Nature and Extent of Human Trafficking

Research conducted by NIJ grantees has uncovered several key findings:

• Source countries for human trafficking often have poor economies; women are often unemployed and victims are easy to recruit (Hughes and Denisova, 2002).
• Most traffickers are the same nationality as their victims and usually have no criminal records (Hughes and Denisova, 2002).
• Trafficking victims are most likely to be young and reasonably healthy people from poor, but not necessarily the poorest, backgrounds (Bales and Lize, 2005).
• Recruitment is particularly effective when traffickers rely on victims whom they have turned into loyal enforcers or recruiters. Recruitment is also effective when the potential victim's family members are involved (Bales and Lize, 2005).
• In the United States, law enforcement agencies reported encountering more female (81 percent) than male (18 percent) victims. When asked what type of trafficking was represented in their cases, the majority indicated forced prostitution, followed by domestic servitude, and agricultural labor. Whether this is the result of trafficking trends or training is not yet clear (Clawson et al., 2003).