Substance Use and Human Trafficking

Minnesota uses a public health approach to address substance use, overdose, and human trafficking. Understanding how these complex issues overlap, and what services are available, can help improve prevention efforts and connect people to supports that meet their needs, including their safety and wellbeing.

Watch this video to learn more about how these issues overlap, and what Minnesota providers and advocates want you to consider. 

Key takeaways

Substances are often used by exploiters and traffickers as a tool to recruit, groom, and control victims of human trafficking. The goal may be to:

• Create dependence on a substance, and/or on the person providing that substance who could be the trafficker.
• Create or sustain debt bondage, a real or perceived debt that the victim must pay back by working or providing labor services.
• Threaten or “reward” victims with substances, this could include being threatened with withdrawal and overdose, or threats to call law enforcement or child protection.
• Make the victim act or perform in a certain way, or to make it easier to physically or psychologically control them.  

Substances may also be used by victims and survivors to cope with the experience of trafficking or other trauma. Substance use disorder (SUD) can make it harder for victims and survivors to get the services and support they need to leave an unsafe situation. Likewise, trafficking may make it harder for victims and survivors to access substance use treatment or other recovery services that meet their needs.

Key definitions 

• Sexual exploitation occurs when someone exchanges sex for anything of value or the promise of something of value, including money, drugs, food, shelter, rent, or higher status in a group. Another person may or may not be involved in this exchange.
  • In Minnesota, youth under the age 18 who trade sex are sexually exploited youth, and victims of a crime, who are protected from criminalization under Safe Harbor Minnesota law.  
• Sex trafficking is a type of commercial sexual exploitation in which someone who is not the buyer or the victim facilitates or profits from the exchange of sex for anything of value.
• Labor exploitation involves violations of laws protecting how workers are treated, including how much and when someone is paid, child labor, and health and safety in the workplace.
• Labor trafficking occurs when someone is under the control of the of their employer. Labor trafficking can include debt bondage or forced labor or services. Debt bondage means someone is under another person’s control, and the debt cannot be paid back with reasonable work due to fraud by the trafficker.
• Human Trafficking refers to both sex and labor trafficking.
• Forced criminality is when traffickers force or coerce their victims to engage in illegal activities including cultivating, holding, transporting, or selling illegal substances.
• Substance use disorder occurs when use of alcohol and/or other substances impacts a person’s physical health, mental health, and ability to complete tasks and responsibilities at work, school, or home. Learn more at Substance Use Prevention.
• Many people with substance use disorder are experiencing both substance misuse and substance dependence.
• An overdose is a dangerous medical condition that occurs when too much of a substance is ingested at once. An overdose could be fatal or nonfatal.  

Who is impacted 

Anyone can experience trafficking and exploitation. Data also shows that some groups of people are more likely to experience exploitation or trafficking victimization or other forms of violence. In the United States, historical oppression and systemic racism have created and sustained vulnerabilities that make certain groups more susceptible to human trafficking. Racism, bias, stereotypes, and discriminatory government policies and private practices that created economic disparities have led to disproportionate impacts on Black, African American, and American Indian and Indigenous or First Nations peoples.  

Read more about this in a fact sheet released by the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons: Acknowledging Historical and Ongoing Harm: The Connections Between Systemic Racism and Human Trafficking - United States Department of State 

Note that trafficking and exploitation is never caused by someone’s identities, rather traffickers use  systemic and societal gaps and failures to their advantage to carefully target and recruit people or to maintain control of others.

Relevant data 

Data from the Minnesota Student Survey 

• The MDH Human Trafficking Prevention and Response Program partnered with the Minnesota Youth Sex Trading Project to analyze data from Minnesota Student Survey related to the experiences of substance use and sexual exploitation among Minnesota 9th and 11th graders during the 2019 and 2022 survey years.
• Sexual exploitation and substance use are prevalent amongst our Minnesota students, and 0.9% of students are both trading sex and using substances. That is 1,057 9th and 11th graders who have reported experiencing both sexual exploitation and substance use.  
• Students who both trade sex and use substances report significantly higher rates of drug use compared to those who use substances but do not trade sex.
• Students who both trade sex and use substances face significantly higher rates of hardships compared to their peers who do neither.
• Students who both trade sex and use substances are accessing treatment programs.
• Access this new data brief to get a snapshot of how Minnesota high school students are impacted: High School Students Involved in Trading Sex and Using Substances: Data from the 2019 and 2023 Minnesota Student Surveys.

Human Trafficking data

• In a 2008-2010 review of human trafficking cases conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, 40% of sex trafficking victims in the U.S. were Black. See Characteristics of Suspected Human Trafficking Incidents, 2008-2010 (PDF).
• In 2022, Minnesota 9th and 11th graders who reported ever having traded sex on the Minnesota Student Survey were most likely to identify as Native+ (4.3%). See Native Students Involved in Trading Sex (PDF).

Across the nation, Indigenous and Black women and girls face higher rates of violence and are going missing or being murdered at alarming rates. Although Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people make up just 1% of the state’s population, they made up 10% of the missing women in the state in 2024. Read more about the trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota in this report: Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota. Minnesota's response includes two offices dedicated to addressing the issue and advocating for a change in policy and response by offering support to families and collaborating with law enforcement and leading other efforts to locate missing and murdered women and girls and advocate for change. 

• Learn more about the Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Office: Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls Office (MMBWG).
• Learn more about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office.

Overdose data

• In Minnesota, while overdose related deaths are going down, these same two populations remain disproportionally impacted, with American Indian Minnesotans being 10x as likely and Black Minnesotans 3x as likely to die from a drug overdose than white Minnesotans. Visit Drug Overdose Dashboards for more data.  
• In terms of nonfatal overdose data statewide, amongst all races males account for the greatest proportion of cases, except for American Indian and Alaska Native populations in which women account for the greatest proportion of nonfatal overdoses. See the Nonfatal Drug Overdose Dashboard. 

Addressing the overlap

Treating substance use disorder can be an important step in breaking the cycles of power and control that exists within a trafficking situation or between a victim and trafficker. Receiving timely and personalized support could help increase options for safely exiting trafficking or exploitation. Likewise, people who have been affected by trafficking or exploitation who are addressing their substance use or seeking recovery support may need specialized services to address trauma and triggers related to their experiences.  

People may need to explore the different options or models available to them when seeking support and care. This includes responses that consider their economic needs, mental health, physical safety, and housing needs. 

A variety of treatment services including evidence-based therapies or interventions could be effective. Other responses include:

• Responses that focus on harm reduction and promote individual autonomy provide opportunities to build relationships with providers while accessing lifesaving supplies and support.
• Peer recovery support services include one to one support for long term recovery from a peer with lived experience, or a peer recovery coach.
• Culturally specific services and/or traditional practices may be important for an individual to reach their health, safety and recovery goals.
• Medication for opioid use disorder uses pharmaceutical interventions combined with counseling or therapeutic services to treat substance use disorder. 

When supporting an individual in exploring or accessing any type of treatment or recovery services, providers should focus on centering the persons needs and goals and being responsive to different stages or opportunities for change. 

Providers working to address substance use, overdose, and exploitation and trafficking should collaborate to strengthen services and responses in Minnesota.

Together, providers can learn best practice for identifying and responding to substance use and human trafficking. Providers who work within the substance use or recovery field who are responsible for working with patients or clients or connecting them to support should consider the benefit of collaborating with advocates in victim service agencies. 

Safe Harbor Regional Navigators can provide training and consultation and help providers and those seeking services navigate local resources, including connecting to community based supportive services and specialized shelter and housing. 

Providers may also explore whether screening or identification tools and protocols are appropriate for their agency or program. Providers can consult with a Safe Harbor Navigator or MDH on different approaches available. One option is the the Minnesota Youth Trafficking and Exploitation Identification Tool and training found here: Minnesota Youth Trafficking and Exploitation Identification Tool and Guide

Reporting trafficking and finding resources

Both sex and labor trafficking are crimes under state and federal law. These laws may extend to Tribal Nations in Minnesota; some Tribes have their own codes that prohibit related crimes and may have jurisdiction over investigations and cases or may collaborate with local or state law enforcement under Public Law 280 to respond to these crimes.

In situations of immediate danger, contact 911 or local law enforcement, or victims may be most comfortable contacting a hotline for help from a trained advocate.

• Minnesota Day One Hotline: 1-866-223-1111
• National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888
• Strong Hearts Native Helpline: 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483)

Suspected human trafficking in Minnesota can be reported to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension: 1-877-996-6222.

Victims know best what will keep them safe. If you are in contact with or supporting someone in an unsafe situation, work with them to find the best options for reporting or seeking help. Always consider ways to reduce harm (including preventing an overdose) and engage them in safety planning to help them identify how they might stay safe or exit a situation.

• Connect with your Safe Harbor Regional Navigator for help locating or accessing services.
• Find Safe Harbor and Labor Trafficking services in Minnesota: The Human Trafficking/Exploitation Prevention and Response: Regional Navigators, Housing, Services, and Outreach Providers (PDF).
• Find support for families of missing or murdered Black women or Indigenous relatives through the Office for Justice Programs Office of Missing and Murdered: Offices of Missing and Murdered.
• Learn about mandated reporter duties and our states child protection response to sex and labor trafficking of minors: Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy Mandated Reporter Training.

Resources and support for substance use

It is important to recognize that individuals who experience substance use disorder may desire or benefit from a variety of supports and services to reach their own recovery or health goals. This could include traditional or clinical treatment programs, peer recovery services, culturally specific recovery services, or interventions that focus on reducing harm. 

• Find behavioral health services including substance use disorder treatment programs in Minnesota: FastTrackerMN.
• SAMSHA behavioral health services locator: FindTreatment.gov.
• Find non-clinical recovery supports and resources at these local Minnesota Organizations: Minnesota Recovery Connection.
• Get access to naloxone, also known as Narcan®, a medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose: Naloxone Finder - Know The Dangers.
• Learn about services offered in your area to reduce the harms associated with substance use including preventing HIV and other infections: Syringe Service Program Network Calendar.

For providers and partners

Trafficking and exploitation

• Request access to the Safe Harbor Youth Outreach Materials to promote awareness and access to resources for youth through age 24.
• Access the Human Trafficking Informational Guides for different audiences.
• Access material from the City of Minneapolis Campaign Sex Trafficking Thrives in Silence: Download the campaign materials to use for stories or web content

Substance use

• Learn more about how to spot symptoms of an overdose and how to administer naloxone to reverse and overdose in this two-minute video: The Importance of Naloxone in Reversing Opioid Overdose
• Learn more about harm reduction
  • Overdose Harm Reduction
  • National Harm Reduction Coalition
• Read more about stigma and how to talk about drug use: How to Talk about Substance Use
• Access the Recovery Institutes online dictionary and find out which words are flagged for stigma: Addictionary® – Recovery Research Institute
• Explore SAMSHA’s evidence-based practices resource center: Evidence-Based Practices Resource Center
• Learn more about Peer Recovery Services from SAMSHA: Value of Peers Infographics: Peer Recovery
• Visit the MDH Drug Overdose Resource Center for additional resources: Drug Overdose Prevention Resources

MDH Programs 

• The Human Trafficking Prevention and Response Program supports a statewide network of community-based organizations and government partners working together to prevent and respond to exploitation and human trafficking in Minnesota.
• The Overdose Prevention Unit administers grants and provides technical support to community partners working to prevent and respond to drug overdoses across Minnesota communities and Tribal nations.
• The Substance Prevention, Education and Recovery Unit administers grants for substance misuse prevention, education, recovery, and treatment programming for prioritized focus communities and Tribal nations. This unit will administer state funding per MN Statute 342.72

Connect with us

Contact the Human Trafficking Prevention and Response Program if you have questions about additional training or resources on this topic: health.humantrafficking.mdh@state.mn.us.