AAPA Seaports
U.S. federal law defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into any form of labor or commercial sex act, as well as the exchange of anything of value for a sex act with a minor. Human trafficking is a cruel violation of human rights, and has occurred in dozens of U.S. industries, including multiple maritime industries. Human trafficking cases have been identified in the fishing, cargo, and cruise industries in U.S. ports in recent years. While reliable trend data is not yet available, anecdotal evidence indicates that more cases are being reported, as U.S. law enforcement agencies — and seaport leaders — develop greater expertise and capacity to detect potential instances of human trafficking in maritime industries.
For instance, the International Transport Workers’ Federation recovered $37 million in unpaid wages to seafarers across shipping and other maritime industries, evidencing wage theft and forced labor on a large scale.1 Additional evidence includes the International Labor Organization’s estimate in 2022 that there were at least 128,000 fishers being trafficked in the fishing industry, and news reports of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s interventions in forced labor in the fishing industry.2 And a survey of 159 survivors of human trafficking who had been exploited in the transportation industry found that 12 percent reported they were on a cruise ship during their exploitation.3
In 2023, six Filipino fishers were abandoned on a ship just offshore of Westport, Washington, and they were unable to legally leave the ship for months despite the uninhabitable conditions onboard.4 The fishers and their families at home suffered greatly during those months, and continue to suffer from the debt the families incurred because of not having been paid for their work during an extended period and having been unable to return home. This case is currently under investigation by U.S. authorities for labor trafficking.5 The alleged victims received multiple forms of support from the Westport community and U.S. law enforcement, but their accounts illustrate how devasting labor trafficking aboard ships can be.
Seaport leaders have the opportunity — and responsibility — to be proactive in preventing human trafficking. Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) helps ports develop and implement counter-trafficking strategies, customized for each port’s premises, risks, assets, and community relationships. A robust counter-trafficking strategy equips port leadership to craft policies and procedures for responding to human trafficking situations and reducing the likelihood of recurrence. BEST provides guidance on how to communicate in trauma-informed ways about human trafficking with port personnel and visitors, some of whom may be experiencing human trafficking themselves. BEST also provides survivor-informed, video-based training for port leaders, employees, contractors, and tenants on how to identify behaviors that may indicate human trafficking and report potential instances of human trafficking safely and effectively.
When port leadership has a multiprong, well-communicated anti-trafficking strategy that corresponds with the port’s location and business model and includes effective training, employees are more likely to report potential instances of human trafficking. This not only protects the port — it also can save the lives of those being trafficked.
