EXTENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Statistics
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, 2017b). 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 Michigan are described in the tables below.
| Type | Number |
|---|---|
| (NHTH, 2019b) | |
| Sex | 282 |
| Labor | 35 |
| Sex and labor | 17 |
| Not specified | 30 |
| Total cases | 364 |
| Gender | Number |
|---|---|
| (NHTH, 2019b) | |
| Female | 315 |
| Male | 42 |
| Gender minorities | <3 |
| Age | Number |
|---|---|
| (NHTH, 2019b) | |
| Adult | 220 |
| Minor | 92 |
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).
CASE
Male Sex Trafficking
One summer, Kevin, age 14, met a man called Ray, who took an interest in him. Ray soon asked Kevin if he would like to meet some young friends his own age. Ray gave him a ride and dropped him off to meet the boys in another part of town. Kevin sat outdoors with two new friends and watched a middle-aged man walk past them and into a public restroom. One of the boys followed the man into the restroom and motioned for Kevin to come, too. Kevin watched while his friend orally copulated the man and then was paid $25.00 cash. Eventually Kevin began to exchange sex acts for money, too.
(Adapted from Kline & Maurer, 2015.)
Health Impacts
Human trafficking impacts the health of its victims. Most epidemiological studies on human trafficking have focused on women and children who have been sexually exploited. These studies have historically concentrated on HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), chronic health problems, and mental health issues. It is known that victims of trafficking are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually.
In healthcare settings, individuals may present with chronic health conditions such as diabetes, chronic pain, chemical dependency, HIV, or depression that have gone untreated because they have been unable to access healthcare. Adolescents may not be up to date on their immunizations or suffer from vitamin deficiency, developmental issues, or other malnutrition and toxic stress.
Physical symptoms that are commonly reported include:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Stomach problems
- Significant weight loss
- Back pain
- Chronic pain
- Chemical dependency
- Dental problems
- Neglect of chronic health conditions such as diabetes or HIV
Reproductive and sexual health concerns and procedures may include:
- Sexually transmitted infections, including HIV
- Abnormal PAP, cervical dysplasia
- HPV testing
- Colposcopy
- Cryotherapy
- LEEP (loop electrical excision procedure for cervical dysplasia)
- Contraception evaluation and management
- Pregnancy
- Pregnancy termination procedures
- Prenatal care
- Labor and delivery
- Pediatrics
(HEALTrafficking.org, 2017)
SURVIVOR VOICE
“Some girls got STIs or got pregnant. When they couldn’t meet their quota, they would go without a condom because buyers would pay more for doing it that way. Some traffickers would get girls pregnant to trap them.”
Mental health issues have also been identified and found to persist longer than physical symptoms. These include:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Addiction (especially opioid)
- Complex trauma resulting in psychosis
- Self-harm
- Suicide attempts
- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
(Stoklosa, 2017)
When one considers the extensive psychological trauma that an adult or child experiences in response to a single sexual assault, it is not surprising that victims of sex trafficking, who experience multiple assaults, would suffer from significant behavioral health issues such as depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse (Greenbaum & Crawford-Jakubiak, 2015).
Mortality
Due to the clandestine nature of the crime of human trafficking, it is difficult to conduct long-term research. The literature suggests that the lifespan of trafficked victims is significantly shortened due to the lifestyle that is associated with this type of victimization, but few studies have been done to substantiate the claim.
One of the few pertinent epidemiological studies that evaluated cause-specific mortality in a cohort of “prostituted women” used 30 years of continuous surveillance in Colorado to generate statistics. The investigators identified 1,969 women for the study. Most of the women worked on the streets, and a few worked in massage parlors as well as on the street. The study acknowledges the increased violence, drug use, infection, suicide, and homicide risks in the cohort, which also occur in the lives of victims of sex trafficking.
The standardized mortality ratio was 5.9 for the study group, which was three times higher than the ratio of 1.9 found in the general population. Few women died of natural causes, and 19% died as a result of homicide, 18% due to drug ingestion, 12% accidents, 9% alcohol-related, and 8% from complications of HIV infection. The authors concluded that trafficked women are living and working in the most dangerous environment in the United States and are vulnerable to murder and drug overdose in particular (Potterat et al., 2004).