Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. The coercion can be subtle or overt, physical or psychological. Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of whether any form of force, fraud, or coercion is used. Trigger warning: I’m about to tell you more about sex trafficking than you ever wanted to know.

Under Connecticut law, trafficking in persons is a stand-alone crime. A person is guilty of trafficking in persons when such person (1) knowingly compels or induces another person to engage in conduct involving sexual contact with one or more third persons, or provide labor or services that such person has a legal right to refrain from providing, by means of (A) the use of force against such other person or a third person, or by the threat of use of force against such other person or a third person, (B) fraud, or (C) coercion, as provided in section 53a-192; (2) (A) knowingly compels or induces another person to engage in conduct involving sexual contact with one or more third persons that constitutes sexual contact for which such third person may be charged with a criminal offense, and (B) such person who is compelled or induced to engage in such conduct is under eighteen years of age, or (3) otherwise knowingly commits an act that constitutes sex trafficking. For the purposes of this subsection, “sexual contact” means any contact with the intimate parts of another person and ”sex trafficking” means the recruitment, harboring, transportation or provision of a person for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with another person in exchange for anything of value.