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(U) Human Trafficking, Alien Smuggling, and Prostitution
Human Trafficking Alien Smuggling Prostitution
Victims do not consent to
their situation
Is forced exploitation
of a person for labor or
services* that the victim
cannot or believes he
or she cannot leave
Trafficking must have a
commercial aspect but
does not require
movement of the victim
Can be international or
take place in a single
country, no requirement
to cross border
Participants consent to
being smuggled across
border
Contract ends after
border crossing
Smugglers must
physically move the
“customers”
Is always international
Individuals involved
consent to a commercial
sexual transaction
Contract ends after the
sexual act is complete
Movement is irrelevant
Can occur anywhere
Crime against a person
Crime against the
border
Crime against the state
in most areas, legal in
some limited areas
*Under U.S. Law, if a person is under 18 and induced to perform a commercial sex act, then it
is considered trafficking, regardless of whether fraud, force or coercion is involved.
Source: (U) US Department of State, “Fact Sheet: Distinctions between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking 2006”.
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• (U) In February 2015, three MS-13 members
or associates were arrested for human
trafficking in Fairfax County, Virginia. These
arrests are consistent with a reported
increase in gang-related human trafficking
in Northern Virginia. Over the past year,
20 percent of the leads for the Fairfax County
Police Department’s Human Trafficking Unit
were gang related. 61
(U) Prostitution is commercial sex that –
while usually illegal under state law – is a
2015 NATIONAL GANG REPORT 37
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