Types of Trafficking

Types of Trafficking

There are three main types of trafficking:

Sex Trafficking

Sex trafficking is defined in 22 U.S.C. § 7102 (12) as the:

  • Recruitment
  • Harboring
  • Transportation
  • Provision
  • Obtaining
  • Patronizing or
  • Soliciting

of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act. The term “commercial sex act” means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given or received by any person. “Anything of value” can include but is not limited to: food, shelter, transportation, clothing, drugs, alcohol, cell phones, or money.

Victims of sex trafficking can be found anywhere, but are often found in:

  • Bars and brothels
  • Dance clubs and strip clubs
  • Massage parlors and spas
  • Escort services
  • Private parties
  • Pornography industry
  • On the Internet

It is important to note that any minor found in commercial sex (prostitution, pornography, stripping, nude dancing) is per se a victim of trafficking. Minors cannot consent to being used for commercial sex. No force, fraud, or coercion is necessary to be present to prove that a minor is a victim of sex trafficking.

Labor Trafficking (Forced Labor)

Labor trafficking (“forced labor”) is defined in 22 U.S.C. § 7102 (12) as the:

  • Recruitment
  • Harboring
  • Transportation
  • Provision
  • Obtaining

of a person using force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to:

  • Involuntary servitude
  • Peonage
  • Debt bondage
  • Slavery

In the DoD, labor trafficking has occurred in outsourcing contracts for labor intensive industries such as:

  • Food services
  • Hospitality services
  • Janitorial and waste disposal services
  • Truck and driver services
  • Security guards
  • Construction work
  • Rebuilding after a natural disaster

Outside the DoD but impacting DoD, labor trafficking (forced labor) is found in over 150 goods in 78 countries including agriculture, farming, fishing, cotton, artisanal mining and quarrying, factory and manufacturing work, to name a few.1

1 ILAB, 2022 LIST OF GOODS PRODUCED BY CHILD LABOR OR FORCED LABOR, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ilab/child_labor_reports/tda2021/2022-tvpra-list-of-goods-v3.pdf

Child Soldiering

Child soldiering (the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict) is considered a form of human trafficking as well as a human rights problem, among the worst forms of child labor, and a war crime. The United Nations (U.N.) has identified the recruitment and use of child soldiers as among six “grave violations” affecting children in war and has established monitoring and reporting mechanisms and initiatives to combat this practice. The U.N. verified that more than 6,000 children were recruited and used as soldiers in 2022, including in Syria (1,696 children), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1,545), Somalia (1,094), Mali (452), and Burma/Myanmar (235), among other countries. Most of the children were boys, and the majority were recruited and used by non-state actors.2

U.S. efforts to eradicate this phenomenon internationally are guided largely by the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA, Title IV of P.L. 110-457; 22 U.S.C. §2370c et seq.), which defines the term “child soldier” and prohibits certain security assistance to countries that recruit or use child soldiers, among other provisions. The Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2018 (Title II, Subtitle B of P.L. 115- 425), which became law in January 2019, strengthened some of the CSPA’s provisions.

The 2024 TIP Report CSPA List includes governments of the following countries:

  • Afghanistan
  • Burma
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Iran
  • Libya
  • Mali
  • Russia
  • Rwanda
  • Somalia
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Syria
  • Türkiye
  • Venezuela
  • Yemen

2 Congressional Research Service, “Child Soldiers Act: Security Assistance Restrictions, updated October 14, 2023 https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/IF10901.pdf