Traffickers and venues

• In 2009, the Institute of Medicine offered the following general statement about human traffickers:

"There is no single profile of those who traffic and exploit others. A trafficker may be female or male, a member of an organized crime network, part of a small family business or an amateur operator who assists, for example, in the transportation, documentation or logistics of a trafficking operation. Family members, friends and acquaintances of the person who has been trafficked may have participated in or lead the recruitment or other stages of the trafficking and exploitation process. Some traffickers are former victims of trafficking who now recruit and control other victims" (IOM, 2009). Since 2009, additional factors have been collected and published regarding the characteristics of traffickers.

• The Bureau of Justice Statistics 2024 - report "Human Trafficking Data Collection Activities, 2024," reveals key statistics on arrests of human traffickers in the US.
  • A total of 1,912 persons were referred to U.S. attorneys for human trafficking offenses in fiscal year 2022, a 26% increase from the 1,519 persons referred in 2012.  
  • The number of persons prosecuted for human trafficking more than doubled from 2012 to 2022 (from 805 to 1,656 persons). The number of persons convicted of a human trafficking offense increased from 578 persons in 2012 to 1,118 persons in 2022. 
  • Of the 1,070 defendants charged with any of the three types of human trafficking offenses in U.S. district court in fiscal year 2022,
    • 91% were male,
    • 58% were white,
    • 20% were black,
    • 18% were Hispanic,
    • 95% were U.S. citizens,
    • 71% had no prior convictions. 
  • Of the 203 defendants charged with peonage, slavery, forced labor, and sex trafficking, 69% were male and 53% were black.
  • Of the 523 defendants charged with sexual exploitation and other abuse of children, 94% were male and 71% were white.

The 2018 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons found some identifies the following common factors when traffickers to carry out their search for victims:

• Traffickers tend to select victims from their own geographical area
• Traffickers speak the same language as the victim
  
• Traffickers often have the same ethnic background
  
• Traffickers rarely go abroad to recruit, focusing on local recruitment (UNODC, 2018)

Common trafficking venues

Potential sex trafficking venues

• Hostess/Strip Club-Based
  
• Residential Brothels
  
• Street-Based
  
• Online Advertisements
  
• Commercial-Fronted Brothels
  
• Pornographic films

Potential labor trafficking venues:

• Domestic Work
  
• Traveling Sales Crews
  
• Restaurants/ Food Service
  
• Agriculture
  
• Commercial-Fronted Brothels
  
• Health and Beauty Services

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/