2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 11 - Criminal Offenses › Chapter 11-67.1 - Uniform Act on Prevention of and Remedies for Human Trafficking › Section 11-67.1-2. - Definitions.

§ 11-67.1-2. Definitions.
(a)
For purposes of this chapter:
(1)
“Adult” means an individual eighteen (18) years of age or older.
(2)
“Coercion” means:
(i)
The use or threat of force against, abduction of, serious harm to, or physical restraint of, an individual;
(ii)
The use of a plan, pattern, or statement with intent to cause an individual to believe that failure to perform an act will result in the use of force against, abduction of, serious harm to, or physical restraint of, an individual;
(iii)
The abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process;
(iv)
Controlling or threatening to control an individual’s access to a controlled substance as defined in § 21-28-1.02;
(v)
The destruction or taking of or a threatened destruction or taking of an individual’s identification document or other property;
(vi)
The use of debt bondage;
(vii)
The use of an individual’s physical or mental impairment when the impairment has a substantial adverse effect on the individual’s cognitive or volitional function; or
(viii)
The commission of civil or criminal fraud.
(3)
“Commercial sexual activity” means sexual activity for which anything of value is given to, promised to, or received, by a person.
(4)
“Debt bondage” means inducing an individual to provide:
(i)
Commercial sexual activity in payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt; or
(ii)
Labor or services in payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt if:
(A)
The reasonable value of the labor or services is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt; or
(B)
The length of the labor or services is not limited and the nature of the labor or services is not defined.
(5)
“Human trafficking” means the commission of an offense created by §§ 11-67.1-3 — 11-67.1-7.
(6)
“Identification document” means a passport, driver’s license, immigration document, travel document, or other government-issued identification document, including a document issued by a foreign government.
(7)
“Labor or services” means activity having economic value.
(8)
“Minor” means an individual less than eighteen (18) years of age.
(9)
“Person” means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, or other legal entity. The term does not include a public corporation or government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality.
(10)
“Serious harm” means harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, economic, or reputational, to an individual that would compel a reasonable individual of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or continue to perform labor or services or sexual activity to avoid incurring the harm.
(11)
“Sexual activity” means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or the intentional touching of the victim’s or accused’s intimate body parts, clothed or unclothed, if the touching is for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or assault. The term includes a sexually-explicit performance.
(12)
“Sexually explicit performance” means an act or show, intended to arouse, satisfy the sexual desires of, or appeal to the prurient interests of patrons or viewers, whether public or private, live, photographed, recorded, or videotaped.
(13)
“State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The term includes an Indian tribe or band recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a state.
(14)
“Victim” means an individual who is subjected to human trafficking or to conduct that would have constituted human trafficking had this chapter been in effect when the conduct occurred, regardless of whether the perpetrator is identified, apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted.
History of Section.
P.L. 2017, ch. 232, § 2; P.L. 2017, ch. 260, § 2.