What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transporting, or procurement of a person for labor or services for the purpose of involuntary servitude, or forced commercial sex acts. Human Trafficking includes all aspects of forcing an individual to perform labor or other services. Traffickers use debt bondage, psychological manipulation, threats, and physical violence to control victims. This labor can include sexual services, domestic labor, agriculture or field labor, and factory work.
U.S. Department of State estimates that 14,500 to 17,500 persons are brought into the United States each year for labor or sexual exploitation. Due to its economic stability, cultural diversity, major interstates and airports, large number of sexually oriented businesses, and international border, Texas has become a hub for human trafficking. Texas is not only home to major human trafficking corridors, but many individual trafficking victims are brought to the state and forced to work against their will.
To seek help or report a human trafficking tip, call our 24-hour hotline at 214-823-1911.
Links to resources for information on human trafficking:
U.S. Dept. of State Human Trafficking Information
Want to learn more about human trafficking in Texas?
Check out Human Trafficking by the Numbers, a 2016 study done by the University of Texas School of Social Work.