Recruiters in Human Trafficking Cases

What does the data reflect?

Traffickers may recruit or may use other people to help recruit the victim. In this dataset, you can explore data points relating to the relationships between victims and their recruiters in both sex trafficking and forced labor cases filed from 2017 to 2021. You can filter based on victim age, victim gender, and whether a defendant in the case was a buyer. Many cases do not provide information regarding the identity of the recruiter, therefore data in this module only reflects the cases where at least one recruiter could be identified and is not representative of the entire pool of victims. Cases where the recruiter was identified as “other” have been excluded from this module. A pre-existing relationship in this dataset is defined as the recruiter taking advantage of their relationship with the victim, or the victim’s relationship with someone else, for the purposes of recruitment.

The Federal Human Trafficking Report’s findings are not a prevalence estimate of trafficking in the United States, but instead, serve as an objective summary of how the federal system holds traffickers accountable for their exploitative conduct. The Report does not capture data from state prosecutions, state civil suits, or human trafficking cases that are not prosecuted.

How to download a report

You can use this module to view and filter the data. To download a report featuring the data with your filters, click the download icon on the bottom right corner of the data module.

How to cite the data

Suggested Citation: Human Trafficking Institute, Recruiters in Trafficking Cases, June 2022,
https://data.traffickinginstitute.org/recruiters-in-sex-trafficking-cases