What is Human Trafficking?
The United States' Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) describes human trafficking using a number of different terms: involuntary servitude, slavery, debt bondage, and forced labor. Under the TVPA, individuals may be trafficking victims regardless of whether they once consented, participated in a crime as a direct result of being trafficked, were transported into the exploitative situation, or were simply born into a state of servitude. At the heart of human trafficking are the myriad forms of enslavement—not the activities involved in international transportation.
- 12.3 million
Adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and forced prostitution around the world
- 4,166
Successful trafficking prosecutions in 2009
- 335
Successful prosecutions related to forced labor
- 49,105
Victims identified
- 0.4
Ratio of victims identified to estimated victims, as a percentage
- 104
Countries without laws, policies, or regulations to prevent victims' deportation
Source: U.S. Department of State, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Trafficking in Persons Report 2010
More information about the Human Trafficking Clinic...