Human trafficking in California

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Human trafficking in California is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of California. Human trafficking, widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery, includes

Contents

"the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." [1]

California is particularly vulnerable because of its "proximity to international borders, number of ports and airports, significant immigrant population, and large economy that includes industries that attract forced labor." [2] It serves both as an entry point for slaves imported from outside the US as well as a destination for slaves, with major hubs centered on Los Angeles, Sacramento, [3] San Diego, and San Francisco. [4] According to the 2011 Department of State report, California, together with New York, Texas, and Oklahoma, has the largest concentrations of survivors of human trafficking. [5]

Overview

Human trafficking

Federally, human trafficking is defined [6] as "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 state of California defines a trafficker as "anyone who deprives or violates the personal liberty of another with the intent to obtain forced labor or services, procure or sell the individual for commercial sex, or exploit the individual in an obscene matter". [7] Specifically, depriving and/or violating someone's personal liberty entails "fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, under circumstances where the person receiving or apprehending the threat reasonably believes that it is likely that the person making the threat would carry it out." [7]

Sex trafficking

Sex trafficking in California is defined as "causing, inducing, persuading, or attempting to cause, induce or persuade a minor to engage in a commercial sex act" or the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act." [8] [9]

Forced labor

The State of California Department of Justice defines forced labor as "labor or services that are performed or provided by a person and are obtained or maintained through force, fraud, or coercion, or equivalent conduct that would reasonably overbear the will of the person." [10]

Types of trafficking

Labor trafficking

Labor trafficking involves trafficking persons with the intent to use them for labor-related services. [11]

Domestic service, agricultural work (primarily including migrants), sweatshop labor, and restaurant or hospital work comprise the most common sectors in which labor trafficking arises; domestic service is reported to harbor 27.7% of labor trafficking victims, agriculture with 10.4%, sweatshop work with 4.8%, and restaurant and hotel work with 3.8%. [12]

Domestic servitude

Domestic servitude involves women, men and even children who are coerced to work for and live in the homes of the employers. The employers exploit their victims by forcing them to work unreasonable hours, paying them less than minimum wages and preventing them from leaving their homes. [13] Domestic workers could be lawfully admitted non-U.S. citizens whose passports are confiscated by their employers as a coercion tactic, U.S. citizens who are forced by their employers or families to provide money, or illegal immigrants who are forced to work un-desirable jobs. [14] Most of domestic servitude cases still go unnoticed because of the victims' reluctance to report to the authorities.

Sex trafficking

Sex trafficking victims in California are primarily women and children, coming from the areas of Thailand, Mexico, and Russia. [15] In some cases, victims are born and raised in the US and coerced into sex trafficking through deceptive means. [16] Prostitution and sex services represented the largest share of documented human trafficking activities in California (roughly 47%). [15] As most trafficking reports only take into account media publicized cases, these percentages may be skewed. It is likely that sex trafficking is overrepresented in the media due to high public interest, compared to other types of trafficking. [15]

On the other hand, a federally funded task force conducted a survey and instead looked at a sample of victims reported to the authorities. It found that sex trafficking represented the second largest type of human trafficking at 46%, with labor trafficking representing the largest share at 54%. [17] The discrepancy in results between reported and documented cases could possibly be explained by the fact that sex trafficking is more familiar to authorities, and as a result has a higher chance of being investigated. [17]

In California, much of the prostitution is run behind the guise of a legitimate business, such as a massage parlor. [18] A recent report [19] estimates that over 3,300 massage parlors in California are sex trafficking fronts. Specifically, the report mentioned that Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Clara counties account for the highest number of sexually oriented massage parlors. [19]

Child trafficking

Child trafficking is defined as the exploitation of a minor—someone of 18 years or younger—through organized movement that leaves the child vulnerable to recruitment into trafficking cartels, illegal employment, and sexually exploitative work. [20] The FBI has 13 full-time task forces dedicated to investigating high-profile child prostitution enterprises throughout the United States—two are in California, with one in Los Angeles and another in Orange County. [21]

Of the 705 cases of human trafficking in California reported during 2017, 226 involved minors. [6] This is lower than previous years which was 405 in 2016, 300 in 2015, and 296 in 2014. [6] In Los Angeles, the average age of the first encounter with trafficking is 12–14 years and 11–13 years of age for girls and boys respectively, and they have a 7-year life expectancy after this first encounter. [22]

Additionally, homeless youth and foster kids have an increased risk of being subjected to trafficking. [23] For example 58% of sex trafficked girls in Los Angeles County in 2012 were foster kids. [23] Furthermore, it has been found that 40-70% of street youth occasionally engage in prostitution to meet their basic needs. [23]

Demographics of trafficked persons

Most victims of human trafficking in California, whether international or domestic, either come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or are vulnerable to the temptations of a better life and job. [24] Victims of human trafficking may be are men, women and children born and raised in California or internationally, who are trapped in domestic servitude, forced into prostitution or forced to work on farms far from their initial homes. [24] [25] In schemes involving international persons, the victims are often smuggled into California and are forced into harsh, low-paying jobs, while being indebted to the smugglers for smuggling and transportation, and unreasonably high housing and living costs. [26] The victims of international trafficking avoid reporting the traffickers in fear of exposing their illegal immigration status, language incompetency, oblivion of their own victimization, or wariness about the US judicial system. [25] As immigration laws become more stringent and anti-immigrant antagonism increases, undocumented victims of human trafficking became more prone to coercion into undesirable jobs. [27]

Structural causes

The main cause of international human trafficking is the promise of a better life and job. Traffickers target individuals without families, jobs or place for shelter. The presence of major airports and intrastate major airports in California allows traffickers to transport the victims with ease, making human trafficking in California a profitable, low-risk and high-reward scheme. Similarly, domestic traffickers look for easy and vulnerable targets, particularly young aged boys and girls in schools, foster homes, and homeless-shelters and streets, by offering them money, protection and drugs. Traffickers psychologically manipulate young people by acting as a parent or a lover, in order to gain their trust and take advantage of their make them emotional vulnerability. [24]

National Human Trafficking Hotline statistics

The National Human Trafficking Hotline receives calls regarding reporting of human trafficking cases or general questions. In its annual report for 2018, the National Human Trafficking Hotline claims that there were 790 cases of human trafficking in California, which is the highest among all states, with sex trafficking being the leading form of trafficking. [28] Of sex trafficking victims in California, 76.3% were females, 3.9% were males and 26.9% were minors. Additionally, over 14,000 calls were made in 2018 regarding human trafficking and smuggling cases in California. [29]

Regions of origin

Latin America

Almost one third of the 50,000 victims yearly trafficked into the United States come from Latin America, and the majority of these victims are trafficked into the US through the Mexico–United States border. [25] The Mexico–United States border has been one of the major hubs for human trafficking due to the presence of gang networks and secret routes through the border. [25]

Mexico

Mexico's social instability, low average standards of living compared to the United States and proximity to the United States, makes it one of the most active hubs for human and sex trafficking into California. [25] A conservative estimate made in 2000, claims that around 100,000 women are constantly trafficked around Latin American borders for prostitution. [25] More recently, the U.S. Department of State estimated that there were as much as 20,000 young women and children trafficked across the Mexican border each year. [30] It starts with Mexican drug trafficking organizations and gangs supplying local American gangs with the smuggled victims. Two of the prominent Mexican routes for human trafficking share borders with the U.S. at Baja California and Chihuahua. [24] It is estimated that around 800,000 adults and 20,000 children are yearly victims of human trafficking in Mexico. [24]

Mexico is an important destination to human traffickers as it serves as both a destination and origination point for trafficking men, women and children. It has also become a stopover for the transportation of victims to places such as United States, Brazil, Guatemala and El Salvador. [25] The greatest location of human trafficking is the United States–Mexican border as it offers unemployed persons in Mexico a chance to go through to the United States, where they believe they would get a good paying job and start a new life. Mexican cartels are the main players when it comes to both seducing people into human trafficking and transporting/smuggling them into the United States. These Mexican cartels have built approximately 75 cross-border trafficking and smuggling tunnels, some of which that go into California. These tunnels have made it very easy to transport people from Mexico to California, especially because these tunnels appear to be highly technological as they are equipped with electric rails cars, lights, hydraulic doors and elevators. [24] The well-established connection between gangs in Mexico and the United States guarantees that the victims trafficked into the United States are readily being taken by the U.S. based gangs into all sorts of jobs. [24]

Some of the human trafficking from Mexico into California tends to happen through the so-called "San Diego trafficking corridor". [25] Women and young girls are transported from the Mexico–California border to the northern San Diego County, where they are controlled by pimps who work alongside the traffickers. [25] These women and young girls are placed in brothels, massage parlors and strip-clubs. [25] Research shows that the criminal networks in San Diego control more than 50 brothels, each of which employs hundreds of Mexican girls and women over the course of the year. [25] The trafficked underage girls are also sold to U.S. military camps, U.S. tourists and farmers, who all abuse and rape the girls as young as 9 years old . These underage girls often end up with kids of their own as their "owners"/rapists sometimes do not use sexual protection, in order to label the girls as their own property. This raises bigger health concerns as these exploited girls are at high risks of having STDs such as HIV/AIDS without being aware of the calamity of the disease. [25]

Role of coyotes

"Coyote" is the colloquial Mexican–Spanish used to describe the practice of trafficking people across the U.S.–Mexico border. [31] While in the past coyotes would only smuggle persons in to the United States, recently coyotes have been forcing these smuggled persons into labor agreements upon reaching the United States. [31] These labor agreements exploit the smuggled persons as it involves working in severe conditions for long hours in agricultural labor, forced prostitution and domestic servitude. [31] With recent efforts by authorities to reduce smuggling across the borders, smuggling costs have increased, making smuggled people indebted to coyotes and thus more susceptible to being victims of human trafficking. [31]

Additional victim statistics

Since the nature of human trafficking is so complex and widespread, complete and accurate statistics concerning the country of origin of victims of trafficking can be difficult to obtain or conflicting. [32]

Statistics also vary by region:

Profiles

Historical changes

Over the last 10 years, the profiles of both victims and offenders has changed. [37] Women still represent the majority of trafficked victims, but the share of men and children has increased in recent years, in addition to those trafficked for forced labor. [37] Further, domestic trafficking within a country's borders has also significantly increased.

The UNODC [37] points that victims and traffickers often share various backgrounds in terms of:

These elements make it easier for traffickers to gain the trust of the victim, recruit the victim, and exploit the victim.

Victim profiles

There is no single profile for victims, as they come from diverse backgrounds in terms of "race, color, national origin, disability, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, education level, and citizenship status". [10] However, they all have some form of vulnerability which the trafficker leverages.

These include, but are not limited to:

Offender profiles

A recent study [38] conducted through interviews with traffickers found that most federally convicted offenders either operated alone (57%) or with 1-3 members through social/family ties, with no known organizational support. It was also found that female offenders often served as both victims and offenders, typically in that order. Nearly all those interviewed mentioned that their primary driver was to earn money, and that few options were available to earn a comparable sum. The other leading motivation included pressure by family members.

Law

2005-2015

September 2016

The following provisions were passed in September 2016:

October 2017

September 2018

October 2019

Undocumented immigrants

The Public Policy Institute of California estimates that the size of the undocumented immigrant population in California was approximately 2.6 million in 2010, while it estimates that the size of the undocumented immigrant population in the United States was approximately 10.8 million. [58] California is the state with the most illegal immigrant population, followed by Texas. [59] Estimates show that unauthorized immigrants make 7% of the total California population and 9% of California's labor force. [58] undocumented immigrants could either be victims of international human trafficking or easy targets for traffickers because of their illegal status. [60]

According to research at San Diego State University, approximately 30.9% (or 38,458) of undocumented Mexican workers in San Diego county have been victims of human trafficking. They found that around 6% of undocumented immigrants were trafficked by their smugglers while entering the United States. 28% were trafficked by their employers after entering the United States. They found that 36% of undocumented Mexicans working in cleaning businesses were victims of human trafficking, 35% of those working in construction, 27% of those working in landscaping, and 16% of those working in agriculture. [61] In an effort to curb the spread of trafficking, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Mexico Attorney General Marisela Morales Ibáñez signed an accord in 2012 to expand prosecutions of criminals typically members of transnational gangs who engage in the trafficking of human beings between the United States and Mexico. [62]

Criminal consequences of trafficking

American federal law prohibits human trafficking through several provisions. Federal law outlaws sex trafficking and labor trafficking in particular as they are defined federally. [63] Federal agencies may enforce these laws either independently or in conjunction with local law enforcement bodies. [63]

California state law defines human trafficking as follows:

...State law defines human trafficking as violating the liberty of a person with the intent to either (1) commit certain felony crimes (such as prostitution) or (2) obtain forced labor or services. [63]

An adult person found to be involved in human trafficking as defined by the state of California would be punished under state law through a prison sentence of up to five years. [63] If a person under the age of 18 engaged in what the state defines as human trafficking, their actions would be punishable with a prison sentence of up to eight years. [63] Criminal punishments for people found to be engaging in human trafficking are always felonies under California law. [64]

If a person is convicted of obtaining forced labor through human trafficking, he/she faces either five, eight, or twelve years in prison, plus a fine of up to $500,000. [64] If one is found to be committing human trafficking crimes connected to commercial sex trafficking, sexual extortion, or child pornography, he/she faces either eight, fourteen, or twenty years in state prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and the legally mandated responsibility to register as a sex offender. [64]

If a person coerces a minor under the age of 18 to engage in commercial sex acts, the persuading actor can receive five to twelve years in prison or a prison sentence of fifteen years to life if the relevant jury determines that he/she used "force, fear, violence, or threat of injury to the alleged victim"; a $500,000 fine; and the requirement to register as a sex offender. [64]

Examples

Prominent locations

Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco are included in the FBI's list of top thirteen child sex trafficking areas in the nation. These areas' close proximity to the international border, diverse population, and presence of seaports and airports makes them vulnerable to human trafficking.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is one of the three major entry points for human trafficking in the US. [70] [71] Los Angeles is a hotspot for human trafficking because of its diverse population, international connections, and involvement in the fashion industry. [72] Between 2007 and 2016, there were 2,803 total calls (the third most calls per city) made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline from the Los Angeles area, [73] with 884 of these cases having high or moderate characteristics of human trafficking (the second largest number of cases per city). [73]

In Los Angeles, a sex trafficker makes, on average, $49,000 per victim. [74] The average onset age for girls and boys subjected to child trafficking in Los Angeles is 12-14 and 11–13 years of age respectively. [71] Survivors have an average lifespan of 7 years after their first encounter with trafficking, where HIV/AIDS or homicide are the largest causes of death. [71]

Los Angeles has been focusing on public awareness campaigns in hopes that more people will notice possible indicators of human trafficking. [72] Additionally, the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force was launched in 2015. [75] A significant focus of this regional task force is to work with the LASD Human Trafficking Unit to treat child survivors as victims and not criminals. [75]

In 2018, Los Angeles headed the three day "Operation Reclaim and Rebuild" to create a large scale attack on human trafficking. [76] 80 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and task forces participated in the operation. [76] 510 arrests were made with 30 suspected traffickers and more than 50 human trafficking survivors saved (45 adults, 11 children) statewide. [76]

San Diego

Human trafficking is prominent in San Diego's fishing and agricultural industries. [77] Between 2007 and 2016, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 1,333 calls from San Diego (10th most calls among cities), with 335 of these cases having high or moderate indicators associated with human trafficking (11th most). [73]

The San Diego District Attorney's Office concluded that there are at least 8,000 human trafficking survivors currently in San Diego and that human trafficking is the second largest underground economy in San Diego after drug trafficking, creating an $810 million profit. [77] Other reports claim that there are between 3,417 and 8,108 sex trafficking survivors in San Diego. [78] Additionally, 31% of Spanish Speaking immigrants living in San Diego have been subjected to human trafficking. [35]

One report claimed that out of 20 high schools in San Diego interviewed, all had had sex trafficking recruitment taken place on their campus, while 90% had sex-trafficking cases. [78] Additionally, around 110 gangs were found to be involved in human trafficking in San Diego. [79] Furthermore, a presence of international criminal networks used to traffic children and adults across the border was noted. [79]

San Diego has created the Ugly Truth Campaign and Out of the Shadows in order to raise public awareness of human trafficking in San Diego. [78]

San Francisco

Between 2007 and 2016, the National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 1,102 calls and 302 cases concerning human trafficking from San Francisco area (12th most per US city). [73]

In 2013, the Mayor's Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking was created to eliminate gaps in services to survivors of human trafficking and create a victim-centered approach to treating survivors. [35] This task force consisted of a Child Sex Trafficking Committee, a Labor Trafficking Committee, and a Sex Work and Trafficking Policy Impact Committee. [35]

From July 2014 to December 2014, 291 human trafficking survivors were identified in San Francisco, with 224 being female and 118 of them being children. [35] In 2015, 499 survivors of human trafficking were identified in San Francisco, with 122 being minors, 283 being adults, and 94 being unknown; 54% of these cases involved sex trafficking. [35] In 2015, the National Human Trafficking Hotline noted that 80% of the calls from San Francisco concerning human trafficking involved women. [35]

Regional task forces

California does not have a single task force to combat human trafficking, but instead has nine regional task forces. The U.S. Department of Justice awarded grants to create six regional task forces in 2004 and 2005, and in 2009 and 2010, the California Emergency Management Agency used American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant funds to create three new regional task forces. Task forces and made up of law enforcement and local, state, and federal prosecutors, as well as other governmental leaders and nongovernmental organizations. [80] The task forces are as follows:

Organizations

Documentaries

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking</span> Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).

Taiwan is primarily a destination for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. It is also a source of women trafficked to Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Women and girls from the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) and Southeast Asian countries are trafficked to Taiwan through fraudulent marriages, deceptive employment offers, and illegal smuggling for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Many trafficking victims are workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, employed through recruitment agencies and brokers to perform low skilled work in Taiwan’s construction, fishing, and manufacturing industries, or to work as domestic servants. Such workers are often charged high job placement and service fees, up to $14,000, resulting in substantial debt that labor brokers or employers use as a tool for involuntary servitude. Many foreign workers remain vulnerable to trafficking because legal protections, oversight by authorities and enforcement efforts are inadequate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the United Kingdom</span>

The United Kingdom (UK) is a destination country for men, women, and children primarily from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe who are subjected to human trafficking for the purposes of sexual slavery and forced labour, including domestic servitude. It is ranked as a "Tier 1" country by the US Department of State, which issues an annual report on human trafficking. "Tier 1" countries are those whose governments fully comply with The Trafficking Victims Protection Act's minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The TVPA is a federal statute of the United States. It is believed that some victims, including minors from the UK, are also trafficked within the country. It is also believed that migrant workers are trafficked to the UK for forced labour in agriculture, construction, food processing, domestic servitude, and food service. Source countries for trafficking victims in the UK include the United Arab Emirates, Lithuania, Russia, Albania, Ukraine, Malaysia, Thailand, the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.), Nigeria, and Ghana. Precise details about the extent of human trafficking within the UK are not available, and many have questioned the validity of some of the more widely quoted figures. In 2020, the US State Department estimated that there were 13,000 trafficking victims in the UK.

Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children's are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking</span> Trade of humans for exploitation

Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation. Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally. It is distinct from people smuggling, which is characterized by the consent of the person being smuggled.

Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST) is a Los Angeles-based anti-human trafficking organization. Through legal, social, and advocacy services, CAST helps rehabilitate survivors of human trafficking, raises awareness, and affects legislation and public policy surrounding human trafficking.

The Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking (ALERT) is a coalition representing partnerships with law enforcement, faith-based communities, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, attorneys and concerned citizens. ALERT helps victims of human trafficking by providing: food and shelter; medical care; mental health counseling; immigration assistance; legal assistance; language interpretation; case management; and other culturally appropriate services throughout the state of Arizona. Through education, outreach and a variety of programs and services, ALERT strives to end the suffering and dehumanization of victims of human trafficking.

Human trafficking in Canada is prohibited by law, and is considered a criminal offence whether it occurs entirely within Canada or involves the "transporting of persons across Canadian borders. Public Safety Canada (PSC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the United States</span> Human trafficking as it relates to the United States

In the United States, human trafficking tends to occur around international travel hubs with large immigrant populations, notably in California, Texas, and Georgia. Those trafficked include young children, teenagers, men, and women; victims can be domestic citizens or foreign nationals.

Austria is a destination and transit country for women, men, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor.

Botswana is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Parents in poor rural communities sometimes send their children to work for wealthier families as domestics in cities or as herders at remote cattle posts, where some of these children are vulnerable to forced labor. Batswana girls are exploited in prostitution within the country, including in bars and by truck drivers along major highways; it does not appear, however, that organized pimping of children occurs. In the past, women reported being forced into commercial sexual exploitation at some safari lodges, but there were no similar reports during this reporting period. Residents in Botswana most susceptible to trafficking are illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, unemployed men and women, those living in rural poverty, agricultural workers, and children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Some women from Zimbabwe who voluntarily, but illegally, migrate to Botswana to seek employment are subsequently subjected by their employers to involuntary domestic servitude. Botswana families which employ Zimbabwean women as domestic workers at times do so without proper work permits, do not pay adequate wages, and restrict or control the movement of their employees by holding their passports or threatening to have them deported back to Zimbabwe.

Human trafficking is the trade of humans, most commonly for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. Mexico is a large source, transit, and destination country for victims of human trafficking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Texas</span> Overview of the situation of human trafficking in the U.S. state of Texas

Human trafficking in Texas is the illegal trade of human beings as it occurs in the state of Texas. It is a modern-day form of slavery and usually involves commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor, both domestic and agricultural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2013</span>

The Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2013 (SETT) is a bill that would require each state, within three years, to have in effect legislation that: (1) treats a minor who has engaged or attempted to engage in a commercial sex act as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, (2) discourages the charging or prosecution of such an individual for a prostitution or sex trafficking offense, and (3) encourages the diversion of such individual to child protection services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in New York</span>

Human trafficking in New York is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor. It occurs in the state of New York and is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes, "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Arizona</span> Overview of the situation of human trafficking in the U.S. state of Arizona

Human trafficking in Arizona is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of Arizona, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Nevada</span>

Human trafficking in Nevada is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor as it occurs in the state of Nevada, and it is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of 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. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in the United States</span>

Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.

Human Trafficking or "trafficking in persons" is the recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for mainly the purposes of forced labor or prostitution. Other reasons for human trafficking are the removal of organs, forced marriage, and other exploitations. South America is one of the biggest source and destination locations in the world and has struggled with the issue for many years. The ILO estimates that of the 20.9 million victims of human trafficking in 2012, 1.8 million were from Latin America. There are many factors that cause human trafficking, like a high demand for domestic servants, sex laborers, and factory workers, the existence of already established trafficking networks that often take advantage of young women and children, corruption in the governments and local law enforcement agencies, a governmental disinterest in the issue and a lack of opportunity for women in South American regions where trafficking occurs. People exploited in human trafficking are often impoverished, members of indigenous peoples, unemployed, victims of abuse, illiterate, substance users, homeless, or involved in gang activity. Research by the United States Department of State has also found that LGBTQ+ and transgender people are vulnerable to human trafficking. By far, sex trafficking is the leading type of human trafficking, making up 79 percent of all human trafficking. This is then followed by forced labor at 18 percent. About 20 percent of trafficking victims are children. Primary destinations for trafficking and illegal immigration are the United States, Spain, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Canada. Globalization, capitalism and societal attitudes facilitate and reduce the barriers to human trafficking.

Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. China, the world's second-most populous country, has the second highest number of human trafficking victims in the world. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

References

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  2. ↑ "A Serious Problem – Around the Globe and in the USA". CAST LA: Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
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  6. 1 2 3 (n.d.). [USC04] 22 USC Ch. 78: TRAFFICKING VICTIMS PROTECTION. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title22/chapter78&edition=prelim
  7. 1 2 (n.d.). Penal Code Section 236.1 - California Legislative Information. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=236.1.&lawCode=PEN
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  13. ↑ "End Slavery Now: Domestic Servitude".
  14. ↑ Harris, Kamala. "The State of Human Trafficking in California 2012" (PDF).
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  42. ↑ California SB-1193
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  49. ↑ "Bill Text - SB-1322 Commercial sex acts: minors". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
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  51. ↑ "Bill Text - SB-1064 Sexually exploited minors". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  52. ↑ "Bill Text - SB-1064 Sexually exploited minors". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  53. ↑ "Bill Text - AB-260 Human trafficking". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
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  57. ↑ "Bill Text - SB-233 Immunity from arrest". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
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  81. ↑ If Brands Want Trust, They Can't Have Slaves
  82. ↑ Slavery Footprint: How Many Forced Laborers Work For You?
  83. ↑ Gutierrez , Thelma. Guest Workers Tricked Into Slavery. "CNN" Los Angeles, 23 June 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  84. ↑ "Filmmaker hopes to bring to light Bay Area sex trafficking industry". ABC7 San Francisco. 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  85. ↑ May-Suzuki, Christian. "Resident filmmaker's documentary on Child Sex Trafficking Making Change throughout the Country | Culver City News" . Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  86. ↑ McClintock, Kevin. "Award-winning documentary on human trafficking to be screened at MSSU". Joplin Globe. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
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