Human trafficking or “modern human slavery” is an issue of increasing media and public policy attention. Although it is believed that human trafficking in some form has always existed, there were no specific United States policies on human trafficking prior to 1994 (Hopper, 2004). Human trafficking is almost always related to immigration, with trafficking victims initially making conscious decisions to enter other countries illegally. ”Push factors” including poverty, gender-based discrimination, and community violence likely contribute to the potential victims’ willingness to engage in risky migration practices. “Pull factors” include global labor needs and a market for illegal workers (Chuang, 2004). Many trafficking victims are lured into illegal immigration with promises of legitimate work opportunities (Bales & Lize, 2005; Coonan, 2004; Dougherty, 2006; Hopper, 2004).

Estimates of the numbers of victims are extremely variable. The U.S. Department of State estimated that between the years 2004-2005, 600,000 to 800,000 victims of human trafficking crossed international borders with between 14,500 and 17,500 coming into the United States (U. S. Department of State, 2005). Others have estimated that as many as 100,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year (Richard, 2000). It is generally believed that human trafficking numbers are underestimated (Hopper, 2004; Loff & Sanghera, 2004). High percentages of these victims are reportedly women and children, although the specific characteristics of victims, as well as the numbers of victims remain unknown (Bales, 2005; Hopper, 2004; Webber & Shirk, 2005). Moral, political, and fiscal motivations may distort reported human trafficking demographics in favor of groups supported by public sympathy and public funding targets (Loff & Sanghera, 2004). There some difficulties identifying potential numbers of victims and disagreement as to the accuracy of the numbers, types of victims, and potential solutions. Many advocates see trafficking as human rights or more specifically, women’s rights concerns. Women and girls are believed to be vulnerable to both human trafficking and HIV/AIDS given their traditionally subordinate position in societies (Chuang, 2004; Perkins, 2004). Involvement in the commercial sex industry is considered to be an important potential source of HIV transmission, especially among migrant laborers (Maxwell, Cravioto, Galvan, Ramirez, Wallisch, & Spence; 2005).

Although many believe human trafficking is related to organized crime and often connected to both other criminal activities and legitimate businesses, others believe this is overestimated (Feingold, 2005). There is some evidence that victims, traffickers, and customers are usually within the same ethnic group, with many traffickers recent immigrants themselves (Bales, 2005). Traffickers may be highly respected members of the ethnic communities where victims are recruited, often trusted friends or even family members of potential victims (Bales, 2005; Loff & Sanghera, 2004; Stolz, 2005).