Overview of Human and Sex Trafficking Laws
Human trafficking is a crime that involves enslaving people, which could include moving individuals across state lines or international borders. The severity of this penalty grew when it became a federal crime as defined by Section 1581 (18 U.S.C.). However, it pales in comparison to sex trafficking punishable under 22 U.S.C. 7102. A team of prosecutors and federal law enforcers will investigate these rackets thoroughly and aggressively pursue convictions against the sex smugglers. Truly, there are severe legal repercussions for these harsh crimes.
Laws Governing Trafficking Offenses
| Law | Provisions and Penalties |
|---|---|
| Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) | The TVPA helps protect trafficking victims by allowing judges to order human defendants trying to repay their debts to their victims while also giving the latter the right to push forward civil charges against traffickers. |
| 18 U.S.C. §1581 | This section forbids human trafficking, forcing others into labor or involuntary servitude. Harsh penalties for servitude on US soil may mean life imprisonment in a federal prison if it results from child sex trafficking or serious bodily injuries or death. |
| 18 U.S.C. §1583 | This section offers punishments including up to twenty years in a federal prison against anyone convicted of kidnapping someone else intending slavery. |
| 18 U.S.C. §1584 | A person who holds against an individual’s will, or who sells them out to unpaid work, could receive a prison sentence of up to 20 years. |
| 22 U.S.C. §7102 | Sex trafficking involves commercial sex acts committed forcefully, fraudulently or through coercion, and it requires recruiting, harboring, transporting people for labor or services, involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage and slavery. |
