Our new statistics report provides 2016 data from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, Polaris’s BeFree Textline, and communications referencing overseas cases.
Key highlights and trends from the report include:
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Reports of human trafficking in the U.S. increase every year. In 2016, we learned of 8,042 cases, a 35% jump over 2015. This is mostly due to people spreading awareness and the Hotline.
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More survivors of human trafficking are reaching out for help than ever before. 2,042 survivors contacted the Hotline directly in 2016, a 24% increase over 2015. This year’s report dives deeper into who the victims are and how they were trafficked. We learned that sex trafficking victims were most often trafficked by their intimate partners, while labor trafficking victims were most often recruited through a job offer.
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Labor trafficking soared by 47% but is still widely underreported. Labor trafficking often goes unrecognized compared to sex trafficking because of a lack of awareness about the issue and the vulnerable workers it affects. By identifying the specific sectors and venues in which these labor crimes occur, we can reach survivors more effectively.
