Sex trafficking has become a dangerous epidemic sweeping rampant in Texas, making the state No. 1 in active human trafficking cases, according to a report from The Human Trafficking Institute.
The institute reported that 74 human trafficking cases went to trial in 2018. Sixty-eight of those cases involve sex trafficking while six are related to labor trafficking.
Texas also led the country for new human trafficking cases. In 2018, it had 19 initiated cases, while the average for the nation was five new cases for each state or territory.
The state also began two criminal labor trafficking cases in 2018, making it one of seven states or territories to begin new labor trafficking prosecution last year, according to KVUE.
Texas also had 45 human trafficking convictions in 2018, which is more than six times the national average of seven convictions per state or territory. Of those convicted last year in Texas, six were ordered to pay restitution to their victims.
Nationwide, 680 active criminal human trafficking cases (concerning 1,217 defendants) were heard in federal courts last year. Out of those cases, 171 were considered new criminal cases that the federal government launched in 2018 in 36 states and territories.
Those federal cases yielded 346 convictions, but only 97 of those convicts were required to pay restitution, even though restitution is already a mandate via the federal human trafficking statute.
There are roughly 300,000 human trafficking victims in Texas and almost 79,000 are underaged, according to a study by the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at the University of Texas. In the U.S., there are a total of 4.8 million people who are victims of sex trafficking.
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