor trafficking in supply chains, and improving protections in work visa programs. To protect victims, the plan aims to provide screening and training tools to professionals who are likely to encounter trafficked individuals. Additionally, increased efforts are underway to raise awareness via social media and public awareness campaigns; safeguard victims from incarceration or criminal penalty for trafficking activities; and expand federal assistance, fiscal remedies, and access to victim services. To enhance prosecution, the plan offers guidance on improved coordination and building the capacity of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute these crimes. Non-criminal remedies like civil asset forfeiture, permanent commercial driver’s license bans for people convicted of severe forms of trafficking, and passport revocations have also been implemented or proposed. To strengthen international partnerships, the plan encourages providing more robust, multidisciplinary trafficking education and information sharing; inviting survivors to provide input; and improving federal efforts to collaborate with the Five Country Ministerial discussion of emerging threats.

Conclusion

As technology and international travel and commerce advance in our modern society, so, too, do opportunities to exploit vulnerable, often marginalized individuals. Disproportionately drawn into the criminal legal system, these individuals are viewed primarily as perpetrators of crime rather than as victims forced into illicit activity like panhandling, drug dealing, prostitution, and pornography. Safe Harbor laws, Illinois’ Prevent Unfair Sentencing of Youth Act, and recent sentencing reforms aim to protect children from being prosecuted for trafficking-related crime and reduce sentences for survivors convicted of a crime.

Victims and survivors need comprehensive resources to address the harms of forced labor and sex trafficking. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, civil and criminal legal needs include:

• Family law and restraining orders against traffickers;
• Employment law for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act or discrimination and harassment covered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
• Public benefits access, rights enforcement, and notice of victim’s rights under federal and state law;
• Immigration or repatriation law; and
• Criminal defense for charges stemming from trafficking schemes and the expungement or sealing of criminal records.

The annual observation of National Human Trafficking Month reflects the federal government’s commitment to empowering survivors, prosecuting perpetrators, and ending domestic and international forced labor and sex trafficking. By raising awareness and educating the public, we can all join the fight to end human trafficking and support the needs of victims and survivors.