Definitions of Human Trafficking - South Carolina

Defined in Child Protection Law

Citation: Ann. Code § 63-7-20

'Child abuse or neglect' or 'harm' occurs under the following circumstances:

• The parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child's welfare encourages, condones, or approves the commission of delinquent acts by the child, including, but not limited to, sexual trafficking or exploitation, and the commission of the acts are shown to be the result of the encouragement, condonation, or approval.
• A child is a victim of trafficking in persons, as defined in § 16-3-2010, including sex trafficking, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child's welfare. Identifying a child as a victim of trafficking in persons does not create a presumption that the parent, guardian, or other individual responsible for the child's welfare abused, neglected, or harmed the child.

Definitions of Labor Trafficking

Citation: Ann. Code §§ 16-3-2020; 16-3-2010

A person is guilty of 'trafficking in persons' if he or she does any of the following:

• Recruits, entices, solicits, isolates, harbors, transports, provides, or obtains, or so attempts, a victim, knowing that the victim will be subjected to sex trafficking, forced labor or services, involuntary servitude, or debt bondage through any means
• Benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture that engages in an act described above
• Aids, abets, or conspires with another person to violate the provisions of this section
• Knowingly gives, agrees to give, or offers to give anything of value so that any person may engage in commercial sexual activity with another person when he or she knows that the other person is a victim of trafficking in persons

The term 'trafficking in persons' refers to when a victim is subjected to or a person attempts to subject a victim to sex trafficking, forced labor or services, involuntary servitude, or debt bondage by employing one of the following:

• Physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain another person
• Knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing an actual or purported passport or other immigration document, or another actual or purported government identification document of the victim
• Extortion or blackmail
• Causing or threatening to cause financial harm to the victim
• Facilitating or controlling a victim's access to a controlled substance
• Coercion

The term 'debt bondage' means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his personal services or those of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if the value of those 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, or if the principal amount of the debt does not reasonably reflect the value of the items or services for which the debt was incurred.

The term 'forced labor' means any type of labor or services performed or provided by a person rendered through another person's coercion of the person providing the labor or services. This definition does not include labor or services performed or provided by a person in the custody of the Department of Corrections or a local jail, detention center, or correctional facility.

The term 'involuntary servitude' means a condition of servitude induced through coercion.

Definitions of Sex Trafficking of Minors

Citation: Ann. Code § 16-3-2010

The term 'sex trafficking' means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for one of the following when it is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or the person performing the act is younger than age 18 and anything of value is given, promised to, or received, directly or indirectly, by another person:

• Criminal sexual conduct pursuant to § 16-3-651
• Criminal sexual conduct in the first degree pursuant to § 16-3-652
• Criminal sexual conduct in the second degree pursuant to § 16-3-653
• Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree pursuant to § 16-3-654
• Criminal sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to § 16-3-655
• Engaging a child for sexual performance pursuant to § 16-3-810
• Producing, directing, or promoting sexual performance by a child pursuant to § 16-3-820
• Sexual battery pursuant to § 16-3-651
• Sexual conduct pursuant to § 16-3-800
• Sexual performance pursuant to § 16-3-800