Human Trafficking in North America

Latest Walk Free estimates place just over 2 million people in modern slavery across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The most recent UNODC regional overview shows that trafficking detected in North America is now largely domestic, with women and girls making up the largest share of detected victims.

All three countries criminalize trafficking under the UN anti-trafficking framework, but enforcement and victim protection remain uneven. The 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report continues to flag domestic sex trafficking, labor exploitation tied to migration and temporary worker systems, and heightened vulnerability among Indigenous communities, migrants, runaway youth, and undocumented workers.