What's behind the 62% jump in human trafficking offenses?

The 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act was the first federal law that addressed modern involuntary servitude, granting FBI the authority to investigate human trafficking matters and prosecute perpetrators to the fullest extent of federal law.

By 2012, the U.S. had its first National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, proclaimed by President Barack Obama on Dec. 30, 2011. This declaration, accompanied by an awareness campaign, may help explain the sharp spike in human trafficking referrals in the U.S. from 2012 to 2013 as more people were made aware of the illegal activity and reported it.

Human trafficking incidents that occurred during the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic may be underreported worldwide due to decreased social interaction pushing crime "further underground," according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Though the U.S. did not see a dip in human trafficking referrals in 2020, the increased barriers to leaving dangerous living situations may have incited more human trafficking offenses than are depicted in the BJS report or increased the rate at which people chose not to report human trafficking.

In addition to the majority of defendants charged with human trafficking being first-time defendants in 2020, 62% were white, and 95% were U.S. citizens. This fact disproves the myth that immigrants or people of color are more likely to commit crimes that involve human trafficking.

In fact, according to Polaris, the organization that operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, recent migration or relocation is a significant risk factor for being a victim of human trafficking, not an offender.

At the end of 2020, 1,564 people convicted of human trafficking were in the custody of state prisons in 47 states reporting data to the BJS. The precise definition of human trafficking crimes varies by state; therefore, the potential jail sentences accompanying these crimes when a defendant is found guilty also cover a wide range.

At the federal level, the prosecution of human trafficking initially fell under the enforcement of the 13th Amendment, which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude. When Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, they established tools and resources to protect victims, prevent incidents, and prosecute human trafficking offenses.

The TVPA has been reauthorized and expanded eight times since its initial passing, most recently in 2018, as the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act.

Continued vigilance and awareness are key to combating this global issue that can happen in any community. In addition to January being designated National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888) is a toll-free, multilingual helpline that takes tips 24 hours a day and offers information on anti-trafficking resources. 

Globally, the UN Human Rights Office has been working to address trafficking with projects including establishing a compendium on contemporary forms of enslavement and human trafficking, providing airplane cabin crew with information on how to identify trafficking victims, and partnering with international groups to craft policies that prevent modern slavery and child labor.
 

Story editing by Brian Budzynski. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.