What is Human Trafficking?
What is Sexual violence?
The use of sexual acts, coercion, or exploitation against a person’s will that occurs as part of trafficking. It’s both a method traffickers use to control victims and a form of harm that victims suffer within trafficking situations — especially in sex trafficking. (National Survivor Network)
📌 What sexual violence means generally
Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain one, unwanted sexual advances or comments, or acts targeting a person’s sexuality that are carried out through force, coercion, intimidation, or manipulation — including rape and sexual slavery.
🧠 What it looks like in human trafficking
In human trafficking, sexual violence can include:
- Forced sexual acts — victims being made to engage in sex without their consent.
- Coercion or threats — traffickers using intimidation, threats, violence, debt bondage, isolation, or manipulation to control victims into sexual acts.
- Commercial sexual exploitation — victims are compelled to provide sexual services (e.g., prostitution, pornography, escorting) for the trafficker’s profit.
- Sexual abuse as part of control — unnecessary or degrading sexual behavior inflicted to dominate and dehumanize victims.
In this context, all sex trafficking involves sexual violence because the trafficking situation itself is based on forced, fraudulent, or coerced participation in commercial sex and the violation of autonomy. (National Survivor Network)
🧾 How the law frames it
Under U.S. federal law (the Trafficking Victims Protection Act), sex trafficking is defined as recruiting, harboring, transporting, or providing someone for a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or when the person is under 18 — meaning sexual violence is inherent in the trafficking definition. (Administration for Children and Families)
Global Human Trafficking Statistics
Estimated Victims **
- 77% in forced labor
- 23% in sex trafficking
Who are the Victims **
71% of victims are women and girls
Children represent ~1 in 4 victims globally
(estimated**)
- Text
Modern Day Slavery **
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📚 Sources **
- CDC: Definition of sex trafficking and its connection to sexual violence. (CDC)
- National Human Trafficking Hotline: Details on sex trafficking and exploitation. (National Human Trafficking Hotline)
- National Survivor Network: How sexual violence intersects with trafficking. (National Survivor Network)
- U.S. Office of the Administration for Children and Families: Federal law definition of sex trafficking. (Administration for Children and Families)