The most widely accepted definition of human trafficking comes from the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, otherwise known as the Palermo Protocols. Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2000 and accepted by over 150 countries, the Palermo Protocols defines human trafficking as:
“The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”
The U.S. Government defines human trafficking as:
Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.
Exploitation is at the heart of human trafficking.
In the case of sex trafficking, exploitation implies the forced prostitution or sexual abuses of vulnerable men, women, and children. The United States’ Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) declares it a crime to coerce, force, or mislead men, women, and children into sex slavery, whether those efforts to coerce are subtle or overt. However, if a victim is a minor (under 18), it is a considered a crime regardless if there is evidence of force, fraud, or coercion.
Child trafficking includes labor and/or sex trafficking.
Sex Trafficking - A minor of sex trafficking is someone subjected to "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age"
What does trafficking look like?
Child sex trafficking victimsmay be forced to engage in sex acts by gang members, family members, or strangers for something of value, such as money, a place to stay, drugs, or transportation.
Child Trafficking is Modern Day Slavery. Every year traffickers steal children as young as 5 years old and sell them into forced sex or labor situations. They are taken away from their families and forced to perform unspeakable acts. In the Child Trafficking definition of victims, boys are included as well as girls, and the victims could be anyone—your daughter, your son, your neighbor, your friend.
If you need help
Visit ONE PLACE Family Justice Center at 530 S. Lawrence Street, Montgomery, Alabama or call 334.262.7378 or if you are in immediate danger Call 911.
