Definitions

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  • In this chapter:
    • (1) “Adult” means an individual 18 years of age or older.

    • (2) “Coercion” means:

      • (A) the use or threat of force against, abduction of, serious harm to, or physical restraint of, an individual;

      • (B) the use of a plan, pattern, or statement with intent to cause an individual to believe that failure to perform an act will result in the use of force against, abduction of, serious harm to, or physical restraint of, an individual;

      • (C) the abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process;

      • (D) controlling or threatening to control an individual’s access to a controlled substance as defined in 19 V.I.C. §§ 593(7) and 595, and any drug that has been declared by the Virgin Islands, state, or federal law to be illegal for sale, use, or possession unless lawfully dispensed under a prescription or over the counter;

      • (E) the destruction or taking of or the threatened destruction or taking of an individual’s identification document or other property;

      • (F) the use of debt bondage;

      • (G) the use of an individual’s physical or mental impairment when the impairment has a substantial adverse effect on the individual’s cognitive or volitional function; or

      • (H) the commission of civil or criminal fraud.

    • (3) “Commercial sexual activity” means sexual activity for which anything of value is given to, promised to, or received by a person.

    • (4) “Debt bondage” means inducing an individual to provide:

      • (A) commercial sexual activity in payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt; or

      • (B) labor or services in payment toward or satisfaction of a real or purported debt if:

        • (i) the reasonable value of the labor or services is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt; or

        • (ii) the length of the labor or services is not limited and the nature of the labor or services is not defined.

    • (5) “Human trafficking” means the commission of an offense created under sections 133 through 137.

    • (6) “Identification document” means a passport, driver’s license, immigration document, travel document, or other government-issued identification document, including a document issued by a foreign government.

    • (7) “Knowingly” means having actual knowledge of or acting with deliberate ignorance or reckless disregard of an element, fact, or circumstance.

    • (8) “Labor or services” means activity having economic value.

    • (9) “Minor” means an individual under 18 years of age.

    • (10) “Person” means an individual, estate, business, or nonprofit entity, or other legal entity. The term does not include a public corporation, or government or governmental subdivision, agency, authority, or instrumentality of the government.

    • (11) “Serious harm” means harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including psychological, economic, or reputational, to an individual which would compel a reasonable individual of the same background and in the same circumstances to perform or continue to perform labor, or services, or sexual activity to avoid incurring the harm.

    • (12) “Sexual activity” means, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, intrusion by any object into the genital or anal opening of another’s body, and the stimulation by hand or an object of another individual’s genitals or breasts for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of any individual. The term includes a sexually-explicit performance.

    • (13) “State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The term includes an Indian tribe or band recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a state.

    • (14) “Victim” means an individual who is subjected to human trafficking or to conduct that would have constituted human trafficking had this chapter been in effect when the conduct occurred, regardless of whether a perpetrator is identified, apprehended, prosecuted, or convicted.


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