Under the human trafficking program, the FBI investigates:
- Sex Trafficking: When individuals are compelled by force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion to engage in commercial sex acts. Sex trafficking of a minor occurs when the victim is under the age of 18. For cases involving minors, it is not necessary to prove force, fraud, or coercion.
- Labor Trafficking: When individuals are compelled by force, threats of force, fraud or coercion to perform labor or service.
Both children and adults can be victims of human trafficking. However, children are particularly vulnerable due to their age and dependence on others.
The FBI is committed to combating human trafficking and bringing traffickers to justice. We encourage everyone to learn about this crime and help us protect our communities.
Report Trafficking & Get Help
If you are a human trafficking victim or have information about a suspected trafficking crime, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733.
NHTRC is a national, toll-free hotline, with specialists available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also submit a tip on the NHTRC website.
If you believe a child is involved in a trafficking situation, submit a tip through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) CyberTipline or call 1-800-THE-LOST.
FBI personnel assigned to NCMEC review information provided to the CyberTipline.
Common Human Trafficking Misconceptions
Human trafficking and human smuggling are distinct crimes with significant differences.
Human trafficking involves the exploitation of individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. The victim’s consent is irrelevant in trafficking cases.
Human smuggling involves the illegal transportation of people across international borders with their consent. It is a possibility for individuals smuggled into the U.S. to become trafficking victims through debt bondage. Traffickers often deceive victims with legitimate employment opportunities, but upon arrival, victims are charged exorbitant and never-ending fees for transportation, housing, and other necessities, trapping them in a cycle of debt.
The core difference between sex trafficking and commercial sex is the element of exploitation. Commercial sex involves consensual sexual services exchanged for money or other compensation between adults. Sex trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a victim into commercial sex acts.
It is crucial to know that any commercial sex involving a minor is legally considered sex trafficking, regardless of the presence of force, fraud, or coercion, since children cannot legally consent to such acts.
Recognizing the Signs
Traffickers often use sophisticated tactics to control their victims, making it difficult to identify those being exploited. Here are some common indicators:
- Physical Signs: Signs of physical abuse, malnourishment, exhaustion, medical neglect, or lack of proper attire for their environment.
- Behavioral Signs: Fear, anxiety, or submissiveness. Victims may avoid eye contact or seem disoriented, withdraw or isolate themselves from family and friends, or defer to other for answers to simple questions. Minor victims may also exhibit chronic absences from school.
- Living Conditions: Victims may live in overcrowded or substandard housing or in an environment that displays many cameras or other surveillance conscience items.
- Work Conditions: Victims may work excessively long hours or be denied breaks. They may be paid very little or nothing at all.
Click here for a more thorough list of indicators.
Investigations
Human trafficking investigations are conducted by Agents and task force members within the human trafficking program. Investigations often begin through:
- Tips to the FBI from the public
- Calls to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline
- A referral from a law enforcement agency
- A referral from a non-government organization
- Proactive victim recovery operations
- Outreach to state governments and community entities
Over the past decade, the FBI’s human trafficking investigations have been responsible for the arrest of thousands of traffickers and the recovery of numerous victims. The FBI will continue to take part in multi-agency efforts to combat the threat.
Victim-Centered Approach
Victim recovery is the primary goal of trafficking investigations. The FBI’s multi-disciplinary team of agents, analysts, victim specialists, and forensic interviewers work together to ensure a victim-centered, trauma-informed response. FBI victim specialists work with local state and federal resources to provide immediate assistance (shelter, food, clothing) and long-term support (counseling, education assistance, job training). After recovering a victim of human trafficking, field offices seek to arrest and successfully prosecute the traffickers.
Victim services are an important part in supporting human trafficking victims. FBI Victim Services offers a safe space for victims to share their experiences, access resources, and begin the healing process. FBI Victim Services empowers victims, reduces the impact of crimes, and promote their overall well-being.
A victim-centered approach prioritizes the needs and rights of the victim throughout the entire investigation process. This approach recognizes the trauma that victims may have experienced and attempts to minimize re-traumatizing them and/or further harm. When interacting with victims, Agents utilize empathy, active listening, and trauma informed practices. By placing the victim at the center of the investigation, the FBI can build trust, encourage reporting, and promote healing.
National Strategy
The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (NAP), created by the White House and updated in 2021, outlines a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to eradicating human trafficking.
The NAP enhances the impact of its broad-based, multi-disciplinary, whole of government efforts to combat human trafficking. The mission of the NAP is to leverage its authorities and resources to combat human trafficking by preventing it from occurring, supporting and empowering survivors, prosecuting traffickers, coordinating the United States Government’s response, and strengthening federal anti-trafficking efforts through external partnerships.
In 2022, DOJ developed a National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, fully aligned with the foundational pillars of the NAP, namely prevention of human trafficking, prosecution of human trafficking cases, protection of human trafficking victims and survivors, and partnership at every level of government.
In 2025, Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, established the Homeland Security Task Force, led by the FBI and HSI. One of the HSTF’s objectives is to dismantle cross-border human trafficking networks, particularly those targeting children.
Trafficking Victims Protection Act
The 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was the first comprehensive federal law to address human trafficking. In addition to the protections offered through immigration relief for foreign national victims of human trafficking, it focuses on prevention through public awareness programs, both domestically and abroad, and prosecution through new federal criminal statutes.
The TVPA granted the FBI the statutory authority to investigate matters of forced labor; trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and unlawful conduct with respect to documents in furtherance of trafficking.
The TVPA gave law enforcement the ability to protect international victims of human trafficking through several forms of immigration relief, including Continued Presence and the T visa. Continued Presence allows law enforcement officers to request temporary legal status in the United States for a foreign national whose presence is necessary for the continued success of a human trafficking investigation. The T visa allows foreign victims of human trafficking to become temporary U.S. residents and apply for permanent residency after three years. The TVPA also established a law requiring defendants of human trafficking investigations to pay restitution to the victims they exploited. More on human trafficking laws.
Innocence Lost
The FBI, in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative to address the growing problem of child sex trafficking in the United States.
In the years since its inception, the initiative has expanded to 91 dedicated Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Forces. These task forces, with the Offices of the U.S. Attorneys and the FBI’s Victim Services Division, have successfully worked to identify and recover thousands of children.
Additional Resources
FBI Victim Services informs, supports, and assists victims in navigating the aftermath of crime and the criminal justice process with dignity and resilience. The FBI is committed to ensuring that victims receive the rights they are entitled to and the assistance they need to cope with crime. Treating victims with respect and providing them with assistance benefits victims and helps us build better cases.