Federal laws
In 2000, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 386.106 p. 114 Stat. 1464. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-106publ386/html/PLAW-106publ386.htm
It was reaffirmed a few times, the latest being in 2018. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1312.
This federal Trafficking Victim's Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA, 2000) defines human trafficking as the "recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for one of three purposes:
The TVPA was passed to prevent human trafficking, referred to as a contemporary manifestation of slavery, to guarantee just and effective punishment of traffickers and protect the victims. Human trafficking is also referred to as trafficking in persons. The TVPA specifically addresses trafficking into the sex trade and involuntary labor by force, fraud, or coercion.
Historically, state laws have been inadequate to deter trafficking because of loose definitions of involuntary servitude. States have even refused to support victims; instead, they could be treated as criminals, denied necessary health services, and in some cases incarcerated or fined for performing illegal acts, like prostitution, while under duress from threats of violence or worse.
Section 11 addresses health risks.
(11) Trafficking exposes victims to serious health risks. Women and children trafficked in the sex industry are exposed to deadly diseases, including HIV and AIDS. Trafficking victims are sometimes worked or physically brutalized to death.
The TVPA intends to secure the inherent dignity and worth of all people guaranteed in the U.S. constitution. It seeks to federalize the criminality of all types of slavery and involuntary servitude. It protects victims from prosecution for illegal acts committed while enslaved or coerced into involuntary servitude, and it authorizes victim support and restitution.
Classes of offenses under federal law
Type |
Class |
Maximum prison term[1] |
Felony |
A |
Life imprisonment (or death) |
B |
25 years or more |
|
C |
Less than 25 years but 10 or more years |
|
D |
Less than 10 years but 5 or more years |
|
E |
Less than 5 years but more than 1 year |
|
Misdemeanor |
A |
1 year or less but more than 6 months |
B |
6 months or less but more than 30 days |
|
C |
30 days or less but more than 5 days |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classes_of_offenses_under_United_States_federal_law
State laws for human trafficking
In 2003, Washington became the first state to criminalize human trafficking. Currently, every state has laws with criminal penalties for human traffickers. Definitions of traffickers, what evidence is needed to find traffickers guilty, and penalties vary amongst the states. Most states define trafficking as a felony, but it varies from a 1st degree or Class A to 3rd degree or Class C felony charges. Most states have harsher penalties for trafficking minors.
The Polaris project rates individual states by the legal framework that combats human trafficking, punishes traffickers, and supports survivors. States are rated by their implementation of the following 10 factors:
https://polarisproject.org/sites/default/files/2014-State-Ratings.pdf
2014 State Ratings on Human Trafficking Laws based on a survey by Polaris. No comprehensive updates are available yet. Check your state laws.
Variations in State laws
It is essential to know your own state's trafficking laws. What is posted in this course is current as of 2018 to 2021, but human trafficking has quickly evolving legal issues. There will be additions that modify the laws so far by increasing the severity of punishment and specificity to prevent a lack of justified prosecution.
Most states in their definition include involuntary servitude involving sex acts and labor. Many states specify harsher penalties for trafficking of minors, mentally or physically disabled individuals, and drugs to increase victims' compliance. These are generally a Class A or level 1 felony.
Some states add increase penalties if the trafficker has a felony record already, has been involved in trafficking for a specified length of time – usually more than 30 days, and has severely abused the victims. Illinois, for example, raises a felony charge to a level X, which may have a prison term of up to 60 years, in the following description.
Aggravating factors. A violation of this Section involving kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated criminal sexual assault or an attempt to commit aggravated criminal sexual assault, or an attempt to commit first-degree murder is a Class X felony.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K10-9
This is Arizona's description:
It is illegal to recruit, entice, harbor, transport, provide or obtain by any means another person with the intent of causing the other person to engage in prostitution by force, fraud, or coercion. There is a separate and higher sentencing structure for traffickers that increase the presumptive sentence:
- From 10.5 years to 13.5 years for a first offense;
- From 15.75 years to 25 years for a trafficker with a prior felony conviction;
- From 28 years to 31 years for a trafficker with two or more prior felonies.
http://endsextrafficking.az.gov/human-trafficking/arizona-laws
Florida raises the trafficking penalty for commercial sexual activity from a first-degree felony to a life felony when the crime is committed against a person who is "mentally defective or mentally incapacitated.
In Michigan, one count of human trafficking is a felony punishable by up to 20 to 40 years in prison. http://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-59886_76917---,00.html
Some states also require sex traffickers to register as sex offenders, restricting them from living within 1,000 feet of a school.
Businesses that enable trafficking
Many states now have laws that provide sanctions against an individual or a business, which enable the trafficking of persons for forced labor. Here's the law in Massachusetts that addresses this;
…. a business entity that commits trafficking of persons for forced labor services to be fined up to $1,000,000. The state also holds any business that knowingly aids, or is jointly involved in, labor trafficking civilly liable.
It is not always easy to sanction companies who advertise for human trafficking. The firm of Ropes & Gray in Boston, as one of their pro bono cases, filed another petition with the U.S. Supreme court in June 2017 regarding the lawsuit Jane Doe v. Backpage.com LLC. Ropes & Gray represents three child sex trafficking victims against Backpage.com, which is said to transmit internet advertisements for commercial sex. This case was turned down in 2016 by the U.S. Supreme court and by the District Court of Massachusetts in 2014. This time a U.S. Senate investigation's revealed that Backpage alters sexually explicit advertisements that involve children, making them complicit in enabling human trafficking. Here are some of the horrors that were perpetrated on the victims acquired through these advertisements.
Jane Doe No. 1 was a victim of sex trafficking starting in November 2013, when she was 15 years old, sold for sex to men across Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine. She was raped over 600 times over four months. The second plaintiff, Jane Doe No. 2, was sex trafficked for three years starting in 2013 when she was 14 years old in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Over those three years, she was raped thousands of times. The third plaintiff, Jane Doe No. 3, was sex trafficked when she was 15 years old in Massachusetts and Florida.
There is a documentary that describes this case called I am Jane Doe. Here is a link to the movie trailer. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6398054/videoplayer/vi3626350105?ref_=vp_pl_0
https://www.ropesgray.com/en/newsroom/news/2017/06/With-New-Evidence-from-US-Senate-Report-Ropes-Gray-Files-Another-Lawsuit-Against-Backpage-com
More and more states are enacting laws to protect and aid the victims. If a victim is forced into prostitution, the state can establish laws that either prevent the prosecution of the victim or vacate such a conviction. It can provide safe harbors for the victims. Also, more and more states enable victims to sue their trafficker, and the business contracted to use victims for trafficking.
Some states prohibit public disclosure of the names of minor victims. Child protective agencies can terminate parents' parental rights of those who have sold their children into servitude or trafficked them themselves.
The degrees of punishment for traffickers vary from state to state. Currently, in South Dakota, forced sex is only a class 6 felony, which is a maximum sentence of 2 years imprisonment with a maximum fine of $4,000. In Texas, under the continuous smuggling of persons penal code, if it is a child under 18, it is a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for life with special circumstances or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 25 years.
http://codes.findlaw.com/tx/penal-code/penal-sect-20-06.html
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