While many view slavery as a thing of the past, it is very much alive. It is called human trafficking, and it is happening on U.S. soil. Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery where traffickers profit by exploiting innocent men, women and children.

In the U.S. and worldwide, traffickers use a variety of methods such as kidnapping, force, deception, threats, coercion, and other horrific methods to force victims into the commercial sex trade, and into providing labor services against their will. All human trafficking victims share one thing in common – the loss of freedom.

Sex Trafficking in the U.S.

In the United States, many prostitutes are sex slaves who have been kidnapped, manipulated, heavily drugged, and otherwise forced into prostitution. Sex trafficking in the U.S. frequently involves online escort services, brothels disguised as massage parlors or spas, residential brothels, and regular street prostitution.

Labor Trafficking

Human trafficking is not limited to the sex trade. Immigrants can be smuggled into America, only to be sold on the black market as slaves by traffickers. Labor trafficking occurs with domestic servants, large farms, restaurants, carnivals, and more.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), victims are trapped in lives of misery, where they are often beaten, starved, and forced into prostitution or taking physically demanding jobs working in restaurants, factories, or farms with little to no pay.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that each year, thousands of men, women and children are at the mercy of traffickers, in their home countries and abroad. Virtually every country in the world has ties to human trafficking, whether it be as a country of origin, transit, or a destination for trafficking victims.

It is not unheard for a human trafficking victim to be arrested for a prostitution-related offense, or an immigration offense once they fall into the hands of law enforcement.