TIMS captures data on human trafficking victims 

served by victim service providers through funding 

from the Office for Victims of Crime D

through 14 Enhanced Collaborative Model 

anti-trafficking task forces involving federal, state, and local 

law enforcement, victim service providers, and others

1,083 investigations D

Through 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices and 2 special units, 

DOJ secured at the federal level: 

were formally charged

335 defendants D

*Doesn’t include child sex 

trafficking charges brought 

under non-trafficking statutes

,ainly sex mainly labor

184

convicted

traffickers D

Mainly labor trafficking (8.7%)

Mainly sex trafficking (91.3%)

208

prosecutions*D ,ainly sex mainly laobr 

Mainly labor trafficking (14.7%)

Mainly sex trafficking (85.3%)

Human 

Trafficking

The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act 

(TVPA) defines HUMAN TRAFFICKING as 

“sex trafficking in which a commercial sex 

act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or 

in which the person induced to perform such 

an act has not attained 18 years of age” or 

“the recruitment, harboring, transportation, 

provision, or obtaining of a person for labor 

or services, through the use of force, fraud, 

or coercion for the purpose of subjection to 

involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, 

or slavery.”D Multiple U.S. agencies are 

charged with investigating and prosecuting 

human trafficking cases at both the federal 

and state level, and their record-keeping 

systems do not allow for cross-referencing. 

The extent of domestic trafficking is also 

largely unknown due to the hidden nature of 

the crime. In addition, many sex trafficking 

victims are misidentified as offenders; minors 

involved in commercial sexual exploitation 

are of particular concern because their age 

by definition qualifies them as victims of 

human trafficking.

NOTE: Hover for data hyperlinks to source material.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

U.S. Department of Justice (FY2014) Office for Victims of Crime

Trafficking Information Management System (TIMS, 2012)

,ainly sex mainly laobr other

Labor trafficking (42.4%)

Sex trafficking (46.0%)

Both (9.3%) 1,462

victims 

served C Other/Unknown (2.3%)

Victims by type of trafficking: C

Minor (19.4%)

Adult (80.6%)

Victims by age: C

U.S. citizens/legal 

permanent residents (35.3%)

Foreign nationals (64.7%)

Victims by citizenship: C

Men/boys (20.4%)

Women/girls (79.1%)

Transgender (gender identity 

not specified) (0.5%)

Victims by gender: C

w
Labor trafficking (74.0%)

Sex trafficking (19.0%)

Both (7.0%)

749

certification

lettersA

,ainly sex mainly laobr other

HHS certification letters allow 

trafficking victims who are not 

U.S. citizens to receive assistance 

from government programs D

Mainly labor trafficking (66%) sex labor b

Mainly sex trafficking (31%) 219

children Both (3%)

Women (49%)

Girls (12%)

Men (22%)

Boys (17%)

Certification letter recipients 

by sex and age:

A

Including:A

National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC)

SOURCES

A Attorney General’s Annual Report to Congress 

and Assessment of U.S. Government Activities to 

Combat Trafficking in Persons,Fiscal Year 2014, 

(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2015), 

https://www.justice.gov/ag/file/799436/download

B National Human Trafficking Resource Center Data 

Breakdown, (Washington, DC: Polaris Project, 2015), 

http://traffickingresourcecenter.org/sites/default/

files/NHTRC%202015%20United%20States%20

Report%20-%20USA%20-%2001.01.15%20-%20

12.31.pdf

C Office for Victims of Crime Snapshot Report: Data 

Summary from OVC’s Trafficking Information 

Management System (TIMS) January 1 through 

December 31, 2012, (Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Justice, 2016), http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/

humantrafficking/pdf/TIMS-Report-508.pdf

D Trafficking in Persons Report July 2015, 

(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 

2015), http://www.state.gov/documents/

organization/245365.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (FY2014)

Online tips (6.2%)

Phone calls (88.6%)

Emails (5.2%)

Sex Trafficking (74.6%)

Labor Trafficking (13.0%)

Sex and Labor Trafficking (3.2%)

In 2015, the NHTRC received:B

24,757

contacts

Farming/agriculture

Domestic work

Traveling sales crew

Restaurant/food services

Health/beauty services

Hospitality

Begging ring

Other industry

Industry not specified

10.4

18.2

9.4 7.5

Percentage of potential labor trafficking cases by industry B

4.9 3.7 2.8

26.8 16.4

Labor trafficking (13.0%)

Sex trafficking (74.6%)

Sex and labor trafficking (3.2%)

Trafficking type, not specified (9.2%)

Resulting in:B Sex Trafficking (74.6%)

Labor Trafficking (13.0%)

Sex and Labor Trafficking (3.2%)

Trafficking Type Not Specified (9.2%)

5,544

potential

cases

10.3 10.0 8.5 5.6

Percentage of potential sex trafficking cases by venue or industry B

4.9 3.7

Hotel or motel

Commercial-front brothel

Online ad, venue not specified

Residential brothel

Street

3.1 7.5

46.3

Escort/delivery service

Pornography

Other venue

Venue not specified

The NHTRC, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 

provides 24-hour services to trafficking victims and service providers, 

and tracks tips from the general public.