Title: Who Are Human Traffickers? | Human Rights First
Headings: Who Are Human Traffickers?
June 10, 2014
Who Are Human Traffickers?
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Human Trafficking: Defining the Phenomenon
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The Business of Trafficking
The Exploiters
Case Examples
The Enablers
Human Rights First’s Campaign

Content: Finally, victims arrive at the location where their exploitation will take place, whether it is for commercial sex or labor. The exploitation of human beings can take place in any market where there is demand for commercial sex or cheap labor: victims are often exploited in the agricultural industry, private households, beauty parlors, nail salons, cleaning companies, restaurants, and beyond. Case Examples
The following descriptions of recent human trafficking cases provide an overview of how human trafficking takes place in the United States. These cases portray a range of different kinds of exploiters, from solo operators to more organized criminal networks. The cases also demonstrate the wide range of industries where exploitation takes place. Some of these victims were subjected to force and coercion, while others were lured through fraud and false promises. In some cases victims were recruited and transported from abroad, while in others the victims were recruited domestically: A family in New Jersey recruited more than 20 girls and young women – between the ages of 10 and 17 – from Togo and Ghana to braid hair for up to 14 hours a day for no pay at salons in Newark and East Orange. The exploiters found their victims by identifying families seeking to send their daughters to the United States for school or jobs.