The Typology of Modern Slavery: Defining Sex and Labor Trafficking in the United States

For the last 15 years, people in the modern anti-trafficking field have struggled to identify and disrupt human trafficking networks in the United States. This movement to stop modern slavery has confronted many challenges, and one of the most significant has been the absence of data that shows how human trafficking operates. To eradicate human trafficking networks and help survivors, we must be able to identify and disrupt the manifestations of trafficking in our communities. From sex trafficking within escort services to labor trafficking of farm workers, the ways humans are exploited differ greatly. Each type has unique strategies for recruiting and controlling victims, and concealing the crime.