U.S. law defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor against their will. The Action-Means-Purpose (AMP) Model can be helpful in understanding the federal law. Human trafficking occurs when a perpetrator, often referred to as a trafficker, takes an Action (induces, recruits, harbors, transports, provides), and then employs the Means of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of compelling the victim to provide commercial sex acts (sex trafficking) or labor/services (labor trafficking).The exception to the force, fraud or coercion requirement is that children participating in commercial sexual activity is always considered trafficking under federal law. There is no such thing, under federal law, as a child prostitute. Victims of human trafficking include adults and children, both U.S. citizens and foreign national.

---

 The terms “victim” and “survivor” can be problematic for those affected by trafficking, and by using them in this resource, we do not mean to label or define anyone’s experience. Instead, we use them for clarity and to be consistent with language that is currently standard throughout the literature on this issue. In practice, educators are encouraged to be mindful of the power of these terms and to determine, in dialogue with students impacted by trafficking, how they prefer to be referenced.