NCJ Number
219040
Date Published
July 2006
Length
24 pages
Annotation
After defining "trafficking in persons," this paper discusses its scope and causes of increase worldwide, characteristics of traffickers and their victims, regional trends, trafficking to the United States, U.S. policy on human trafficking and the role of Congress, and the international response.
Abstract
Severe forms of "trafficking in persons" have been defined in U.S. law 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; or ...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." Trafficking in persons is considered to be one of the leading criminal enterprises of the early 21st century, affecting every country. The globalization of the world economy has increased the movement of people across borders, legally and illegally, especially from poorer to wealthier countries. International organized crime has taken advantage of the freer flow of people, money, goods, and services to extend its own international reach. Although there is no single victim stereotype, a majority of trafficked women are under 25 years old, with many being in their mid to late teens. According to the U.S. State Department, the largest number of victims are trafficked from Southeast Asia annually. Since enactment of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-386), the administration and Congress have given priority to the human trafficking problem. Under its provisions, those countries identified as not cooperating in the fight against human trafficking have been subject to U.S. sanctions since 2003. Policy issues for the 109th Congress are outlined.