U.S. Attorney General (AG) Merrick B. Garland recently unveiled the Justice Department's National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking.

The pillars of human trafficking are force, fraud, and coercion. Defined as modern slavery, human trafficking happens everywhere, and victims can be any nationality, age, socioeconomic status, or gender.

Muna Abdulkadir was a witness for the government in a federal sex-trafficking case. In that case, thirty individuals were charged and detained as suspected participants in a sex-trafficking scheme. Of the thirty individuals, only nine were tried, and all were acquitted.

Human trafficking can occur in public settings like buses or trains. Learn the red flags of human trafficking to protect yourself and others from this heinous crime.

In October, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the opening of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the U.S. government’s first-ever integrated law enforcement operations center directly supporting federal criminal investigations, victim assistance efforts, intelligence analysis, and outreach and training activities related to human trafficking and forced labor.