Since 2007, Polaris has operated
the U. S. National Human
Trafficking Hotline. The Trafficking
Hotline connects victims and survivors
to support and services.
We have learned from those survivors
that in this country, human
trafficking generally falls into one of
25 categories or business models.
Some of these are formal
businesses that are otherwise operating
within the law - farms, factories,
restaurants, industries like landscaping,
janitorial services, and construction.
Trafficking also happens in fraudulent
businesses such as massage parlors that
are licensed to provide health
and wellness services, but in
fact sell commercial sex.
And of course trafficking happens in
entirely illegal or illicit operations
such as street-based
prostitution and drug sales.
These are business models,
but trafficking also
happens informally in opportunistic
ways that might surprise you.
Landlords extorting sex for rent
from their tenants is trafficking.
Children being sold to support a
parent's drug habit is trafficking.
Housekeepers who come to the United
States to work for diplomatic
personnel and are mistreated and
threatened if they complain
may be trafficking victims.
Here is an example
of how force, fraud, and coercion
work in a labor trafficking
situation in the United States.
Rafael borrowed money to pay for
his temporary work visa and
transportation from his hometown in Mexico
to the job in the United States.
He thought he was going
to make a good living, in a
legal job, picking fruit in
Washington and that the debt
would be easily paid off.
But when he got there, the job
paid almost nothing. The living
conditions were filthy and overcrowded.
Still, he felt like he couldn't
leave - if he didn't earn anything
at all, he would not be
able to repay the debt and
his family would suffer.
In this case, he was a victim
of fraud because he took a
job in which the pay was
misrepresented. And he was a victim of
coercion because he was stuck in
that job, because he had no
other options and the trafficker
knew this and took advantage of it.