2019 Arkansas Code
Title 5 - Criminal Offenses
Subtitle 2 - Offenses Against the Person
Chapter 18 - Human Trafficking Act of 2013
§ 5-18-102. Definitions

(1) “Commercial sexual activity” means a sexual act or sexually explicit performance for which anything of value is given, promised, or received, directly or indirectly, by a person;

(2) “Debt bondage” means the status or condition of a debtor arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services or of the personal services of a person under his or her control as a security for debt, if:

• (A) The value of the debtor's personal services or of the personal services of a person under his or her control as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the liquidation of the debt;

• (B) The length and nature of the debtor's personal services or of the personal services of a person under his or her control are not respectively limited and defined; or

• (C) The principal amount of the debt does not reasonably reflect the value of the items or services for which the debt was incurred;

(3) “Extortion” means the obtaining of property, labor, a service, credit, a commercial sexual activity, or a sexually explicit performance from another person or of an official act of a public officer through a wrongful use of force or fear or under color of official right;

(4) “Financial harm” means extortion of credit, criminal violation of the usury laws, or employment contracts that violate the statutes of frauds, § 4-59-101;

(5) “Involuntary servitude” means the inducement or compulsion of a person to engage in labor, services, or commercial sexual activity by means of:

• (A) A scheme, plan, or pattern of behavior with a purpose to cause a person to believe that if he or she does not engage in labor, services, or commercial sexual activity, he or she or another person will suffer serious physical injury or physical restraint;

• (B) Abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process;

• (C) The causing of or the threat to cause serious harm to a person;

• (D) Physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain another person;

• (E) The kidnapping of or threat to kidnap a person;

• (F) The taking of another person's personal property or real property;

• (G) The knowing destruction, concealment, removal, confiscation, or possession of an actual or purported passport, other immigration document, or other actual or purported government identification document of another person;

• (H) Extortion or blackmail;

• (I) Deception or fraud;

• (J) Coercion, duress, or menace;

• (K) Debt bondage;

• (L) Peonage; or

• (M) The facilitation or control of a victim's access to an addictive controlled substance;

(6) “Labor” means work of economic or financial value;

(7) “Menace” means a possible danger or threat;

(8) “Minor” means a person less than eighteen (18) years of age;

(9) “Organization” means the same as defined in § 5-2-501;

(10) “Peonage” means holding a person against his or her will to pay off a debt;

(11) “Serious harm” means any harm, whether physical or nonphysical, including without limitation 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 as the victim to perform or to continue performing labor or service, a commercial sex act, or a sexually explicit performance in order to avoid incurring that harm;

(12) “Service” means an act committed at the behest of, under the supervision of, or for the benefit of another person;

(13)

• (A) “Sex act” means any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of another person for the purpose of gratifying the sexual desire of a person.

• (B) “Sex act” includes without limitation the touching of the person as well as touching by the person, whether directly or through clothing;

(14)

• (A) “Sexually explicit performance” means an act or show, whether public or private, live, photographed, recorded, or videotaped with a purpose to:

  • (i) Either:

    • (a) Appeal to the prurient interest; or

    • (b) Depict, in a patently offensive way, a sex act; and

  • (ii) Do so in a way that lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

• (B) “Sexually explicit performance” includes without limitation any performance that depicts a sex act by a minor or that would create criminal liability under § 5-27-303 or § 5-27-304; and

(15) “Victim of human trafficking” means a person who has been subjected to trafficking of persons, § 5-18-103.