Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking, though some populations of individuals, given their positions in society, are more vulnerable to trafficking. These populations include:

Ultimately, trafficked persons span all demographic markers. However, the populations listed above are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. 

The International Labor Organization estimates demographics of victims in their Global Estimate of Forced Labor. They find that female-identifying individuals constitute 71% of victims. It is estimated that children comprise 1 out of 4 victims of human trafficking. 

For Additional Information on Vulnerable Populations, please see the following articles and fact sheets:

– Sex Trafficking of LGBT Individuals: A Call for Service Provision, Research, and Action

– Vulnerability of LGBT individuals to Human Trafficking

– Vulnerability of Indigenous Persons to Human Trafficking

– Vulnerability of Persons with Disabilities to Human Trafficking

– The Intersection Between Environmental Degradation and Human Trafficking

– Human Trafficking and Minorities: Vulnerability Compounded by Discrimination

–The Connection Between Foster Care and Human Trafficking

A trafficker may work alone, in a small criminal group, or in a large-scale organized crime network.   Their scale of operation can range from victimizing one individual to large groups. Frequently a trafficker is someone whom the victim knows on a personal basis, such as a family member, friend, romantic partner, or community member. Traffickers often have the same nationality as their victims.

Contrary to the common conception that men are the primary traffickers, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has found that in some parts of the world women play a more prominent role in human trafficking. This may be because former victims become perpetrators as a means of escaping their own enslavement, or because women are more successful as recruiters and traffickers, as they are more likely to be trusted and less likely to be suspected of the crime.

Human Traffickers who have been prosecuted around the world have included:

Each case of human trafficking is unique. Whether the human trafficker is an individual acting alone or part of a larger organization, they reap financial gain from their victim through force, fraud, or coercion.

While it is true that traffickers sometimes forcibly kidnap their victims, this is not the most common way in which an individual becomes a victim of human trafficking. More frequently, traffickers manipulate and take advantage of an individual’s position of vulnerability in order to establish coercive control. For example, they may influence their victim with the false incentive of a job or better living conditions. In manipulating individuals’ vulnerabilities, traffickers will often also use physical force to establish dominance and control.

Traffickers use a variety of tactics to intimidate and control their victims, including:

*Image created by Human Trafficking Search. Content Credit: NHTH.

Human trafficking can happen anywhere, both domestically and across international borders. Countries are commonly categorized as origin, transit, and destination countries, and a specific country can fall into one, two, or all three of these categories.  India, for example, is an origin, transit, and destination country.  For more detailed country profiles, check out the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report.      

While they often overlap, there are several differences between human trafficking and migrant smuggling. Migrant smuggling involves aiding an individual to cross international borders illegally. Human trafficking is controlling and exploiting a human being for profit. Some important differences include: