It is the policy of the Department of Justice to reduce demand for sex trafficking by prosecuting those who engage in commercial sex with victims of sex trafficking, in addition to those who otherwise perpetrate or facilitate human trafficking offenses, in accordance with the Principles of Federal Prosecution (Justice Manual 9-27.000). Such prosecutions can be brought under a variety of federal statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a) (which provides a penalty for those who, among other things, recruit, entice, obtain, patronize, or solicit an individual for commercial sex, knowing or in reckless disregard that the individual is a victim of sex trafficking); 18 U.S.C. § 2251 (criminalizing the production of child sexual abuse material); and 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421-2423 (criminalizing travel, transportation, and enticement or coercion of victims to engage in prostitution).

[added December 2020]