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Human Trafficking Policy in the United States

We, the people of the United States, need to be that voice that fuel the government to
correct human trafficking legislature that is currently in place. I have decided to explore the
world of human trafficking and make an inquiry about the effects of the misconceptions
associated with human trafficking and how they negatively impact the legislature in the United
States. Within the past 20 years the United States has improved their policy regarding human
trafficking, but common misconceptions about human trafficking are hindering the forward
movement of policy. In order to fully understand the consequences that this issue has on policy, I
am going to breakdown each misconception into three parts: first what the misconceptions are,
how the misconceptions affect policy, and how the legislature can move forward. Sadly, there are
countless misunderstandings that surround the world of human trafficking but the three that I
found most influential on the United States legislature were sex trafficking is the only type of
human trafficking, prostitution and sex trafficking are the same, and human trafficking and
human smuggling are the same. It is imperative to know the truth about these misconceptions
and how they effect the legislature in the United States.
The first common misconception about human trafficking is that human trafficking is
strictly sexual. It is important to note that the federal statues do not give a formal definition for
human trafficking, but rather breaks it down two types. According to Section 103(9) of the
Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2008, sex trafficking is defined as the recruitment,
transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.
Labor trafficking is defined by the International Labor Organization Convention No. 29 as, all
work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for
which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. As shown in the definitions, these two

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are different types of crime that occur. Due to the fact that the media is more interested in the
sexual exploitations of human beings, rather than forced labor, the common misconception
arouse that sexual trafficking being the only kind of trafficking. Yes, it is good that the media
even acknowledges that sex trafficking occurs, they need to take it a step further and address
labor trafficking as well. According to figure 1 from International Labor Organization in 2014,
forced labor exploitation makes up 67.9% of human trafficking, where as forced sexual
exploitation makes up 21.5%, and the remaining 10.5% is for the state imposed forced labor.

https://ecospiritualityresources.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/types-of-human-trafficking1.png

Figure 1
In an article written by David Feingold, he states evidence can be found in field studies of
trafficking victims across the world and in the simple fact that the worldwide market for labor is
far greater than that for sex (26). This quote disproves the myth that sex trafficking is the only
form of trafficking, and goes beyond to state labor is more useful and in higher demand than sex.
It may not seem like it initially, but this misconception and focus on sex trafficking, rather than
the wider spread labor trafficking, causes issues with the lack of laws that deal with labor
trafficking. It is imperative that we, the United States, set a standard for the rest of the world in

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making appropriate policy to deal with labor trafficking. The government needs to create
legislature that properly deals with labor trafficking, not just sweeping it under the broad
spectrum of human trafficking. Karen Bravo brings to light the ingenious idea of creating a
structure for effective laws that will properly encompass labor trafficking. She does this by
working in the idea of a growing global economy and when you think about it, the trafficking of
humans is mainly to exploit human beings and make money. She writes, I propose that we add
some subtlety to our understanding of the terminology employed in the discourse. Pursuant to
this perspective, trafficking rings are not merely criminal enterprises; they are also, foremost and
fundamentally, profit-seeking and profit-generating enterprises. The human beings that are the
subject of their economic activity are both exploitable human capital and exploitable natural
resources such as timber or minerals (68). This idea uses a different way of looking at labor
trafficking because it ties in the world economy and the organizations that are associated with it;
thus allowing the United States to continue at the front of fighting human trafficking. Sadly,
many people do not realize how important the fight against labor trafficking, thus this
misconception stagnates the movement of policy creation and implementation in the United
States. We need to make sure that the two types of human trafficking stay separate when it comes
to legislature, so the government is able to accurately handle the situation. I think that
interweaving the global economy into the forward movement of labor trafficking laws is genius
because it will be able reach not just the United States but the world. It is crucial that United
States policy regarding labor trafficking becomes a reality within the next few years because if it
does not than millions of people will continue to be abused.
The second misconception that affects the improvement of the human trafficking policy
in the United States, is the idea that sex trafficking and prostitution are one in the same. We now

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know the definition of sex trafficking from the paragraph above but believe it or not the
definition of prostitution is very different. Prostitution is defined as, the act of having sex in
exchange for money. The two terms are often blindly lumped together but we need to remember
that sex trafficking is a forced behavior and prostitution can be but is not necessarily. If the
United States where to include prostitution into the legislative realm of human trafficking, it
would cause countless issues for places that have legal prostitution. For example, in Las Vegas,
Nevada prostitution is legal, thus if we were to lump them together, then there would be a large
economic downfall. We should not make assumptions about prostitutes because what if they
chose this path to help pay the bills; they may not have been forced into it like the lawmakers
assume. This misconception has caused a wave of response all over the globe especially between
the United Nations Trafficking Protocol and the United States Human Trafficking laws. Jackie
Chuang states, Negotiations stalled over whether the legal definitions of trafficking should
encompass all prostitution and, in the process marginalized advocacy efforts critical to overcome
the governments, reluctance to afford substantive rights to protections of trafficked persons
(1672). In laymens term, this cross over between prostitution and sex trafficking has caused
issues with the policy because adding prostitution to this legislature will take away the focus
from the aid that is deserved to the victims of human trafficking. It will also hurt the cities, as
well as countries, where prostitution is legal and is a mean of economic income. Per usual the
United States government has their own personal opinion on the matter, in which the tend to
automatically assume is the correct answer. Alison Siskin and Liana Sun Wyler write, They
[United States Government] believe that giving prostitutes some measure of legitimacy short of
legalization reduces the risk that they will be exposed to the dangers of trafficking (34). They
are trying to say that if they do give prostitutes more freedom they are less likely to fall into a sex

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trafficking ring. What? First they try to combine the two different things stating that they are
virtually the same but in reality they are two different things that need to remain separate. I
believe that it is imperative for the United States government to keep prostitution and sex
trafficking separate; yes, sometimes people who were trafficked are forced into prostitution but
that does not mean that it is the same. It would be more beneficial for the country as a whole,
more specifically an influential country on the scale of fighting human trafficking, to keep
prostitution and sex trafficking under two different realms of legislature. It is imperative as we
go through our daily lives to not fuel the misconceptions that negatively effect our legislature.
The final misconception that negatively effects human trafficking policy in the United
States, is the misunderstanding that human trafficking and human smuggling are one in the same.
According to the Justice Department of California, Human trafficking is a modern form of
slavery. It involves controlling a person through force, fraud, or coercion to exploit the victim for
forced labor, sexual exploitation, or both. Where as the United Nations Protocol against the
Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, an Air, considers people who have been smuggled as
willing participants in criminal activity. The United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement defines human smuggling as, the importation of people into a country via
deliberate evasion of immigration laws. As you can see from the definitions, the two are
different; keep in mind that not all cases are the same and they can overlap, but in general they
need to be kept separate. The combination of the two very different illegal activities can have a
dangerous affect on the policy that is put in place because if they are combined then the lines will
be blurred and many more criminals will slip through the cracks and escape. This confusion is
not just occurring within the United States legislature but also on a global scale. Alison Siskin
and Liana Sun Wyler write, Despite the U.N protocols on trafficking and smuggling, many

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countries in practice conflate the two differing, but sometimes overlapping phenomenon. As a
result, some observers argue that TIP policies can directly shape migration (and vice versa) in
both countries origin and destination (35). As you can see if the overlapping of these two very
different areas of criminal activity were to continue it would have a detrimental effect on the
immigration policies in countries across the world. It is important to note that United States takes
into consideration the policies put in place by the United Nations dealing with Human
Trafficking, whilst creating their own laws, thus negatively effecting and further confusing our
countrys policy. The United States has always been a leader for the rest of the world, and if we
want to continue effectively doing so, then we need to make sure to have the proper protocol in
place to deal with human trafficking and human smuggling. In conclusion, the United States
policy dealing with human trafficking and human smuggling can be greater improved in the
future, by keeping these different criminal acts separate.
In conclusion, the importance of realizing the negative effects that these misconceptions
have on the human trafficking policy in the United States. Now that you are aware of the false
connections and assumptions surrounding human trafficking, it is imperative to keep sharing that
knowledge to be able to make a change in U.S. policy and the world. Remember, sex trafficking
is not the only form of human trafficking, prostitution and sex trafficking are not the same issue,
and human trafficking and human smuggling are not the same.

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Figure 2
Whether you chose to believe it or not, human trafficking is real problem in the United States
and it may be right around the corner from you. Just take a look at figure 2. It is time to make a
change.

Work Cited
"C029 - Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)." Convention C029 - Forced Labour
Convention, 1930 (No. 29). N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
"Blue Campaign." Myths and Misconceptions | Homeland Security. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov.
2016.
Bravo,KarenE.TowardALaborLiberalizationSolutiontoModernTraffickinginHumans.
ProceedingsoftheAnnualMeeting(AmericanSocietyofInternationalLaw),vol.102,
2008,pp.6669.
Carr,Bridgette."SexTrafficking:AnAmericanProblemToo."CNN.CableNewsNetwork,25
Nov.2009.Web.22Nov.2016.

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Chuang,JanieA.RESCUINGTRAFFICKINGFROMIDEOLOGICALCAPTURE:
PROSTITUTIONREFORMANDANTITRAFFICKINGLAWANDPOLICY.
UniversityofPennsylvaniaLawReview,vol.158,no.6,2010,pp.16551728.
Feingold, David A. Human Trafficking. Foreign Policy, no. 150, 2005, pp. 2632.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
"Human Smuggling." ICE. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Parsons, Chelsea, Andrew Cray, Malika Saada Saar, and Yasmine Vafa. "3 Key Challenges in
Combating the Sex Trafficking of Minors in the United States." Center for American
Progress. N.p., 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
"Policy Priorities." Polaris. N.p., 01 Mar. 2016. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.
"Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air supplementing the United
Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime." United Nations. United
Nations, 2000. Web.
Siskin, Alison, and Liana Sun Wyler. "Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for
Congress." Congressional Research Service (2013): 1-70. Web.
Standard, Pacific. "Our Very Real Problem With Human Trafficking." Pacific Standard. N.p., 07
May 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Tully, Andrew. "Experts Say Human Trafficking A Major Problem In U.S."
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. N.p., 11 July 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
"What Is Human Trafficking?" State of California - Department of Justice - Kamala D. Harris
Attorney General. N.p., 15 Nov. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
"William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008." U.S.
Department of State. U.S. Department of State, 01 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

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