Human trafficking happens in urban and rural settings. In all 50 states. It happens to men and to women of all races and religions and ethnic backgrounds in all kinds of settings.

Labor trafficking victims can be found in both legal and illegal industries, including child care, elder care, the drug trade, massage parlors, nail and hair salons, entertainment, casinos, restaurants, hotels, factories and farms. Sometimes labor trafficking victims are made to perpetrate online or telephone scams. They might be working behind closed doors, such as in domestic servitude, or in plain sight as cooks, cleaners, field workers and more. 1

Sex trafficking victims are exploited for commercial sex on the street, in illicit massage parlors, in entertainment settings, through escort services and via online advertising, social media and chat. 2

Increasingly, trafficking begins online, where traffickers hunt for victims (pursuing a person on social media for sex trafficking disguised as a “relationship,” for example) or fish for victims (placing an ad for labor trafficking disguised as legitimate employment and awaiting replies, for example). 3

Traffickers exist in all kinds of settings. A trafficker might have a criminal background, but a trafficker also could be a family friend, a romantic partner, a relative, an online contact or a business owner. 4

1) www.justice.gov/humantrafficking/what-is-human-trafficking
2) www.justice.gov/humantrafficking/what-is-human-trafficking
3) www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/faqs.html
4) www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/faqs.html