Justice Department Report Sheds Light On Human Trafficking Stats
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Just less than half of suspected human trafficking incidents in recent years involved the prostitution or sexual exploitation of children, according to United States Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Nearly half – 48 percent – of human trafficking allegations investigated between January 2008 and June 2010 involved allegations of adult prostitution, the Bureau said; 40 percent of cases pursued during that same time period involved children. According to the report during the study period:
• Federally funded task forces, led primarily by local law enforcement agencies, investigated 2,515 incidents of suspected human trafficking. Most incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking, but 350 incidents involved allegations of labor trafficking in unregulated industries (i.e. drug sales or roadside sales) and/or commercial industries (i.e. hair salons, hotels and bars). The information in the report is being provided in response to a congressional mandate for biennial reporting on the scope and characteristics of human trafficking incidents in the U.S. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person to perform labor or a commercial sex act through force, fraud, or coercion.