A defining characteristic is that people are treated like objects or goods that can be bought and sold at will. This exploitation can include sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, or the removal of body organs.

The perpetrators exploit the poverty and lack of prospects of their victims, as well as their hope for a better future, to deceive and recruit them with false promises of job or marriage opportunities in another country. Entry into this destination country can then occur legally or illegally.

However, the victims are subsequently forced into a relationship of dependency and exploited through debt bondage, coercion, or violence. Ultimately, they are deprived of their autonomy, their freedom of choice and movement, and lose any right to self-determination over their own bodies.