Definitions in Relation to Human Trafficking

There are many forms of human trafficking across the world, including:

Forced Labor 
Any work or services which people are forced to do against their will under the threat of some form of punishment.

Sex Trafficking 
The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for a commercial sex act where such an 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.

Child Trafficking 
A crime involving the movement of children for their exploitation.

Child and Forced Marriage
– A marriage is entered into without the full and free consent of one or both parties due to physical or psychological pressure or abuse.
– A child under the age of 18 is forced into such a union. 

Bonded Labor / Debt Bondage
When labor is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan, the person is then tricked or trapped into working for very little or no pay.

Domestic Servitude 
When domestic workers are treated like slaves.

Child Soldiers 
The unlawful recruitment or use of children – through force, fraud, or coercion – by armed forces as combatants or other forms of labor.

Organ Harvesting 
– Where traffickers force or deceive the victims into giving up an organ.
– Victims formally or informally agree to sell an organ and are cheated because they are not paid for the organ or are paid less than the promised price.
– Vulnerable persons are treated for an ailment, which may or may not exist, and thereupon organs are removed without the victim’s knowledge.

Many stories of survivors include the following terms, but what do they actually mean? Here is a list of terms used within Human Trafficking as defined by Dictionary.com. These are not complete legal definitions but can be used to provide a basic understanding.

Abduct
To carry off or lead away (a person) illegally and in secret or by force, especially to kidnap.

Abuse
1. To speak insultingly, harshly, and unjustly to or about.
2. To commit sexual assault upon.
– noun
3. Bad or improper treatment; maltreatment:
4. Rape or sexual assault

Assault
An assault on a person is a physical attack on them.

Child Abuse
Mistreatment of a child by a parent or guardian, including neglect, beating, and sexual molestation.

Coercion
The act of coercing; use of force or intimidation to obtain compliance.

Deceive
To mislead or falsely persuade others; practice deceit: an engaging manner that easily deceives.

Exploitation
1. Use or utilization, especially for profit.
2. To use selfishly for one’s own ends.

Fraud
Deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.

Grooming
To prepare for a position.

Human Trafficking
The illegal practice of procuring or trading in human beings for prostitution, forced labor, or other exploitation forms.

Illegal Immigrant
A foreigner who has entered or resides in a country unlawfully or without the country’s authorization.

Pedophile
An adult who is sexually attracted to young children.

Porn / Pornography
1. Television shows, articles, photographs, etc., thought to cater to an excessive, irresistible desire for or interest in something.
2. Obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, especially those having little or no artistic merit.

Prostitution
Having sex with people in exchange for money.

Rape
Unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus, or mouth of another person with or without force, by a sex organ, other body parts, or foreign object, without the victim's consent.

Slavery / Slaves
1. The system by which other people own people as slaves.
2. Someone who is the property of another person and has to work for that person.
3. You can describe someone as a slave when they are completely under the control of another person or a powerful influence.

Smuggle
1. To import or export (goods) secretly, in violation of the law, especially without payment of legal duty.
2. To bring, take, put, etc., surreptitiously: She smuggled the gun into the jail inside a cake.

Traffic
1. Illegal commercial trade in human beings to exploit them.
2. To trade-in (human beings) for exploitation.

Transport
To carry, move, or convey from one place to another.