Sex trafficking
Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, including sexual slavery. A victim is forced, in one of a variety of ways, into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s) and then used by said trafficker(s) to give sexual services to customers. There are three types of activities defined as sex trafficking crimes: acquisition, transportation and exploitation; this includes child sex tourism (CST), domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) or other kinds of commercial sexual exploitation of children, and prostitution. Sex trafficking is one of the biggest criminal businesses and it has been described as "the fastest growing criminal industry in the world."
Human rights in Sierra Leone
The U.S. State Department's 2012 report on human trafficking identified Sierra Leone as "a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking". Individuals are compelled to work in "prostitution, domestic servitude, and forced service or labor in artisanal diamond and granite mining, petty trading, portering, rockbreaking, street crime, and begging", as well as "in the fishing and agriculture sectors". Some persons also end up performing forced labor as a consequence of forced marriages.