Relocation Revisited: Sex Trafficking of Native Women in the United States

Abstract

The Trafficking Victim Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) signaled a comprehensive campaign by the United States (US) government to address the scourge of human trafficking in the US and abroad. The US rhetoric about sex trafficking suggests that the problem originates in foreign countries and/or is recent problem. Neither claim is correct. This article details the historical and legal context of sex trafficking from its origin among the colonial predecessors of the US and documents the commercial trafficking of Native women over several centuries. Native women have experienced generations of enslavement, exploitation, exportation, and relocation. Human trafficking is not just a problem of poor, underdeveloped nations but an ongoing issue in the US and Canada that ties into the growth of the sex industry in these nations, where Native women are significantly overrepresented.

Keywords: Human trafficking, Native American women, History, Prostitution, Slavery, Relocation