United States Code

18 U.S.C. § 1591

Sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion

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Bills that would change it 21

HR 9545 HONEST Act of 2026 Amends 1591(b) · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 9146 Millstone Act Amends 1591(b) · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 7315 Advancing Policy Priorities Act Amends · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 7314 Advancing Commonsense Policies Act Amends · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 4393 DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025 Amends 1591(b) · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 185 Responsible Legislating Act Amends · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 393 No Repeat Child Sex Offenders Act Amends · introduced · 119th Congress
HR 5673 Responsible Legislating Act Amends · introduced · 118th Congress
HR 3599 DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2023 Amends 1591(b) · introduced · 118th Congress
HR 7957 No Repeat Child Sex Offenders Act Amends · introduced · 118th Congress
HR 5501 Combatting Human-Trafficking of Innocent Lives Daily Act of 2023 Amends 1591(b) · introduced · 118th Congress
S 5226 NTZ Act Amends · introduced · 117th Congress
HR 7546 Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act Amends · introduced · 117th Congress
HR 5150 Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2021 Amends · introduced · 117th Congress
HR 7566 No Trafficking Zones Act Amends · introduced · 117th Congress
S 2197 Protecting Rights Of Those Exploited by Coercive Trafficking Act of 2019 Amends 1591(e)(2) · introduced · 116th Congress
HR 1865 Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 Amends 1591(e) · enacted · 115th Congress
HR 5027 Protecting Rights of Those Exploited by Coercive Trafficking Act of 2018' Amends 1591(e)(2) · introduced · 115th Congress
S 2429 Protecting Rights Of Those Exploited by Coercive Trafficking Act of 2018 Amends 1591(e)(2) · introduced · 115th Congress
S 1693 Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 Amends 1591(e) · introduced · 115th Congress
HR 440 Shame Act of 2017 Amends · introduced · 115th Congress

The law today

From the official United States Code, current through Public Law 119-121.

(a) Whoever knowingly— (1) in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, advertises, maintains, patronizes, or solicits by any means a person; or (2) benefits, financially or by receiving anything of value, from participation in a venture which has engaged in an act described in violation of paragraph (1), knowing, or, except where the act constituting the violation of paragraph (1) is advertising, in reckless disregard of the fact, that means of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion described in subsection (e)(2), or any combination of such means will be used to cause the person to engage in a commercial sex act, or that the person has not attained the age of 18 years and will be caused to engage in a commercial sex act, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b). (b) The punishment for an offense under subsection (a) is— (1) if the offense was effected by means of force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion described in subsection (e)(2), or by any combination of such means, or if the person recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, patronized, or solicited had not attained the age of 14 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under this title and imprisonment for any term of years not less than 15 or for life; or (2) if the offense was not so effected, and the person recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, advertised, patronized, or solicited had attained the age of 14 years but had not attained the age of 18 years at the time of such offense, by a fine under this title and imprisonment for not less than 10 years or for life. (c) In a prosecution under subsection (a)(1) in which the defendant had a reasonable opportunity to observe the person so recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, maintained, patronized, or solicited, the Government need not prove that the defendant knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact, that the person had not attained the age of 18 years. (d) Whoever obstructs, attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the enforcement of this section, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for a term not to exceed 25 years, or both. (e) In this section: (1) The term “abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process” means the use or threatened use of a law or legal process, whether administrative, civil, or criminal, in any manner or for any purpose for which the law was not designed, in order to exert pressure on another person to cause that person to take some action or refrain from taking some action. (2) The term “coercion” means— (A) threats of serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; (B) any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a person to believe that failure to perform an act would result in serious harm to or physical restraint against any person; or (C) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or the legal process. (3) The term “commercial sex act” means any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. (4) The term “participation in a venture” means knowingly assisting, supporting, or facilitating a violation of subsection (a)(1). (5) The term “serious harm” means any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, financial, or reputational harm, that is sufficiently serious, under all the surrounding circumstances, to compel a reasonable person of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or to continue performing commercial sexual activity in order to avoid incurring that harm. (6) The term “venture” means any group of two or more individuals associated in fact, whether or not a legal entity.

Official text at uscode.house.gov ↗