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According to the U.S. State Department's Annual Trafficking in Persons Report, "severe forms of trafficking in persons" are defined as:
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(a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or |
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(b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. |
The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, defines trafficking in persons as: |
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“…the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.“ |
There are two primary forms of human trafficking: labor and sex. Both are horrific and unjust. But because of our founder, Linda Smith's experience in Bombay, Shared Hope International has chosen to focus our efforts specifically on combating sex trafficking, forced prostitution, and child sex tourism. We commend the efforts of the many governmental, international, NGO, nonprofit, and private sector organizations, as well as many individuals, who are committed to fighting trafficking in all its forms.
Generally, people use the term “human smuggling” to describe the voluntary, but illegal movement of individuals. Individuals sometimes pay smugglers to transport them across international borders, or into other cities or regions of a country. Human smuggling can sometimes become human trafficking when the smuggler uses force, deception, or coercion to make an individual act against his or her will. Sometimes people begin a journey by being smuggled voluntarily, but then are kidnapped and trafficked instead.
Sex tourism is tourism with partial or full intent of having sex. Sex tourism is legal in countries where prostitution is legal, but some countries have poorly-enforced prostitution laws which increase illegal sex tourism. Sex tourists travel in order to have sexual relations with another individual, often for the exchange of money or presents. Sometimes, sex tourists engage in sex acts with children. A tourist who is having sex with a child (as defined by the host country) is committing a criminal offense in the host country, and also possibly in the country where the tourist is a citizen.
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