Human Trafficking

What is Human Trafficking?

The Trafficking Victims’ Protection Act defines human trafficking as:  a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. A victim does not have to be physically transported from one location to another in order for the crime to fall within these trafficking definitions.

The definition on trafficking consists of three core elements:

1) The action of trafficking which means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons

2) The means of trafficking which includes threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of vulnerability

3) The purpose of trafficking is always exploitation. Exploitation includes, commercial sex acts, forced labor or services, and servitude.

Domestic servitude is the seemingly normal practice of live-in help that is used as cover for the exploitation and control of someone. A domestic work situation becomes trafficking when the employer uses force, fraud, or coercion to maintain control over the worker and to cause the worker to believe that he or she has no other choice but to continue with the work.

Human Trafficking in North Carolina

Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. The prevalence of human trafficking in North Carolina is due to many factors including the major highways (40, 85, and 95) that run through our state, a large, transient military population surrounded by sexually oriented businesses, numerous rural agricultural areas with a high demand for cheap labor, and increasing number of gangs in North Carolina.  In 2014, North Carolina reported 603 tips on human trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTRC). According to NHTRC the number of substantive calls received from North Carolina constitutes the 10^th highest call volume of all 50 states in 2014.

North Carolina Council for Women is partner with Blue Campaign 

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