What Is Vulnerability to Human Trafficking and Commercial Exploitation? An Exploratory Scoping Review and Proposed Conceptual Definition

As human trafficking and commercial exploitation (HT/CE) have grown across multiple empirical domains of inquiry, so too have the terms associated with these experiences. Over time, the term "vulnerability" has become ubiquitous in the HT/CE literature. Despite its proliferation in scholarship, what it means to be vulnerable to harm lacks a unifying conceptual or operational definition that allows scholars to attribute specific intent. To fill this gap, we conducted an exploratory scoping review mapping the use of the terms "vulnerable" and "vulnerability" as they relate to HT/CE in the United States. Using a sample of 230 articles, qualitative thematic analyses identified trends among existing conceptualizations and operationalizations of vulnerability, as well as contexts in which the term is used. Findings reveal that vulnerability functions primarily as an undefined descriptive label, with explicit definitions rare and operationalizations inconsistent. The current study's findings contribute to a proposed conceptual definition for vulnerability in the context of HT/CE that can support shared meaning and advance future research.