What to know

Human trafficking is the coercion of a person into some kind of labor, including sex work and domestic servitude, by means of force, deception, or fraud. 

According to the anti-sex and -labor trafficking nonprofit Polaris, in 2020 more than 10,000 situations involving human trafficking, involving more than 16,500 victims, were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The social justice organization also reports that “Significant risk factors include recent migration or relocation, substance use, mental health concerns, involvement with the child welfare system and being a runaway or homeless youth.” 

Human trafficking should not be conflated with human smuggling, which involves transporting someone across the border illegally and does not involve coercion; or with voluntary sex work, which, due to being voluntary, is not related to human trafficking.

Additional resources

• Human Trafficking and Smuggling (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) 
• Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling: Understanding the Difference (State Department)

Summary

Human trafficking is the coercion of a person into some kind of labor, including sex work and domestic servitude, by means of force, deception, or fraud. Human trafficking should not be conflated with human smuggling, which involves transporting someone across the border illegally and does not involve coercion; or with voluntary sex work, which, due to being voluntary, is not related to human trafficking.

Related terms

• irregular migration
• gender-based violence
• human smuggling