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 61% experienced labor trafficking, 27% experienced sex trafficking, and 12% experienced both labor and sex trafficking. They were most frequently exploited in the following settings: cleaning services, domestic servitude, drug trafficking and dealing, field labor, food service, and sex work. WARN has served survivors as young as six and as old as 70 but adults constitute 90% of its program participants. Approximately 80% of survivors served have been foreign nationals coming from 52 countries and speaking 31 different languages. The three most common countries of origin for survivors served by WARN have been Mexico, the US, and Guatemala and the most commonly spoken languages have been Spanish, English, and Tagalog. 65% of survivors served by WARN have identified as female, 34% as male, and 1% as another gender.