Legal Definitions - human trafficking

Human trafficking is a severe crime involving the use of force, fraud, or coercion to transport, harbor, or obtain a person for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation can take many forms, including forced labor, sexual servitude, debt bondage, or other forms of involuntary service. It is a violation of fundamental human rights, stripping individuals of their freedom and dignity, often by moving them away from their support networks and into vulnerable situations where they are controlled and abused.

Here are some examples illustrating human trafficking:

• Forced Labor in Agriculture: A group of migrant workers from a rural village is recruited with promises of well-paying jobs at a large farm in a distant region. Upon arrival, their identity documents are confiscated, their wages are withheld indefinitely, and they are forced to live in overcrowded, unsanitary housing. They are threatened with deportation or violence if they attempt to leave or complain about the grueling work conditions and lack of pay.

  This situation demonstrates human trafficking because the workers were transported (moved to a distant region) through fraud (false promises of good jobs) and are now being held captive and exploited for their labor (documents confiscated, wages withheld, forced to work under threat).

• Sexual Exploitation through Online Luring: A teenager is befriended online by an older individual who showers them with attention and promises of a glamorous life and modeling opportunities in another city. Convinced to travel, the teenager soon finds themselves isolated, their phone taken away, and coerced into performing commercial sex acts. Threats are made against their family if they refuse to comply.

  This example illustrates human trafficking as the individual was transported (moved to another city) through fraud (false promises of a modeling career) and coercion (threats against family, isolation) for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

• Domestic Servitude: A family brings a foreign national into their country on a tourist visa, promising to help them secure a legal work permit as a housekeeper. Once in the home, the family confiscates the individual's passport, refuses to pay them, makes them work excessively long hours without breaks, and forbids them from leaving the house or communicating with anyone outside the family.

  This is human trafficking because the individual was received (brought into the country) under false pretenses (promise of legal work and fair treatment) and is now being held captive and exploited for their labor (passport confiscated, no pay, restricted movement and communication).