What Is Human Trafficking?

Human trafficking is the exploitation of a person using force, fraud, and/or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex, forced labor, or both. It is a form of modern slavery impacting tens of millions of people worldwide, including in the District of Columbia.

Labor Trafficking

Labor trafficking includes forced labor, involuntary servitude, debt bondage, and domestic servitude and can occur in private homes as well as large and small businesses such as hotels, factories, restaurants, construction sites, and farms.

Possible Indicators of Labor Trafficking

A person may be a victim of labor trafficking if they:

  • Do not get paid, paid very little, or paid only through tips
  • Work excessively long or unusual hours
  • Cannot freely leave and/or monitored by high security measures such as barbed wire or opaque windows
  • Owe a large debt and cannot pay it off
  • Lack access to their identity documents such as a passport
  • Work and sleep in the same place

Child Labor Trafficking

The use of force, fraud, and/or coercion to compel a person under the age of 18 to provide involuntary labor.

Child Sex Trafficking

A person under the age of 18 who engages in a commercial sex act is a victim of child sex trafficking. Force, fraud, or coercion are not required to prove this crime if the victim is a minor.

Traffickers prey on youth by luring them with promises of companionship, love, protection, acceptance, and material items. They recruit victims online using social media, gaming platforms, and messaging apps, and in person at school, metro stops, malls, and other places where young people are.

Possible Indicators of Child Sex Trafficking

A person may be a victim of child sex trafficking if they:

  • Abscond often from home
  • Miss school often
  • Possess cell phones that they did not purchase on their own
  • Possess money, credit cards, and expensive items or services they cannot afford on their own
  • Spend time with older, controlling, or secretive partners
  • Sustain unexplained injuries
  • Affiliate with a gang

If you have information about a potential child trafficking situation in DC, please call the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 202-671-SAFE (7233).

OAG’s Role in Combatting Trafficking

The Office of the Attorney General works to prevent trafficking by raising awareness and partnering with local, national, and international stakeholders to educate citizens on these crimes.

Attorneys in the Family Services and Public Safety Divisions participate in a district-wide multidisciplinary team that reviews cases involving youth who are victims of trafficking or at a high risk of being trafficked. The team meets monthly to connect youth to medical care, mental health professionals, educational services, support groups, and other resources.

DC is one of a few jurisdictions with a specialty court for youth at risk of or experiencing trafficking. HOPE Court is a voluntary treatment court that enables youth who are in the child welfare and/or juvenile system to have a voice in their future.

For training opportunities, email stoptrafficking@dc.gov.

How You Can Help

Victims of human trafficking may not seek help due to threats of physical harm, trauma, shame, or lack of support.

If you suspect someone may be a victim, do not attempt to confront the trafficker or the victim. Instead, please alert the authorities:

National Human Trafficking Hotline

1-888-373-7888
Text “Help” to 233733