Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery. It is an extreme form of labor exploitation where women, men and children are recruited or obtained and then forced to labor against their will through force, fraud or coercion. Trafficking victims are often lured by false promises of decent jobs and better lives. The inequalities women face in status and opportunity worldwide make women particularly vulnerable to trafficking.

How bad is the situation?

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that at least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labor at any given time, 2.4 million of whom toil in forced labor as a result of trafficking. The U.S. Department of State estimates that 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year. However, these numbers do not include the many individuals trafficked within U.S. borders.

The Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley estimates that at least ten thousand people are working as forced laborers at any one time in the United States.

Who are the victims?

Worldwide, women and children suffer disproportionately from trafficking. Poverty, gender discrimination, illiteracy and low levels of education, regional conflicts, and a lack of job opportunities affect women in great numbers. Such conditions pressure women to migrate and make them particularly vulnerable to trafficking that is, to unscrupulous recruiters or employers who, through force, fraud, or coercion, place women in job situations to which they did not consent and from which they cannot freely escape. Accordingly, an estimated 80 percent of trafficking victims worldwide are women and children.

In the United States, victims of trafficking are almost exclusively immigrants, and mostly immigrant women.¹¹ The average age of trafficking victims in the U.S. is 20.¹² In the U.S., immigrant women and children are particularly vulnerable to the deceptive and coercive tactics of traffickers because of their lower levels of education, inability to speak English, immigration status, and lack of familiarity with U.S. employment protections. Further, they are vulnerable because they often work in jobs that are hidden from the public view and unregulated by the government.

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Assistance for Victims of Trafficking

To report a trafficking in persons situation to law enforcement, contact the police at 911 or the Trafficking in Persons and Worker Task Force complaint line at (888) 428-7581 or your District Attorney’s office.

To report a trafficking situation, obtain information and access supportive services available to a victim of trafficking, contact the Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline of the Department of Health and Human Services at (888) 3737-888.