Interpreting Judicial Interpretations of the Criminal Statutes of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Ten Years Later

Mohamed Mattar, The Protection Project at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Abstract

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) established for the first time the crime of trafficking in persons. This article will analyze court cases that have been decided under the TVPA. The article will show that American courts, relying upon the text of the criminal statutes of the TVPA, as well as the findings of Congress, have broadened the interpretation of the offenses recognized under the Act to expand criminal liability, whether in cases of sex trafficking or labor trafficking. The article will also address cases in which the TVPA was challenged on constitutional grounds and whether it may apply on an extraterritorial basis. This is the first study in judicial interpretation of the criminal statutes of the TVPA in the last ten years.