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Human trafficking in the US: A basic rundown

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Human trafficking is alive and well in the United States. We don’t have the labor camps, child soldiers or prostitution rings that some countries do, but many of these things do exist within our borders and in certain places they even flourish. To think that we have moved beyond such things is a stark denial of the truth — it happens in major cities, and it happens in small, rural towns.

Perpetrators range from illegal immigrants to a literal American cheerleader pimping out her own teammates. Recently, I went the International Association of Human Trafficking Investigators (IAHTI) conference. They made it abundantly clear that there is no way to accurately profile human traffickers, and that doing so may cause the investigator to possibly miss a culprit who doesn’t fit whatever idea of perpetrator they had made up in their heads. The cheerleader story is a prime example of that.

First of all, human trafficking can cover a couple of different areas, so it helps to have a clear definition of what it really means. The FBI calls it a “form of human slavery” that includes, “forced labor, domestic servitude, and commercial sex trafficking.” They point out that it, “involves both U.S. citizens and foreigners alike, and has no demographic restrictions.”

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Comments

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  • Avatar
    RB

    Spectulating as I don't know the actual stats. OD's would be real common. Dying from STD's or other diseases would likely be 2nd common cause of death. Death due to assault. Kicked out and left to survive on their own.

  • Avatar
    Recon6

    Joni... it's always about the 'Money'... regardless of the venue it seems some things will remain with us forever... however heinous it's far too lucrative to eradicate... hearts break especially for the children but we will continue to try...best...6

  • Avatar
    Recon6

    TE... it appears there are no records kept, i.e. accountability, for missing Native American females... WTF ??...6

  • Avatar
    Joni S

    That is terrible, RB. Of course, we think it's awful, but they see these women as property used to make money. What happens when they "age" out? Do they live that long? I'm really afraid of the answer.

  • Avatar
    RB

    We have Nigerians who run whole buildings in the joburg slums full of women (largely teens) that have been coerced into prostitution using violence and drugs. The one street is infamous. The sex slaves are trotted out by their pimps naked unto the sidewalk to "advertise their goods" on the street. The cops are unwilling to even enter these areas due to fear (The Nigerians are very well armed with defence set up indepth) and corruption. There are some other horror stories about the "sex slavery" but I'll leave those out for the sake of everyone's stomach.