A lot of people legally labeled 'sex traffickers' are actually just teenagers or boyfriends who have no idea they're even breaking that law.
March 24, 2026
Original Paper
Oblivious 'Sex Traffickers': Challenging stereotypes and the fairness of US trafficking laws
SSRN · 6396438
The Takeaway
Most people imagine sex traffickers as organized, violent kidnappers. This study reveals that the legal definition is so broad that 'oblivious' third parties are frequently swept up in it, often facing decades in prison for behaviors they mistook for simple prostitution facilitation or personal relationships.
From the abstract
In this paper, we explore third parties who unexpectedly fell within the legal definition of a sex trafficker. The anti-trafficking lobby and media stories frequently portray traffickers as organised, psychopathic, violent, and child kidnappers. We dismantle these depictions by showing the unexpected people who qualify as traffickers. This paper incorporates findings from two studies involving eighty-five third parties in New York City and forty-nine in Chicago. We analyse how teenagers, drivers