The Face of Modern Slavery
“Human trafficking occurs in countries throughout the world and in communities across our Nation. Children are forced to fight as soldiers, young people are coerced into prostitution, and migrants are exploited. People from all walks of life are trafficked every day, and the United States is committed to remaining a leader in the global movement to end this abhorrent practice.”
President Barack Obama, Presidential Proclamation - National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2016
Sex Trafficking
When an adult engages in a commercial sex act, such as prostitution, as the result of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion or any combination of such means, that person is a victim of trafficking. Under such circumstances, perpetrators involved in recruiting, harboring, enticing, transporting, providing, obtaining, advertising, maintaining, patronizing, or soliciting a person for that purpose are guilty of federal sex trafficking of an adult. This is true even if the victim previously consented to engage in such activities.
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Child Sex Trafficking
When a minor (defined under federal law as a person under 18 years) is recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, maintained, patronized, or solicited to engage in a commercial sex act, proving force, fraud, or coercion is not required. The use of children in the commercial sex trade is prohibited both under U.S. law and by legislation in most countries around the world.
Labor Trafficking
Labor trafficking encompasses the range of activities – recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining – involved when a person uses force or physical threats; psychological coercion; abuse of the legal process; a scheme, plan, or pattern intended to hold a person in fear of serious harm; or other coercive means to compel someone to work. Once a person’s labor is obtained by such means, the person’s previous consent or effort to obtain employment with the trafficker does not preclude the person from being considered a victim, or the government from prosecuting the offender.
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Bonded Labor or Debt Bondage
U.S. law prohibits the use of a bond or debt as a form of coercion used to compel a person’s labor. Some workers inherit debt, while others fall victim to traffickers or recruiters who unlawfully exploit an initial debt assumed as a condition of employment
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Debt Bondage among Migrant Laborers
Although contract violations and hazardous working conditions for migrant laborers do not necessarily constitute human trafficking, the burden of costs and debts on these laborers can contribute to a situation of debt bondage. Employment-based temporary work programs when the workers’ legal status in the country is tied to the employer make it more difficult for workers to speak up and seek redress
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Domestic Servitude
In the case of domestic servitude, the circumstances of providing services in a residence create unique vulnerabilities. Domestic workplaces are often informal, connected to off-duty living quarters, and not shared with other workers. Such an environment, which often isolates domestic workers, is conducive to exploitation because authorities cannot inspect private homes as easily as formal workplaces.
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Forced Child Labor
Although children may legally engage in certain forms of work, forms of slavery or slave-like practices – including the sale of children, forced or compulsory child labor, and debt bondage and serfdom of children – continue to exist as manifestations of human trafficking, despite legal prohibitions and widespread condemnation. U.S. law prohibits the importation of goods produced by forced labor, including forced child labor.
Unlawful Recruitment or Use of Child Soldiers
Child soldiering can be a manifestation of human trafficking when it involves the unlawful recruitment or use of children – through force, fraud, or coercion – by armed forces as combatants or to carry out support roles such as cooks, porters, messengers, medics, or guards. Perpetrators may be government forces, paramilitary organizations, or rebel groups. In addition to being recruited or used for combat or labor, some child soldiers are sexually exploited by armed groups
Unlawful Recruitment or Use of Child Soldiers
Child soldiering can be a manifestation of human trafficking when it involves the unlawful recruitment or use of children – through force, fraud, or coercion – by armed forces as combatants or to carry out support roles such as cooks, porters, messengers, medics, or guards. Perpetrators may be government forces, paramilitary organizations, or rebel groups. In addition to being recruited or used for combat or labor, some child soldiers are sexually exploited by armed groups
The President's Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF)
The President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF) and the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG), which consists of senior officials designated as representatives of the PITF members, are dedicated to a multi-faceted response from every level of the U.S. government. This multidisciplinary approach includes the vigorous enforcement of criminal anti-trafficking statutes and labor laws; development of victim-centered identification, stabilization, and protection measures; support for innovations in data gathering and research; implementation of education and public awareness programs; enhanced partnerships and research opportunities; and strategically linked foreign assistance and diplomatic engagement.
The agencies of the PITF are the Departments of State (DOS), Defense (DOD), Justice (DOJ), the Interior (DOI), Agriculture (USDA), Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), Transportation (DOT), Education (ED), and Homeland Security (DHS), as well as the Domestic Policy Council (DPC), the National Security Council (NSC), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). As part of the PITF, these agencies convene routinely to advance and coordinate federal policies to combat trafficking in persons and implement the TVPA.
Additional information can be found at: https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/tip/rls/reports/2016/263595.htm