The prevalence of Human trafficking in Houston, Texas is the worst of any U.S. city. Between 2007 and 2016 the city ranked first for reported trafficking cases, while in 2019 the number of cases nearly doubled compared to the previous three years, despite Mayoral initiatives, due to the highly organized nature of this criminal business.

Statistics Many studies have been conducted to gather data about human trafficking in Houston.Rodas, Ericka Carolina (2011). A Child’s Search for Freedom in 21st Century America. Seton Hall University. p. 8. In 2006, 25% of trafficking victims rescued in Texas came from Houston. In 2010, individuals were asked to estimate how informed they think Houston's general public is about human trafficking in the city, with 33.3% of responders saying people have no knowledge about the subject, 54.8% having little to no knowledge, and 11.9% saying people have some knowledge. A measure of data used to understand the human trafficking industry is the cost of risk to traffickers. The higher the cost of risk for traffickers and consumers means the less likely a trafficking ring will successfully operate in that region. Houston has a $66.85 cost of risk for traffickers, which is 6 times lower than the neighboring county McLennan's cost of risk for traffickers, $441.05. In 2019, data only from online advertisements was used to estimate 14,539 trafficked individuals in Houston.

Types of trafficking The industries in Texas that are most involved in trafficking are "hotels, restaurants, factories, farms, child care, massage parlors, health care, and sexually oriented businesses". These industries are connected to two popular forms of human trafficking in Houston, labor trafficking and sex trafficking.

Sex trafficking

The governmental Office of Justice programs defines sex trafficking as "a form of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation". Scholars and activists have recognized Illicit Massage Businesses (IMBs) as cover ups for sex trafficking. In Houston, 292 IMBs have all together had an average of 2,869 customers daily between noon and 2:00pm The Offshore Technology Conference is an annual event where more than 31,000 people meet in Houston's NRG Park. This convention brings a spike to sex trafficking every year because of the increase in demand for sexual services,Zubairie, Nazeeya Pervaiz (2016). HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN DALLAS: AN ASSESSMENT OF LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING, AWARENESS, AND EFFECTIVENESS IN RECOGNIZING VICTIMS. The University of Texas at Arlington. p. 11. and has led to police making "hundreds of arrests" relating to trafficking in 2017 and 2018. Another area with a reputation for prostitution and human trafficking is "The Track" or Bissonnet. In 2021, investigative reporter Robert Arnold reported that this 1.5-mile stretch is shown in YouTube videos as well as being mentioned in the Wikipedia article "List of red-light districts" because of prostitution activity. Bissonnet Track even held the title of being the top prostitution spot in 2017. The Sweet 16 Agreement was made in 2013, where the 16 strip clubs in on the settlement would donate one million dollars annually to Human Trafficking Houston Police Department Vice Squads in exchange for disregarding the 3-foot rule, distance between schools, and topless regulations for dancers at these clubs. According to data from a Houston based study, 77% of those who left working at strip clubs through the help of Rescue America (non-profit organization) 77% were underage, and 85% were working at these clubs because they were working under a trafficker or pimp. Occurrences of sex trafficking in Houston strip clubs has continued to be evident, with 3 men sentenced after smuggling women from Cuba and forcing them to work at clubs in the Houston area.

Labor trafficking Labor trafficking, although may overlap with sex trafficking in terms of forced labor, has its own circle of issues. Labor trafficking is defined in short as "exploitation of an individual for financial gain" by the governmental Office of Justice programs. According to a spokesperson from United Against Human Trafficking, a Houston-based organization, the number of labor trafficking victims is much greater than the number of sex trafficking victims, however is not talked about as much and is not identified as easily as sex trafficking is.Frances H. Recknor, Gretchen Gemeinhardt & Beatrice J. Selwyn (2018) Health-care provider challenges to the identification of human trafficking in health-care settings: A qualitative study, Journal of Human Trafficking, 4:3, 213-230, DOI: 10.1080/23322705.2017.1348740 Labor trafficking in Houston will involve the exploited labor of undocumented immigrants, and according to the Houston Police Department, this usually take place at sweatshops, massage parlors, agriculture, restaurants, hotels, and domestic service. Interviews of immigrant day laborers were conducted in 2016 to Houston's "labor-related exploitation", concluding in 64% of interviewees reporting being trafficked. In 2014, two businesses in Houston's Chinatown were suspected of transporting hundreds of immigrants from Central America to Chinese restaurants, resulting in charging 32 suspects and arresting 44 individuals. A couple in Houston was arrested in 2016 for forcing a woman they lured from Nigeria to work 20+ hours a day as their nanny while holding onto her passport.

Causes Houston's close-proximity to the Mexico–United States border, land and water ports, major highways, and diverse population and economy plays a role in the human trafficking issue due to the high demand for inexpensive labor and sex-related services.

Location

The I-10 highway connects Houston to other major cities, making it an "internal circuit" where traffickers move victims throughout countries, making it the United States' main human trafficking route."Growing Up in Houston 2009–2010". Children at Risk Biannual Report Major highways used to smuggle women, men, and children from the border have often led to "stash houses" in Houston. Interstate highways and a close proximity to the border makes it easier for traffickers to access different markets and avoid legal investigations.Varghese, Christine. 2017. "Current Anti-Prostitution Efforts and Potential of Strategy to Tackle Demand for Addressing Sex Trafficking in the Houston Area." Order No. 10684548, The University of Texas School of Public Health. The short distance from the US-Mexico border to Houston makes legal and illegal immigrants a big target for human trafficking because of their need for employment opportunities or passage to the United States, making Houston a "popular entry point".Ngwe, J. E., & Elechi, O. O. (2012). HUMAN TRAFFICKING: THE MODERN DAY SLAVERY OF THE 21st CENTURY. African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies, 6(1–2), 103+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A513643674/AONE?u=acd_aone&sid=googleScholar&xid=48eefe46Servin, Argentina, Kimberly Brouwer, Leah Gordon, Teresita Rocha-Jimenez, and Hugo Staines. "Vulnerability Factors and Pathways Leading to Underage Entry into Sex Work in Two Mexican–US Border Cities." Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk 6, no. 1 (2015): 1-17. Houston's Gulf Coast port makes up 73% of the national's Gulf Coast traffic, due to the 200 facilities in Houston's ship channels. It has been known that there is a chance of ships traveling through international waters carrying or transporting victims of human trafficking, so with Houston's active seaports in mind, this information supports the idea of ports playing a role in Houston's title as a major "human trafficking hub".

Population factors Research has indicated that individuals with a "lack in opportunities" make them vulnerable to trafficking. Homelessness, from voluntary or forced actions, is a risk factor that makes an individual susceptible to trafficking,Houston-Kolnik, J. D., Soibatian, C., & Shattell, M. M. (2020). Advocates’ Experiences With Media and the Impact of Media on Human Trafficking Advocacy. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(5-6), 1108-1132. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517692337 and according to a YMCA report, about 6,000 people runaway from their home yearly in Houston. The Polaris Project conducted a survey to figure out what kept victims from leaving their "trafficking situation", and had 64% of their responders answer with their "lack in affordable housing". This explains traffickers tactics of luring victims by providing housing in apartment complexes across Houston and why the homeless population of about 3,223 in Houston is a group most at risk of trafficking.Murphy, Laura. (2017). Labor and Sex Trafficking Among Homeless Youth A Ten-City Study.Novak, E. H. (2016). Vagrants, vixens, and victims: Exploring the limitations of human trafficking victim recognition criteria in texas (Order No. 10182381). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1832362895). Another contributor to high trafficking activity in Houston is the amount of undocumented immigrants,Farrell, A., McDevitt, J. and Fahy, S. (2010), Where are all the victims?. Criminology & Public Policy, 9: 211. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2010.00621.x since traffickers use their illegal passage as leverage to exploit them.Kavita Desai, "Legal Strategies in the Fight to End Human Trafficking," HLRe: Off the Record 3, no. 2 (Spring 2013): 57 About 100,000 undocumented immigrants reside in Houston, making another portion of Houston's population at risk of trafficking.Rodriguez, N. P. (1987). Undocumented Central Americans in Houston: Diverse Populations. International Migration Review, 21(1), 4-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/019791838702100101 Houston has a very diverse population, ranking 4th out of all cities in the U.S. in 2023. This contributes to high trafficking risks because victims are able to blend and be hidden more easily in a more diverse population, especially when the population of 6 million people is constantly growing.

Countermeasures

Legislation