BE ALEX
Defender of Humanity
WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Millions of men, women, and children are trafficked into forced labor situations and into the sex trade worldwide. Many of these victims are lured from their homes with false promises of well-paying jobs; instead, they are forced or coerced into prostitution, domestic servitude, or other types of forced labor. Victims are found in legitimate and illegitimate labor industries, including sweatshops, massage parlors, agricultural fields, restaurants, hotels, and domestic service.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING vs HUMAN SMUGGLING
Human trafficking is different from human smuggling. Trafficking is exploitation-based and does not require movement across borders or any type of transportation.
WHAT DOES HUMAN TRAFFICKING LOOK LIKE?
Victims of human trafficking can be any age, gender, race, or immigration status; they live in cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Human traffickers relentlessly canvas ways to take advantage of people who find themselves in circumstances of extreme adversity or violence, experience discrimination, economic vulnerability, or dependence. Communities that experience some of these hardships may be particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.
The terms “sex trafficking,” “sex work,” and “prostitution” are often conflated. While both sex work and sex trafficking involve prostitution by definition, sex work entails a willing engagement in commercial sex while sex trafficking involves force, coercion, or deceit. Some enter the industry willingly as sex workers but may eventually become victims of trafficking.