Human Trafficking Facts:

 

·                      Human trafficking: a modern-day form of slavery. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Victims are young children, teenagers, men and women.

·                      Labor Trafficking: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.

·                      Sex Trafficking: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act, in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act is under the age of 18 years.

·                      After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing. Between 18,000 and 20,000 victims are trafficked into the United States annually, according to the U.S. Department of State.

·                      United Nations estimates unlawful sex trafficking generates approximately $5,000,000,000 a year in revenues.

·                      Forced Labor: "all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself/herself voluntarily." (International Labor Organization Convention Concerning Forced Labor (No. 29)

·                      Forced labor is most prevalent in five sectors of the U.S. Economy: 46% prostitution and sex services, 27% domestic service, 10% agriculture, 5% sweatshop/factory, and 4% restaurant and hotel work.

·                      LVMPD believes the most prevalent form of trafficking in Las Vegas is forced prostitution. Sex oriented businesses, massage parlors and outcall entertainment industry are fertile grounds for exploitation and human trafficking; once investigated, the full extent of the problem is expected to reveal disturbing findings.

·                      Child Sex Trafficking in Las Vegas is predominantly where the highest percentage of victims have been identified. 180 girls and 1 boy have been exploited into sex trafficking in Las Vegas since August 2005, 112 of the girls were from other states; 56 of which came from California.

·                      LVMPD has seen a 250% increase in the number of juveniles arrested for prostitution in the last ten years. In virtually every instance, the juvenile was hooking due to the coercion or influence of a pimp(trafficker).

·                      LVMPD pandering arrests and pandering cases have risen significantly in the past 5 years with more than 200 cases being processed a year.

·                      LVMPD VICE related bookings and misdemeanor prostitution arrests have also risen within the last 5 years. In the past 2 years, the Department as made an average of more than 138 arrests per day.

·                      LVMPD now has a booking code for Human Trafficking

·                      LVMPD established the UMLV Human Trafficking course, on 1/5/07, which is mandatory for all commissioned police and corrections personnel under the rank of Deputy Chief. To date (2/2/07), over 1220 commissioned police, corrections personnel and some civilian employees have completed the course. That is nearly half the force. UMLV reports this is the best response they have ever had to a mandatory course.