Human trafficking

Human trafficking is a serious crime that harms many New Yorkers. It involves making someone engage in commercial sexual acts or other types of labor against their will. Traffickers take advantage of others and profit from their exploitation. The Office of the New York State Attorney General (OAG) is committed to combating trafficking in all of its forms. Many departments and bureaus throughout the agency work to identify civil, labor, and criminal claims to ensure that every New Yorker is safe and treated with fairness and justice.

What is human trafficking?

Human trafficking means using force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sexual act, states that human trafficking (“trafficking in persons”):

  • means recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving persons
  • involves threatening or using force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, or deception; abusing power or a position of vulnerability; or giving or receiving payments or benefits to get the consent of a person who has control over another person to take advantage of the controlled person

What laws protect people against human trafficking?

At the national level, the U.S. Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000 to comprehensively address and fight against human trafficking. Congress has reauthorized and built on the TVPA many times. One of these changes was adding in 2003 a private right of action, which allows victims to sue their traffickers for damages. The most recent action was the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018, which increased the government’s focus on addressing and preventing forced labor. 

In New York state, sex and labor trafficking are serious crimes. In addition to criminal prosecution, New York also:

  • provides comprehensive protections for survivors of human trafficking
  • establishes protocols to increase law enforcement’s awareness in identifying and assisting survivors of trafficking
  • requires informational signage in strategic locations, including hotel rooms and airport and bus-station restrooms and lactation rooms
  • establishes a statewide interagency task force on human trafficking to prevent, reduce, and assist human trafficking survivors
  • allows survivors of trafficking to sue their traffickers for damages, such as lost wages and medical costs, and punitive damages, for up to 15 years after leaving their trafficking situation

Are certain people more likely to be victims? 

Trafficking can affect all types of people, but traffickers target certain people much more often. These targets include people from underprivileged and underserved communities, including immigrants, people who do not speak English, people who lack housing, people with developmental disabilities, and children.

Are there specific protections for child victims?

Child sex trafficking does not require an element of force, fraud, or coercion to be a crime. It involves giving something of value – money, food, clothing, drugs, shelter, protection, and so forth –in exchange for any commercial sex act. 

In addition to criminal laws, New York provides specific preventive and treatment programs for at-risk children. These programs were established by the New York Safe Harbor Act.

New York’s labor laws also protect young workers against exploitation:

  • Workers aged 14 to 17 must have an employment certificate, also called working papers, to hold a job in New York state.
  • There are limits to the length of shifts, time of day, and number of hours someone younger than 18 can work. These limits depend on the worker’s age, the type of work, and whether school is in session.
  • Workers younger than 18 must be paid according to minimum-wage laws, unless otherwise noted (minimum-wage laws apply to all workers).
  • Minors cannot perform certain dangerous tasks or work in dangerous occupations.

For more information, see the NY State Youth Worker Bill of Rights.