Human trafficking has been named one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal industries. It affects every country in the world and every state in the nation. Mississippi has been called a “hub” for trafficking due to the intersection of I-55 and I-20 in central Mississippi, linking some of the largest cities in the southeast United States. 

Sex trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining 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.

A commercial act has occurred when sexual services are exchanged for something of value – be that money, a phone, rent, drugs, clothes, or gifts. If the person involved in the commercial sex act is under 18, or if that person is over 18 and has been induced by force, fraud, or coercion, then sex trafficking has occurred.

Trafficking does not require movement across country borders or even state lines. Individuals can be trafficked without ever leaving their homes. Some individuals even have some freedom of movement to come and go from the place where they are trafficked.

Labor trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Who is at risk for being trafficked?

ANYONE can be a victim of human trafficking, but because marginalized people are often more vulnerable to violence, discrimination, and abuse, they are more susceptible to human trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

Traffickers often target these individuals by exploiting their needs and vulnerabilities. They use the difficult realities experienced by marginalized people to coerce them into human trafficking.

Recent migration/relocation, substance use, runaway/homeless youth status, mental health concerns, and prior involvement in the child welfare system put individuals at greater risk to being trafficked.

Why don’t human trafficking victims just run?

If the majority of human trafficking victims are not chained up or physically trapped, people often wonder why they don’t leave the situation or run when they have a chance. Traffickers use brainwashing, psychological manipulation, isolation from friends and family, and fear of violence to control their victims. 

Some sex trafficking victims may feel that they truly love their abuser, and they may also have children with their trafficker, which makes it harder to leave. Labor trafficking victims may be terrified of law enforcement and often their traffickers confiscate their work visas. If they do not speak the language and have been threatened with violence towards themselves or their families, they often feel there is no hope in running or even asking for help.

To Learn More, Visit Our Blog.