Definitions of Human Trafficking - Alabama

Defined in Child Protection Law

Citation: Ala. Code § 26-14-1(1)-(3)

The term 'sexual abuse' includes the following:

• The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of a child to engage in or have a child assist any other person to engage in sexually explicit conduct
• Any simulation of the conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of the conduct
• The rape, molestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploitation of children

The term 'sexual exploitation' includes the following:

• Allowing, permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution
• Allowing, permitting, encouraging, or engaging in obscene or pornographic photographing, filming, or depicting a child for commercial purposes

Definitions of Labor Trafficking

Citation: Ala. Code § 13A-6-151

The term 'labor servitude' means work or service of economic or financial value that is performed or provided by another person and is induced or obtained by coercion or deception.

The term 'coercion' means any of the following:

• Causing or threatening to cause physical injury or mental suffering to any person, physically restraining or confining any person, or threatening to physically restrain or confine any person or otherwise causing the person performing or providing labor or services to believe that the person or another person will suffer physical injury or mental suffering
• Implementing any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in physical injury, mental suffering, or physical restraint of any person
• Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or withholding from the person or another person; or threatening to destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or withhold from the person or another person, the person's or any person's actual or purported government records, immigration documents, identifying information, or personal or real property
• Exposing or threatening to expose any fact or information that if revealed would tend to subject a person to criminal prosecution, criminal or immigration proceedings, hatred, contempt, or ridicule
• Threatening to report the person or another person to immigration officials or to other law enforcement officials or otherwise blackmailing or extorting the person or another person
• Controlling a person's access to a controlled substance
• Rape or sodomy or threatened rape or sodomy of any person

The term 'deception' means any of the following:

• Creating or confirming an impression of any existing fact or past event that is false and that the accused knows or believes to be false
• Exerting financial control over the person or another person by placing the person or another person under the actor's control as a security or payment of a debt, if the value of the services as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt, the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined, the principal amount of the debt does not reasonably reflect the value of the items or services for which debt was incurred, or by preventing a person from acquiring information pertinent to the disposition of the debt
• Promising benefits or the performance of services that the accused does not intend to be delivered
• Using any scheme, plan, or pattern, whether overt or subtle, intended to cause any person to believe that, if the person did not perform such labor, services, acts, or performances, the person or another person would suffer physical injury or mental suffering

The term 'mental suffering' means a high degree of mental pain or emotional disturbances, such as distress, anxiety, public humiliation, or psychosomatic physical symptoms. It is more than mere disappointment, anger, resentment, wounded pride, or embarrassment and must be a direct result of the crime of human trafficking.

The term 'trafficking victim' means any person, including a minor, who has been subjected to labor servitude, sexual servitude, or involuntary servitude.

Definitions of Sex Trafficking of Minors

Citation: Ala. Code §§ 13A-6-151(7)-(8); 13A-6-152

The term 'sexual conduct' includes any of the following acts:

• Sexual intercourse
• Sexual contact: Any known touching for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse
• Sexually explicit performances, including 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, videotaped, or projected over the internet
• Commercial sex acts, meaning any sex act on account of which anything of value is given, promised to, or received, directly or indirectly, by any person

The term 'sexual servitude' includes any sexual conduct for which anything of value is directly or indirectly given, promised to, or received by any person, which conduct is induced or obtained by coercion or deception from a person. If, however, the sexual conduct is with a minor (a person under age 19), no coercion or deception is required.

A person commits the crime of human trafficking in the first degree if the person knowingly does any of the following:

• Subjects another person to labor servitude or sexual servitude
• Obtains, recruits, entices, solicits, induces, threatens, isolates, harbors, holds, restrains, transports, provides, or maintains any minor for the purpose of causing a minor to engage in sexual servitude
• Gives monetary consideration or any other thing of value to engage in any sexual conduct with a minor or an individual he or she believes to be a minor

For purposes of this section, it is not required that the defendant have knowledge of a minor victim's age, nor is reasonable mistake of age a defense to liability.