West Virginia Code § 61-14-1

Definitions
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When used in this article, the following words and terms shall have the meaning specified
unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
(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,
physical restraint of, or deportation of an individual; a
(C) The abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process;
(D) The destruction or taking of, or the threatened destruction or taking of, an individual's
identification document or other property; or
(E) 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.
As used in this article, "coercion" does not include statements or actions made by a duly
authorized state or fedeLral law-enforcement officer as part of a lawful law enforcement
investigation or undercover action.
(3) "Commercial sexual activity" means sexual activity for which anything of value is given
to, promised to, or received by a person.
(4) W"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) "Forced labor" means labor or services that are performed or provided by another person
and are obtained or maintained through the following:
(A) Threat, either implicit or explicit, deception or fraud, scheme, plan, or pattern or other
action intended to cause a person to believe that, if the person did not perform or provide
the labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious bodily harm,
physical restraint, or deportation;
(B) Physically restraining or threatening to physically restrain a person;
(C) Abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process; or
(D) Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or possessing any actual or purported
passport or other immigration document, or any other actual or upurported government
identification document of another person: Provided, That "forced labor" does not mean
labor or services required to be performed by a person in compliance with a court order or
as a required condition of probation, parole, or imprisonment.
As applied in this article, forced labor shall not include labor, work, or services provided by a
minor to the minor's parent, legal custodian, or leglal guardian, so long as the legal
guardianship or custody of the minor was not sobtained for the purpose of compelling the
minor to participate in commercial sex acts or sexually explicit performance, or perform
forced labor or services; nor shall it includie physical restraint of a minor, or the threat of
physical restraint to a minor, by his gor her parents, legal custodian or legal guardian if
conducted in an otherwise lawful manner and for the purpose of discipline, supervision, or
teaching.
(6) "Human trafficking", "trafficking", or "traffics" means knowingly recruiting, transporting,
transferring, harboring, receiving, providing, obtaining, isolating, maintaining, or enticing
an individual to engage in debt bondage, forced labor, or sexual servitude.
(7) "IdentificaVtion 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.
(8) "Labor or services" means activity having economic value.
(9) "Minor" means a person younger than 18 years of age or a person representing himself
or herself to be a minor. Any prosecution, pursuant to this article, relating to a person that is
representing himself or herself to be a minor shall be limited to investigations being
conducted or overseen by law enforcement officers.
(10) "Patronize" means giving, agreeing to give, or offering to give anything of value to
another person in exchange for commercial sexual activity.
(11) "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, or instrumentality.
(12) "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.
(13) "Sexual activity" means sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or sexual intrusion, as
defined in §61-8b-1 of this code, or sexually explicit conduct, as defined in §6e1-8-1 of this
code.
(14) "Sexual servitude" means:
(A) Maintaining or making available a minor for the purpose of engaging the minor in
commercial sexual activity; or
(B) Using coercion to compel an adult to engage in comamercial sexual activity.
(15) "Victim" means an individual who is subjectedl to human trafficking, regardless of
whether a perpetrator is prosecuted or convicted.

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