What is human trafficking?

Trafficking is a global human rights violation that is a contemporary form of slavery. According to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, “severe forms of trafficking in persons” is defined as:

• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, coercion, or in which the person induced to person an act is under 18.
• The recruitment, transportation, harboring, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Trafficking of persons is illegal! If you were trafficked into the United States and forced in involuntary servitude, sex, or labor, there is a way out! You can be free!

Human trafficking is a crime under US law.

Who are victims of trafficking?

• Victims of trafficking are given false promises about their life in the United States.
• You may have come to the USA to marry somebody but have been turned into a servant.
• You may have been promised a job but end up working in unbearable conditions for very little or no money.
• You may be forced into sex.

Questions that can help you identify a victim of human trafficking:

• How did you migrate?
• What happened to you when you arrived in the USA?
• How did you find out about your job?
• What kind of work do you do?
• What was it like when you started to work?
• Are you paid what you have been promised? How much? How often
• Are you forced or coerced to work?
• Have you tried leaving your job? What happened?
• Has your passport been taken away from you?
• Are you afraid of your employer? Why? Are you being threatened?

If any of these things have happened to you, your rights have been violated and there is help available to you.

However, the victim should not be prosecuted! If you were trafficked into the USA, it is not your fault! You are a victim of crime and should not be prosecuted for the things you were forced to do. Even if you do not have any documents or visa, you have rights. Even if you agreed to travel and work in the USA, the person who brought you here has no right to abuse you.

As a human being and a victim of trafficking, you are entitled to rights to access certain services and goods such as:

• Social assistance
• Medical care
• Psychological treatment
• Legal Representation
• Mandatory restitution
• Privacy and safety
• The right to seek residency under T and U visas [more information]

Victims need to be certified by the Office of Refugee Resettlement before they can receive some of these benefits.

View the Washington State Anti-Trafficking Task Force Recommendations Booklet, for more information.