Human
Trafficking
Human Trafficking in Washington
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines human trafficking as (A) sex trafficking in which a 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; or (B) 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. More simply put, human trafficking involves forcing someone to work against their will, be it through sex work or another form of labor. Visit Polaris to find out more about what human trafficking is (and isn’t) and how it happens.
In Washington State, where WashACT is active, many agencies are engaged in countering human trafficking. Please visit Washington Trafficking Help for a list of active service providers of all kinds. Here are some key WashACT partners:
• Seattle Police Department
• The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington
• The Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network (WARN)
Accurate statistics on human trafficking are hard to come by. What we know about survivors who have been served by WARN since 2004 is that they have most commonly experienced both sex and labor trafficking in the following settings: cleaning services, domestic servitude, drug trafficking and dealing, field labor, food service, and sex work. WARN has served adult and minor survivors of trafficking coming from 49 different countries and speaking 22 languages. The three most common countries of origin for survivors served by WARN are Mexico, the US, and India and 69% of survivors served have been foreign nationals.
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