Types of Trafficking

Did you know there are several different kinds of human trafficking? The frist thing that usually comes to a person’s mind is sex trafficking, in which a person is forced to commit various sex acts by their trafficker. While that is the more commonly known form of human trafficking, it is far from the only kind! The two main umbrellas of human trafficking are sex trafficking (described above), and labor trafficking. Labor trafficking is where someone is fored to provide labor or other services as opposed to sex. Under each umbrella, trafficking can take different forms such as bonded labor, child marriage, indoor sexual exploitation (a common example of this is places that purport to be a massage parlor, but actually offer sexual services), etc.

It is important to understand that human trafficking flies under the radar and takes many forms so that we can be vigilant and perhaps identify signs of these different kinds of trafficking if they are happening in our communities.