Commercial sexual exploitation of children

In 2003, 1,400 minors were arrested for prostitution, 14% of whom were younger than 14 years old. A study conducted by the International Labor Union indicated that boys are at a higher risk of being trafficked into agricultural work, the drug trade, and petty crime. Girls were at a higher risk of being forced into the sex industry and domestic work. In 2004, the Department of Labor found 1,087 minors employed in situations that violated hazardous occupation standards. In the same year, 5,480 children were employed violating child labor laws. Due to the secretive nature of trafficking, it is difficult to piece together an accurate picture of how widespread the problem is.^[24]

In 2001, the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work released a study on CSEC conducted in 17 cities across the United States. While they did not interview any of the adolescent subjects of the inquiry, they estimated through a secondary response that as many as 300,000 American youths may be at risk of commercial sexual exploitation at any time.^[29] The Center for Court Innovation in New York City had used Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), Social Network Analysis, capture/recapture, and Markov based probability estimates in 2008 to generate a prevalence estimate for New York City alone and found that there were approximately 3800 children that were identified as commercial sexual exploitation victims. Researchers said this was an underestimate of the actual number as isolated sub-groups outside their sampling methodology exist and could not be estimated.^[30] An article by the Village Voice that reviewed arrest records in 37 large US cities over 10 years found only 827 cases a year had been reported to police departments.^[31]

Especially vulnerable are the homeless and runaways. The National Runaway Switchboard said in 2009 that one-third of runaway youths in America will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours on the streets.^[32] This view of adolescent prostitution in the United States as primarily driven by pimp-exploiters and other "sex traffickers" was challenged by SNRG-NYC in their 2008 New York City study which interviewed over 300 under-age prostitutes and found that only 10% reported having pimps. A 2012 study done in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by the same group incorporated an extended qualitative ethnographic component that looked specifically at the relationship between pimps and adolescents engaged in street-based sex markets.^[33][34] This study found the percentage of adolescents who had pimps to be only 14% and that those relationships were typically misidentified by youth as mutual, and non-exploitative.^[35] Various trauma responses, including trauma bonds, normalization and lack of information on the issue left only 1/3 of victims identifying their experience as commercial sexual exploitation.

The New York State Office of Children and Family Services estimated in 2007 that New York City is home to more than 2,000 sexually exploited children under 18. At least 85 percent of these youths statewide have had some contact with the child welfare system, mostly through abuse or neglect proceedings. In New York City, 75 percent have been in foster care.^[36] Mishi Faruqee, who is in charge of juvenile justice issues for the Correctional Association of New York, questioned the reliability of the estimate. "We believe that number is really an undercount."^[37] This is confirmed by SNRG-NYC's New York City population estimate of 2008 which was 3,946. Some researchers have estimated that there may be up to three million victims of domestic minor sex trafficking in the United States.^[38]

Super Bowls

Exterior of MetLife Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII

Law authorities have led sting operations in connection with Super Bowl games. During the Super Bowl XLVIII, authorities arrested 45 pimps and rescued 25 child victims of human trafficking. During Super Bowl XLIX, authorities led a sting operation called National Day of Johns and arrested almost 600 people and rescued 68 victims.^[39] Publicity surrounding the Super Bowl provides opportunities for public awareness of sex trafficking.^[40]

Domestic labor

Domestic servitude is the forced employment of someone as a maid or nanny, and victims are often migrant women who come from low-wage communities in their home countries.^[44] Domestic workers perform duties such as cleaning, cooking and childcare in their employers home. Domestic workers are commonly US citizens, undocumented workers or foreign nationals most commonly holding one of the following visa types: A-3, G-5, NATO-7 or B-1^[45] The most common victims of this type of trafficking are women. Similar means of control to Agricultural Work are common. Additionally, a lack of legislation regarding the duties and protection of these workers facilitates their exploitation. Employers commonly use the workers' lack of knowledge of the language or legal system as a means of control and intimidation. This is also commonly paired with various forms of abuse and/or passport revocation. Many domestic workers are brought to the United States on a promise of a better life or an education.^[46] Traffickers are usually married couples from the same country of origin as the trafficked person,^[47] and are usually not involved in organized criminal networks,^[48] making it more difficult to identify instances of this type of trafficking. Perpetrators of domestic servitude are often well-respected members of their communities and lead otherwise normal lives.^[48] Areas with large middle-class and upper-middle-class populations are commonly the destinations of this type of trafficking.^[44]

The Associated Press reports, based on interviews in California and Egypt, that trafficking of children for domestic labor in the U.S. includes an extension of an illegal but common practice in Africa. Families in remote villages send their daughters to work in cities for extra money and the opportunity to escape a dead-end life. Some girls work for free on the understanding that they at least will be better fed in the home of their employer. This custom has led to the spread of trafficking, as well-to-do Africans accustomed to employing children immigrate into the U.S.^[49]

Legally employed domestic workers are distinct from illegally employed domestic servants. While legally employed domestic house workers are fairly compensated for their work in accordance with national wage laws, domestic servants are typically forced to work extremely long hours for little to no monetary compensation, and psychological and physical means are employed to limit their mobility and freedom.^[44] In addition, deportation threats are often used to discourage internationally trafficked persons from seeking help.^[44]

Traveling sales crew

Traveling sales crews have the highest rate of calls to human trafficking hotlines after domestic labor (counting from January 2008 to February 2015). The mobile nature makes it easier for traffickers to control their victims' sleeping arrangements and food and to alienate them from outside contact. Traffickers may withhold food or threaten to abandon their victims in unfamiliar locations without money if they do not comply. Unlike other professions, members of traveling sales crews are considered independent contractors even if they do not have any autonomy in their life outside of work. As independent contractors, they are not overseen by several laws meant to prevent abuse, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Victims often incur debt from their traffickers, and enter into a form of debt slavery.^[50]

Wisconsin state senator Jon Erpenbach, author of Malinda's Traveling Sales Crew Protection Act

Malinda's Traveling Sales Crew Protection Act^[51] is a Wisconsin law that gives traveling sales crew members similar employment rights as part-time workers in Wisconsin are currently guaranteed by state law. It also requires all crews to register with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection before going door to door in state communities. By registering members of the crew, alerts for members with outstanding warrants in other states can be identified and criminals detained.^[52] It is the only law in the United States that regulates traveling sales crews.^[50] Wisconsin governor James E. Doyle says the intent of the law is to "stop companies from putting workers in dangerous and unfair conditions". The bill was passed in a form that applies only to sales workers who travel in groups of two or more.^[53] It was authored by Jon Erpenbach.^[52] Southwestern Advantage lobbied against the bill, arguing that their independent contractor business model nurtured the entrepreneurial spirit.^[54][55] During the hearings, former Southwestern student dealers testified on both sides of the issue.^[56]

Agriculture

In the agriculture sector, the most common victims of trafficking are U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, undocumented immigrants, and foreign nationals with temporary H-2A visas.^[57]

H-2A visa is a certification program, in which employers contract people from other countries, but first, the employers must try to recruit U.S. workers, before looking abroad.^[58] In attempts towards seeking employees, once they are hired they may encounter some difficulties such as:

1. May not be able to join a union or face legal challenges.
2. Requirements that farmers may not meet because of the program.^[58]

H-2A visas are temporary visas that allow people from other countries to work in the United States, with some benefits contractors need to provide to them. Examples include, "farmers are required to these workers with housing and pay for transportation to the job, pay them at least three-quarters of the season at a higher rate, than the average paid rate of that work".^[58] Yet, the circumstances of the law states for free housing, "prevailing practice in the area and occupation of intended employment".^[58] Farmers who are working and have families are not guaranteed housing situations. Farm workers are being controlled greatly, their lives are vulnerable in fear that they may be deported back to their homeland.^[58]

Due to the nature of agricultural work as being seasonal and transient, the ability of employers to exploit these workers is high. Such exploitation may take the form of threats of violence and play on vulnerabilities (i.e. immigration status). In some cases, workers are held in a state of perpetual debt to the crew leaders who impose mandatory transportation, housing, and communication fees upon the workers which are high in relation to payments received, therefore further indebting the worker. Crew leaders may also provide workers with H-2A visas and transportation to the place of work from a home country. Part of the H-2A visa is that it does not provide an adequate choice of their employment, how much would they be paid for their work, or even the hours, are not negotiable. Undocumented people who come without any visas have a greater chance to choose of where they wish to work and decide to leave the employment if they wish and have a better chance of not being exploited.^[59]

In 2010, the company Global Horizons was indicted on charges of trafficking over 200 Thai workers. With the program, bonded labor, it was guaranteed that the workers were going to receive a visa that would allow them to live and work in the United States. Upon arrival, the company made a false statement to lure the workers and have higher recruitment. The fees that were imposed on the farm workers were so high that the debt was impossible to pay with the employment they were given. Many were living in poor housing conditions (up to a dozen living per home), threats, and physical assaults.^[60]

Military

The United States Armed Forces has been alleged to hire contractors to conduct work on its overseas military bases that are engaged in what some auditors describe as potentially "forced labor and human trafficking." These contractors' workers are often foreign laborers that conduct their work in poor and sometimes dangerous conditions for low pay. Additionally, the contractors sometimes keep their workers' passports, which restricts their freedom of movement.^[61][62][63]

Agriculture

According to cases reported to Polaris-operated hotlines, survivors of this type of labor trafficking are disproportionately Latino male migrant workers, mostly from Mexico and Central America, on seasonal H-2A visas. Despite the H-2A program requirement that employers supply workers with suitable housing, traffickers have also been known to subject victims to squalid living conditions, often denying them even necessities such as beds and indoor toilets.^[64] This type of labor trafficking occurs in places from orange orchards to corn fields, but some crops such as tobacco require much more intensive labor to harvest, making them more susceptible to forced labor or exploitation. By far the most common method of control in agriculture, as in many other types, is economic abuse, including wage theft, improper deductions, and payment at piece rates rather than hourly rates.^[64]

Restaurants

Data from Polaris has indicated that foreign national men and women from Mexico and Central America tend to be equally victimized. Victims can be confined at the restaurant around the clock or be isolated in a nearby home provided by the traffickers.^[64]

Domestic workers

Having a legal work visa is not necessarily a protection against abuse; the Urban Institute estimated 82% of cases of domestic worker trafficking it reviewed had come to the US on legal visas.^[69] Labor trafficking victims in domestic work commonly work 12–18 hours a day (some as much as 24/7) for little to no pay. They may experience extreme isolation and confinement from the outside world, sexual harassment, high levels of monitoring, debt bondage, extreme wage theft, confiscation of critical documents such as passports, and restricted access to food and medical care.^[64]

Construction

Most labor trafficking survivors in construction are men from Mexico and the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala), most of whom have H-2B visas or are undocumented. Workers can enter their exploitative situations through formal job offers and misrepresented visa contracts. In some cases, workers may be charged illegal and exorbitant recruitment fees, which may be a method of control to keep workers in abusive situations. Recruitment may also begin through an abusive migration journey or through word-of-mouth referrals.^[64]

Bars and cantinas

Women and girls ages 14–29 from the area demographics of Mexico and Central America are often victimized by bars and cantinas.^[72] The Latina woman and girls who are targeted by traffickers lack economic means, English fluency and legal status which makes the process easier for traffickers to manipulate them.^[64]

Escort services

Latin American women and girls that are smuggled into the United States are also often exposed to the world of commercial sex trade better known as "escort services". There are two ways in which the operation can proceed: one is described as an "outcall", where the traffickers deliver victims to the buyer's hotel room or their homes. The second option is "incall" which is when the customers cycle in and out of a hotel room while the trafficker extends the victims' stay. Many of these interactions between the buyers, the traffickers, and the victims took place on the website backpage.com where Latinas had their own category. The website has been closed since January 2017.^[64]

Latino brothels

Brothels catering exclusively to Latino males, referred to as "Latino Residential Brothels", are a major vehicle for sex trafficking, with the victims being almost exclusively women and children from Latin America.^[73][74][75] Trafficking of U.S. citizens within the U.S. occurs as well. They typically own informal underground businesses in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act

The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 allowed for greater statutory maximum sentences for traffickers, provided resources for the protection of and assistance for victims of trafficking, and created avenues for interagency cooperation. It also allows many trafficking victims to remain in the U.S. and apply for permanent residency under a T-1 Visa.^[86] Previously, trafficked individuals who were often in the country illegally were treated as criminals. According to the section on Severe Forms of Trafficking in Persons, the definition extends to include any "commercial sex act... in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age".^[87] This means that any minor engaged in prostitution is a victim of human trafficking, regardless of citizenship or whether or not movement has taken place.^[88]

The law defines trafficking as "the prohibition against any individual who provides or obtains labor or services for peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor." The law distinguishes trafficking, where victims are coerced into entering the U.S., from smuggling, where migrants enter the country without authorization.^[89] The act also attempted to encourage efforts to prevent human trafficking internationally, by creating annual country reports on trafficking and tying financial non-humanitarian assistance to foreign countries to real efforts in addressing human trafficking. The benefits of the law, however, are dependent on the survivor's cooperation in prosecuting the perpetrators. This can be complicated if the victim fears retribution from their trafficker or has a fear of authority that remains from their country of origin.^[17]

The original TVPA of 2000 has been reauthorized thrice, the most recent being the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. These reauthorizations have clarified definitions of trafficking and forced labor in order both to aid in the prosecution of traffickers and to aid the victims of trafficking. The reauthorization versions have also required the federal government to terminate all contracts with overseas contractors involved in human trafficking or forced labor. Extraterritorial jurisdiction was also extended to cover all U.S. nationals and permanent residents who are living overseas.^[90]

In "October 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) (Public Law 106-386) was enacted. Prior to that, no comprehensive Federal law existed to protect victims of trafficking or to prosecute their traffickers".^[14] In 2003, the Bush administration authorized more than $200 million (~$306 million in 2022) to combat human trafficking through the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA). TVPRA renews the U.S. government's commitment to identify and assist victims exploited through labor and sex trafficking in the U.S. The U.S. has also set up programs to help those who have been victims. The government can help victims, once identified, by stabilizing their immigrant status. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enables victims who are non-U.S. citizens to receive federally funded benefits and services to the same extent as a refugee; as well, U.S. citizens who are victims are eligible for many benefits.^[91][92]

The U visa is available to individuals who have been victims of specific qualifying criminal acts, such as domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and hate crimes.^[93] Once granted, the U visa allows victims to remain and work legally in the United States for up to four years and can be extended in certain situations. Victims who meet specific requirements can apply for lawful permanent residency, also known as a Green Card. Eligibility for both T visas and U visas requires the victim to assist or cooperate with law enforcement in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of human trafficking or qualifying criminal activity. Some exceptions and exemptions apply for victims who were under 18 years of age or who have suffered physical or psychological trauma. Exceptions and special rules also exist for U visa applicants who are under 16 years of age or are incompetent or incapacitated.^[93]

The T visa provides T nonimmigrant status as a temporary immigration benefit to individuals who are victims of severe human trafficking and have complied with law enforcement requests or qualify for an exemption. Certain family members may also be eligible for derivative T nonimmigrant status. As a T nonimmigrant status holder, individuals can work and receive certain benefits, and may also be able to become lawful permanent residents if they meet specific requirements. Qualifying family members who may be eligible to apply for T nonimmigrant status include parents, unmarried siblings under 18 years of age, and children of any age or marital status of your qualifying family members who have been granted derivative T nonimmigrant status.^[94]

Human trafficking hotline

The federal government has set up a National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline (1-888-373-7888).^[95] The hotline answers questions and responds to crises in over 200 languages,^[96] and provides materials in over 20 languages.^[97] Since 2007, the hotline has received over 60,000 calls. Callers include victims of human trafficking seeking services, as well as individuals and organizations seeking information about human trafficking. Twenty-five states have mandated certain types of businesses to post a hotline.^[98] Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have their own hotline while the others use the national hotline.^[99]

Safe harbor laws

Safe harbor laws protect victims of human trafficking from legal prosecution of crimes committed while under the influence of the trafficker and provide services such as counseling and housing and protect them from their exploiters.^[100] Victims of trafficking are protected under federal law but may still be charged under state law.

The federal Stop Exploitation Through Trafficking Act of 2013 is a law that encourages states to pass safe harbor laws. It elevated the status of the National Human Trafficking Hotline and opened up the Job Corps program to sex trafficking victims.^[101]

Laws

• Sex Trafficking: classification (AZ) – Arizona legislation that defines what sex trafficking is. States that 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. If a person is under the age of eighteen, it is illegal to entice, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain by any means that person with the intent of causing that person to engage in prostitution.^[129]
• Trafficking of Persons for Forced Labor or Services; classifications; definitions (AZ) – Arizona legislation that defines labor trafficking as "transport another person or to entice, recruit, harbor, provide or otherwise obtain another person for transport by deception, coercion or force,". Also states that it is illegal to knowingly traffic another person or benefit from the trafficking of another person for labor or services.^[130]
• Unlawfully Obtaining Labor or Services; classification (AZ) – Arizona legislation making it illegal to obtain labor or services through the use of bodily harm, threatening or restraining victim, and/or withholding victim's personal records.^[131]

Organizations

• Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking (ALERT) is a coalition representing partnerships with law enforcement, faith-based communities, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, attorneys, and concerned citizens. ALERT helps victims of trafficking by providing: food and shelter; medical care; mental health counseling; immigration assistance; legal assistance; language interpretation; case management; and other culturally appropriate services throughout the state of Arizona.^[132]
• MOMA's House is an organization based in Laveen that helps female victims recover from sex trafficking by providing shelter, a supportive environment, and a program to help them develop life and career skills.^[133]
• The Underage Sex-Trafficking Coalition was formed in 2011 by the Arizona Attorney General. It seeks to raise public awareness, educate the community and advocate to strengthen laws about human trafficking. It began the Arizona's Not Buying It Campaign,^[134] in partnership with Shared Hope International, to fight child sex trafficking.^[135]
• Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking (TRUST) focuses on raising awareness about human trafficking through training and providing resources.

Organizations

• The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking: works to assist persons trafficked for the purpose of forced labor and slavery-like practices and to work toward ending all instances of such human rights violations.^[140]
• The Thai Community Development Center's Slavery Eradication and Rights Initiative works to raise awareness of human trafficking and provide survivor support^[141]

Legal brothels

Prostitution of adults is legal in 11 rural counties in Nevada. By creating false identification, outside pimps can use these brothels to traffic children.^{[160][161][162]} Detective Greg Harvey, from Eugene, Oregon, said such cases were in reality very common; he said, "It's happening right now, it's amazing how many girls are shipped from here to different brothels in northern and southern Nevada. Many are underage." Another detective, Sgt. Pete Kerns supported Harvey's claims: "Never buy the line that nobody under 18 works in (Nevada brothels)," he said. "It's happening."^[162]

In her 2007 report Prostitution and trafficking in Nevada: making the connections, Melissa Farley presents the results of numerous interviews with brothel owners and prostitutes; she says that most brothel prostitutes are controlled by outside pimps and that they suffer widespread abuse by brothel owners and customers.^[163] Bob Herbert supports the claim, stating: "Despite the fiction that they are "independent contractors", most so-called legal prostitutes have pimps – the state-sanctioned pimps who run the brothels and, in many cases, a second pimp who controls all other aspects of their lives (and takes the bulk of their legal earnings)."^[161]

Alexa Albert says that the trafficking is done in cooperation with brothel owners, so the prostitutes will be easier to control.^[160] Assemblyman Bob L. Beers said that "A brothel owner is somebody who, when it gets down to the very essence, is nothing more than a slave-owner."^[163] Former Nye County Commissioner Candice Trummell, director of the Nevada Coalition Against Sex Trafficking, said, "It is way past time for Nevada to be the last state in the United States of America to finally stand against all forms of slavery."^[164]

In 2009, an article in the Guardian stated that some Nevada counties and towns "impose some extraordinary restrictions on commercial sex workers" in order to "separate sex workers from the local community": some places forbid prostitutes to leave the brothels for extended periods of time, while other jurisdictions require the prostitutes to leave the county when they are not working; some places do not allow the children of the women who work in the brothels to live in the same area; some brothel workers are not permitted to leave the brothel after 5 pm; in some counties registered sex workers are not allowed to have cars at all.^[165] Another former prostitute who worked in four Nevada brothels attacked the system, saying, "Under this system, prostitutes give up too much autonomy, control and choice over their work and lives" and "While the brothel owners love this profitable solution, it can be exploitative and is unnecessary". She described how the women were subject to various exaggerated restrictions, including making it very difficult for them to refuse clients and having to deal with doctors who had a "patronizing or sexist attitude" (the brothels discouraged and, in many cases, forbade prostitutes to see doctors of their own choosing).^[166]

Las Vegas

Although illegal, 90% of prostitution in Nevada occurs in Las Vegas.^[167] In 2009 Las Vegas was identified by the FBI as one of 14 cities in the U.S. with high rates of child prostitution.^[168] Las Vegas police claimed that "roughly 400 children are picked off the streets from prostitution each year."^[169] The U.S. Justice Department has also named Las Vegas among the 17 most likely destinations for human trafficking.^[170] Shared Hope International says Las Vegas is a major hub for child sex trafficking, in part because of the hyper-sexualized entertainment industry, easy access to alcohol and drugs, and 24-hour gambling.^[171]

Laws

• New York State Safe Harbour for Exploited Children Act was created in 2008. It gives exploited children protection from the Family Court and access to services.^[175]
• The New York State Anti-trafficking law was created in 2007. It created the crimes of Labor Trafficking and Sex Trafficking, provides immunity for victims, and gives benefits and services to the victims.^[176]

Organizations

• Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) is a non-profit organization that provides services to commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked girls and young women, typically underage youth exploited by pimps and traffickers. The organization was founded in 1998 by Rachel Lloyd and is based in Harlem, New York City.^[177] The organization has helped several hundred young girls transition out of the sex industry and get back to their full potential.^[177] They also participated in lobbying for passage of the Safe Harbor Act for Sexually Exploited Youth, which provides that girls under the age of 16, who are arrested in New York for prostitution will be treated as victims, rather than criminals.^[178] The bill was signed into law in September 2008.^[179] The work of GEMS is the subject of the 2007 documentary Very Young Girls.^[180]
• New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition is an umbrella group of more than 140 anti-trafficking organizations and works towards raising public awareness, passing laws, improving law enforcement, and providing services to victims of human trafficking.^[181] Together with Sanctuary for Families it launched New York's New Abolitionists campaign to raise awareness of human trafficking.^[182]

Laws

H.B. 262 (The Ohio Human Trafficking Act of 2012) raised the penalty for committing the crime of human trafficking to a first-degree felony with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10–15 years, created a diversion program for juvenile victims to receive protection and treatment, and allows for adult victims of human trafficking with prior convictions of prostitution or solicitation to have their records expunged.^[183]

Organizations

• Central Ohio Rescue and Restore is an organization that provides "a collaborative community response to human trafficking in central Ohio through education, services, advocacy, and prosecution."^[189]
• Summit County Collaborative Against Human Trafficking is an organization centered in Summit County that seeks to increase awareness of human trafficking.^[190]

Major U.S. hubs

The main factors that contribute to high levels of trafficking through Atlanta and Houston are proximity, demographics, and a large migrant labor force.^[191] The presence of two large airports provides ways in and out of the city in Houston and Atlanta hosts the world's busiest and largest airport by several measures.^[192] The likelihood of a high level of trafficking in Atlanta and Houston is supported by the fact that the majority of calls to National Trafficking Hotline come from The Atlanta Center and Houston.^[193][194]

Houston

Houston's proximity to the Mexican border, I-10, a highway running across the country through Houston, and the port of Houston make it a popular point of entry for international trafficking.^[191] Houston's huge geographic size and large Hispanic population create optimal conditions for trafficking because of the ability to blend in with the community.^[191] There are large Asian and Middle Eastern populations that allow traffickers and their victims to blend easily into local communities.^[195] Also, Texas businesses employ migrant labors in many different sectors throughout the state; such as textiles, agriculture, restaurants, construction, and domestic work.^[191] This vast diversity makes it difficult for law enforcement to concentrate on any one labor sector and be effective in ending human trafficking.^[191]

Laws and policies

There are several pieces of legislation in place in Texas working to combat human trafficking. Recent legislation passed in Texas mandates that all incoming local law enforcement receive training on human trafficking.^[198] In Houston specifically, one of the primary elements of the Juvenile Justice System in Harris County is the Juvenile Probation Department (HCJPD). HCJPD is "committed to the protection of the public, utilizing intervention strategies that are community-based, family-oriented and least restrictive while emphasizing responsibility and accountability of both parent and child". Feeding into HCJPD is the juvenile court system that includes five juvenile courts (each with a different judge presiding), a juvenile mental health court, and a juvenile drug court.^[192]

Organizations

1. The Coalition Against Human Trafficking: works to increase community awareness of human trafficking and coordinate the identification, assistance, and protection of victims through community education, advocacy, provision of culturally and linguistically sensitive victim services, and efforts to ensure the investigation and prosecution of human traffickers.^[199]
2. Mosaic Family Services operates the Services for Victims of Trafficking Program that provides culturally and linguistically competent services to victims experiencing abuse, so that they may quickly recover from a criminal act.^[199]
3. The Texas Association Against Sexual Assault: educates rape centers and domestic violence shelters throughout Texas about human trafficking.^[199]
4. Free the Captives is a Christian-based NGO that has objectives including educating the community, preventing, and intervening in the trafficking of at-risk teens, reducing the demand, and pursuing legal remedies to combat trafficking.^[200]
5. Houston Rescue and Restore: exists to prevent and confront modern-day slavery by educating the public, training professionals, and empowering the community to take action for the purpose of identifying, rescuing, and restoring trafficking victims to freedom.^[201]
6. CHILDREN AT RISK: works to end child trafficking and ensure those child victims are recognized as victims and not criminals.^[202]
7. Innocence Lost

Laws

Before April 1, 2015, Virginia was the only state in the nation that did not have any standalone human trafficking laws. SB 1188^[204] and HB 1964^[205] were passed on April 1, 2015. They were the first bills in Virginia to define sex trafficking, establish penalties, criminalized child sex trafficking as a Class 3 felony without the need to prove force, intimidation, or deception, and criminalized recruitment for commercial sex. It also provides provisions for protecting and identifying sex trafficking victims.^[206] Robert Dillard was the first man charged under this law.^[207]

Organizations

• Freedom 4/24 is an organization based in Lynchburg, Virginia. Its mission is to raise awareness of human trafficking of women and children around the world and to provide financial support to other anti-human trafficking organizations.^[208] It sponsors Frocks 4 Freedom, an event selling discounted trendy fashion,^[209] and Run 4 Their Lives, a 5K race,^[210] to raise money for their anti-human trafficking work.
• Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative (NOVA HTI) is an organization based in Ashburn, Virginia, that seeks to connect the community to fight human trafficking. It seeks to raise awareness, advocate for change in laws, and assist victims of human trafficking.^[211]
• The Gray Haven is an organization based in Richmond, Virginia, that focuses on helping victims of human trafficking. They operate a drop-in center for victims, have a crisis response team, offer case management, and have a court advocacy team. They work with local, state, and federal law enforcement to identify and provide service for victims.^[212]

Organizations

• A Village for ONE is a Portland-based non-profit organization developed to serve children who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation. Their aim is to bring the talents and gifts of community members to create an opportunity to serve each child that has been impacted within the local community.^[216]
• Safety Compass is an organization based in Salem Oregon, their mission is to offer support for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking navigating the criminal and social justice systems in the mid-Willamette Valley, Oregon. This organization offers in-person support for survivors, specialized training for professionals and community members, and advocacy during law enforcement interviews.^[217]
• The Trafficking Law Center provides free legal assistance to human trafficking victims and survivors. TLC provides direct legal services and referrals to pro bono attorneys. TLC offers trauma-informed training to lawyers, raises awareness about sex trafficking, educates lawmakers, and advocates for policy changes to support trafficking survivors.^[218]