Human trafficking occurs when someone profits from abuse. It includes the use of force, fraud, or coercion, and can take many forms, including selling child sexual abuse images online, threatening or holding deb over the heads of employees who are forced to work, and more.
Documented cases of human trafficking have occurred in each of New Hampshire's counties. Victims range in age from 3 to 60 years old. Trends that make New Hampshire communities more vulnerable to human trafficking include the rise of online exploitation of children, the opioid crisis, and economic constraints and barriers.
The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence partners with key stakeholders, including the state's Department of Justice, Homeland Security Investigations, law enforcement at the local and state level, the U.S. Attorney's office, advocates, and survivors to quickly identify these crimes and raise awareness.
A history of ANTI-Trafficking work in New Hampshire
New Hampshire was one of the first states to criminalize human trafficking activity. In 2014, a comprehensive rewrite of the Human Trafficking statute (SB 317) strengthened the law to increase New Hampshire's capacity to fight this crime. This bill included strong protections for victims and increased accountability for those convicted of trafficking. The law makes prostituting minors a felony; provides protection from criminal prosecution or juvenile delinquency proceedings to children who have been forced into prostitution or other forms of human trafficking; makes it a felony to knowingly force a person to engage in labor or sex acts against their will; allows a victim to petition to vacate a conviction for prostitution when that person was trafficked, and it allows a victim to sue their trafficker in civil court.
The Coalition coordinates and is a partner with the New Hampshire Human Trafficking Collaborative Task Force. The Task Force strives to improve identification of victims of trafficking, support law enforcement to increase investigations and prosecutions of this crime, improve New Hampshire’s ability to understand human trafficking and come together to combat both sex and labor trafficking across the state. Recognizing the complexity of the issue, as well as a fundamental lack of resources, the Task Force functions as a central hub where interested stakeholders can connect, collaborate, and maximize impact through collective and strategic action.
The Task Force Director, who is placed at the Coalition, acts as the facilitator, strategist, and lead collaborator on efforts to combat Human Trafficking in New Hampshire. The mission of the Task Force is to develop and implement a multidisciplinary response to human trafficking in New Hampshire that is coordinated and collaborative, victim-centered, trauma-informed, includes prevention, and holds offenders accountable.