Also referred to as modern slavery, human trafficking includes sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Victims can be from any group regardless of race, education, religion, gender, socio-economic class, or age. It is part of a $236 billion industry with 27.6 million victims impacted worldwide, according to the International Labor Organization (FL DCF, 2024). Unlike in arms and drug trafficking, the trafficker continues to profit off victims after initial point of sale.
Human trafficking may or may not involve movement, and victims can be trafficked without leaving their hometown or state. This differs from human smuggling, where an undocumented person chooses to pay a smuggler up front. Recent global data shows that 58% of identified victims are trafficked within their own country.
Definitions
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Sex Trafficking |
Labor Trafficking |
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Recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age. Commercial Sex Act: a sub-type of sex trafficking and any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person.
Examples: Street/motel-based exploitation, pornography, stripping, erotic/nude massage, escort services, phone sex, private parties, gang exploitation, familial exploitation, sex tourism, and internet-based exploitation. |
Recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, using force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. Common industries: agriculture, hospitality and restaurants, commercial cleaning, salons, construction/landscaping, domestic work, door-to-door sales, and factories. |
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a type of human trafficking and has been reported in all 50 states. After FL DCF added human trafficking to the maltreatment index in 2009, hotline reports have increased steadily. In 2019, out of 1,962 total reports, 462 were verified. Most were CSEC (92%) and involved female victims. Male CSEC victims are vastly underreported, and there is a shortage of services for males. Verified and not substantiated reports require multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and service response. In 2024, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 1,830 reports from Florida, identifying 832 cases involving 1,874 victims. Sex trafficking remains the largest category of identified cases. Florida ranks 3rd in the US for human trafficking calls to the hotline.
Scenarios of minor sex trafficking include: a pimp prostituting an adolescent, a parent trading their child for drugs or rent payment, or a nightclub owner exchanging shelter for a minor exotic dancing. A common labor trafficking scenario is a traveling sales crew that exposes youth to unsafe transportation, inadequate supervision, assault, and abandonment, while the crew leader retains pay and punishes youth for not meeting quota. Runaways and homeless youth are at risk for trafficking. The average age of entry in the commercial sex industry in the US is 12-14 years old, and the US has hundreds of thousands of victims.
Myths about CSEC and CSEC Victims
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CSEC |
Youth involved in CSEC |
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MYTH: CSEC is glamorous and exciting. MYTH: CSEC can provide a way to make a lot of money. MYTH: CSEC only has male pimps. MYTH: CSEC is not a big problem in the US. MYTH: CSEC is a victimless crime. |
MYTH: They lure unsuspecting men. MYTH: They are all girls. MYTH: They are “bad kids” or drug addicts. MYTH: They have power within the industry. MYTH: They choose to enter the sex trade & stay because they like it. |
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Language and Sensitivity
All sexually exploited children are considered victims regardless of whether force, fraud, or coercion is used. The term “teen/child prostitute” is inaccurate and harmful. This derogatory label implies choice or criminality and ignores societal responsibility. “Sexually exploited child” shifts the language from a stigmatizing label to a description of what happened to the child/youth, making it clear that it was not their choice. These victims need intense support and services after being exploited and abused by a system of violence and oppression.
RESOURCE: Florida Department of Children and Families. (2020)
