In 2003, Washington became the first state to criminalize human trafficking. Since then, every state has enacted laws establishing criminal penalties for traffickers seeking to profit from forced labor or sexual servitude.

The laws vary in several ways including who is defined as a “trafficker,” the statutory elements required to prove guilt in order to obtain a conviction and the seriousness of the criminal and financial penalties those convicted will face. Sex Trafficking Common potential sex trafficking venues: • Hostess/Strip Club-Based • Residential Brothels • Street-Based • Online Advertisements • Commercial-Fronted Brothels Labor Trafficking Common potential labor trafficking venues: • Domestic Work • Traveling Sales Crews • Restaurants/ Food Service • Agriculture • Commercial-Fronted Brothels • Health and Beauty Services Source:, t op venues/industries for sex and labor trafficking (for updated statistics on the potential number of cases reported at these venues follow the link). DEFINING TRAFFICKING ACTIONS State laws include a wide variety of activities under their definition of trafficking. Differences in trafficking definitions are critical to identifying who has criminal culpability. Most commonly, trafficking activities are defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons for the purpose of exploitation. Some jurisdictions have expanded their definition of trafficking by including activities like purchasing, benefitting or profiting. • Alaska identifies anyone who benefits from trafficking in any way as being guilty of human trafficking in the 2nd degree.

Direct involvement is 1st degree trafficking. • Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi allow, under certain circumstances, businesses and corporations to be prosecuted for trafficking crimes. • Vermont’s trafficking definition includes “benefitting financially” from participation in a venture where a person is compelled to engage in commercial sex. MEANS OF TRAFFICKING In order to obtain a trafficking conviction, state laws, in most instances, require that prosecutors prove traffickers compelled their victims into labor or sexual servitude. The majority of laws include the elements force, fraud and coercion, but their definition can vary greatly from state to state.

Search metadata Search full text of books Search TV captions Search archived web sites Advanced Search. The trial court hears argument on motions (such as a motion to dismiss. Within 10 days after the pleadings are closed, either party must file. 34, 42 (1985). In addition, an exclusive jurisdiction clause may not be enforced if it will make litigation “so gravely difficult and inconvenient that a party unfairly is at a severe. Connecticut, trial judges are required to warn all defendants about the potential immigration consequences. This guide recognizes, however, that the defense attorney has an independent obligation, to the extent possible, to. MYTH: The record in this particular case will be sealed, so there won't be any immigration.

For example, in some states, their definition focuses primarily on the use of physical force. Biology Concepts And Connections Sixth Edition Chapter 6. Other states more broadly include psychological control, financial threats, legal harassment and drug addiction. • California’s trafficking statute applies to actions that would deprive someone of their liberty, including coercion, violence, menace and duress. • Oklahoma’s definition of coercion includes destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing any actual or purported passport, labor or immigration document, or other government identification document, including a driver license or birth certificate.