Over 10,000 instances of human trafficking in the U.S. registered in 2020

ByIon Ilasco

Over 10,000 instances of human trafficking in the U.S. registered in 2020

Human trafficking is a serious problem that affects communities around the world. It refers to illegal acts of recruiting, transporting, and harboring people by using force and other means of intimidation. Despite meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of those crimes related to human trafficking, the United States still shows alarming numbers in terms of confirmed cases. In 2020 alone, there were 10,583 instances of human trafficking cases in the U.S. with the majority of victims being women (80%).

Understanding human trafficking

Human trafficking is an act of modern slavery that involves the unlawful and forceful recruitment, transportation, transfer, or harboring of people for further labor or sexual exploitation. Individuals of all genders and socioeconomic backgrounds can become victims of trafficking but those coming from poor or dysfunctional environments are particularly targeted.

From the perspective of criminal law, human trafficking consists of three core elements: the act, the means, and the purpose. Law enforcement authorities apply these elements to determine the essence, context, and outcome of the crime.

The ultimate outcome of trafficking is almost always some form of exploitation.

Some common types of human trafficking include:

  • Sexual exploitation
  • Forced labor or labor exploitation
  • Debt bondage
  • Domestic servitude
  • Organ removal
  • Forced marriage
  • Forced begging
  • Forced involvement of children in military operations

Fig. 1. The core crime elements of human trafficking

Source: UNODC – Human trafficking: the crime

Human trafficking in the USA

The Government of the United States claims to fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking by having implemented the following measures:

  • increasing the number of investigations of trafficking-related crimes
  • Increasing the number of victims served by federal grantees
  • strengthening the enforcement of the prohibition of imports made wholly or in part by forced labor
  • issuing the first national action plan to combat human trafficking.

Despite these efforts, the U.S. Department of State reports that advocates from indigenous communities and NGOs have highlighted a number of important limitations and setbacks that have undermined progress. For instance, some policies adopted and implemented by the federal authorities have further marginalized those communities targeted by traffickers thus increasing the risk of them falling victims to human trafficking.

There has also been limited progress in addressing labor trafficking and the obstacles within federal labor protection laws, according to U.S. authorities.

Statistics and facts

Human trafficking flourishes when is hidden away from public eyes, thus only a fraction of the actual problem is known to the authorities. In comparison with other countries, the U.S. has several organizations that are working towards gathering, processing, and reporting extensive data sets on the issue of human trafficking.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline, a U.S. based organization that connects victims and survivors of sex and labor trafficking with governmental services, is one of the most active in this field and has published some significant human trafficking statistics from the USA:

  • Since 2007 there have been 328,255 contacts in relation to some form of human trafficking (via phone, text, Webchat, etc.)
  • In 2020 alone there were 10,583 confirmed cases of human trafficking, 911 cases less than in 2019
  • In 2020, California (1,334), Texas (987), and Florida (738) showed the highest rates of reported cases of human trafficking
  • Sex trafficking is by far the type of human trafficking most encountered in the U.S. accounting for 7,648 (72%) cases of the total of 10,583
  • The majority* of trafficked victims in the US in 2020 were women – 80%, about 12% were men and less than 1% were gender minorities
  • Out of the total of 10,583* cases in 2020, over 6,000 or around 60% involved adults and in about 2,500 or 23% of the cases the victims were children
  • In 2020, the United States Department of Homeland Security together with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) opened 1,610 investigations related to human trafficking, or 21 more than in 2019
  • In 2020, the DOJ contributed to the conviction of 309 traffickers, 166 less than in 2019 and 217 less compared to 2018. The majority of convictions (297) involved sex trafficking
  • The number of arrests in 2020 for human trafficking offenses dropped significantly compared to 2019, decreasing from 600 to 300 arrests for commercial sex acts offenses and from 150 to about 80 arrests for offenses involving involuntary servitude

*The data is non-cumulative (i.e., the cases may involve multiple victims)

As these statistics show, in spite of the efforts to curb the incidence of human trafficking, the U.S. still registers high numbers of cases associated with this crime.

See also: Ten solutions to stop human trafficking 

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