Illicit Cantinas

More Than Drinks for Sale: Sex Trafficking in U.S. Cantinas and Bars

Published September 15, 2016

Across the United States, thousands of Latina women are prisoners of the sex trafficking industry in bars and cantinas.

Systemic Change Matrix: Disrupting and Preventing Human Trafficking

Published May 31, 2018

This matrix depicts the 25 major types of human trafficking in the United States, cross-referenced with eight highlighted systems and industries.

Sex Trafficking in or from Latin America

Published September 1, 2018

Women and girls from Latin America, particularly from Mexico, are vulnerable to trafficking in many places that look, to the outside world, like normal bars and restaurants or private homes.

The Typology of Modern Slavery: Defining Sex and Labor Trafficking in the United States

Published March 1, 2017

From sex trafficking to labor trafficking, the ways humans are exploited differ greatly. Each type has unique strategies for recruiting and controlling victims and concealing the crime.

Cantina Sex Trafficking: The Maria Bonita Case

Blog Post — January 17, 2017

This Houston-based case shows how difficult it can be for law enforcement to identify trafficking at cantinas and put traffickers out of business.

Fighting Sex Trafficking of Latinas in U.S. Cantinas and Bars

Blog Post — September 9, 2016

What you can do to combat this violent, little-known form of trafficking.

La Trata Sexual de Latinas Florece en Cantinas y Bares de los Estados Unidos

September 8, 2016

Polaris, organización líder en la lucha global para erradicar la esclavitud moderna y restaurar la libertad de los sobrevivientes, publicó hoy un informe que deja al descubierto la economía sexual clandestina que opera en bares y cantinas en los Estados Unidos y explota a mujeres y niñas provenientes de América Latina.

Sex Trafficking of Latinas Flourishes in U.S. Cantinas and Bars

September 8, 2016

Polaris, a leader in the global fight to eradicate modern slavery and restore freedom to survivors, released a report today shedding light on an underground sex economy that is operating out of U.S.-based cantinas and bars and is exploiting young women and girls from Latin America.

Thousands of Women from Mexico are Forced to Sell Sex in the U.S. We Need to End It.

Blog Post — April 6, 2016

Sex traffickers are luring vulnerable Mexican women and girls—who were promised jobs, love, and a better life—to the United States for work.