Beware!
I meant to say “be aware” and start this post with some facts about human trafficking.
Were you aware that a person doesn’t need to be transported from one place to another in order to be a person who is trafficked? Here is the definition of trafficking as defined by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
“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.”
The key is the word “or” and transportation is one of many elements that can add up to someone being trafficked. But it isn’t a singular element and would have the word “and” within its definition if it were a singular requirement. Recruitment and harboring are elements of the definition as well. A better look at the definition of trafficking shows three parts or elements that can equal trafficking.
Part 1: The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for
labor or services…(Act)
Part 2: … through the use of force, fraud, or coercion…(Means)
Part 3: …for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. (Purpose)
It is likely that a person who is trafficked will meet several of these elements, it is important to know that by distinction some are needed for legal purposes but not all.
Were you aware that sex trafficking isn’t the only kind of human trafficking?
Sex trafficking is one that we most often see in movies, television, books, and media. Labor trafficking is just as prevalent and possibly closer to us than we actually think. Other sub-forms of trafficking include domestic servitude, elderly, and familial. Think about our vulnerable communities and you will possibly start to see how persons in these groups can be persons who are trafficked. Poor, racially diverse, LGBTQ+, children, elderly, etcetera have a greater risk of being isolated by traffickers for example.
If you suspect someone is being trafficked, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline. It is confidential and safe.
1-888-373-7888 or text *233733
#1-Survivor@a-time