Victims of human or sex trafficking can sue businesses who participated, facilitated, or benefitted from the commission of the trafficking crime. Society has been coming increasingly aware of this crime against humanity, and the laws reflect that awareness.
In 2000, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and in later years, they reauthorized, expanded, and strengthened the law as awareness of human trafficking grew. The current version allows survivors of human and sex trafficking to sue those responsible, including organizations that participate, facilitate, or financially benefit from trafficking.
Potential targets for these lawsuits are: hotels, apartments, massage parlors, apartments complexes, condominiums, truck stops, and similar commercial entities. If you work with survivors of sex or human trafficking and want to help, be sure to ask questions about location, where transactions happened, surrounding businesses, and commercial entities that were involved anywhere along the victim’s path.