EXTENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The true prevalence of human trafficking in the United States is unknown because of the concealed nature of the crime. The unofficial estimate is hundreds of thousands when cases among adults, minors, sex, and labor trafficking are combined.
It is believed that more women and children are victims of sex trafficking and domestic servitude and that more boys and men are trafficked for other forms of labor, but it is not possible to present dependable statistics.
Some researchers use reports of missing children to estimate statistics of trafficked children. Children (defined as under 18 years of age) are frequently recruited as runaways, with the likelihood that an estimated 1 in 6 U.S. children who ran away from home in 2014 were victims of sex trafficking (Polaris, 2017). Thirty-three percent of the sex trafficking cases in the United States that were identified in 2015 involved children (U.S. DHHS, 2016).
While it is difficult to know for sure how many people are victims of human trafficking, the National Human Trafficking Hotline gathers data from calls made to their hotline. Calls to the Human Trafficking Hotline for the state of Florida are described in the tables below.
| Type | Number |
|---|---|
| (NHTH, 2020) | |
| Sex | 640 |
| Labor | 128 |
| Sex and labor | 46 |
| Not specified | 82 |
| Total cases | 896 |
| Gender | Number |
|---|---|
| (NHTH, 2020) | |
| Female | 734 |
| Male | 125 |
| Gender minorities | 3 |
| Age | Number |
|---|---|
| (NHTH, 2020) | |
| Adult | 564 |
| Minor | 172 |
MALE TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
Although most published statistics portray victims of trafficking as predominantly female, that information may not be accurate. Labor trafficking of males occurs in almost every type of work, from mining and construction to fishing, hospitality, and healthcare. Sex trafficking of men and boys is underreported, and the sex trafficking industry may have nearly equal numbers of male and female victims.
Initially, male victims may not self-identify as victims. Social values reinforce their perception because society continues to view males as less vulnerable than females. Male victims are at risk for deportation or being charged as criminals rather than being treated as exploited persons. Recovery is much more difficult for male victims, since shelters or recovery programs may not accept men. Clearly, male victims need the same assistance that females receive, including housing, therapy, legal aid, and medical care (U.S. DOS, 2017b).