Sex and Human Trafficking

Signs and Awareness of Sex and Human Trafficking

If you see any of these red flags, contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text to BeFree (233733) for specialized victim services referrals or to report the situation.

Common Work and Living Conditions: The Individual(s) in Question

Is not free to leave or come and go as he/she wishes
Is under 18 and is providing commercial sex acts
Is in the commercial sex industry and has a pimp / manager
Is unpaid, paid very little, or paid only through tips
Works excessively long and/or unusual hours
Is not allowed breaks or suffers under unusual restrictions at work
Owes a large debt and is unable to pay it off
Was recruited through false promises concerning the nature and conditions of his/her work
High security measures exist in the work and/or living locations (e.g. opaque windows, boarded up windows, bars on windows, barbed wire, security cameras, etc.)

Poor Mental Health or Abnormal Behavior

Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid
Exhibits unusually fearful or anxious behavior after bringing up law enforcement
Avoids eye contact
Poor Physical Health
Lacks health care
Appears malnourished
Shows signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, physical restraint, confinement, or torture

Lack of Control

Has few or no personal possessions
Is not in control of his/her own money, no financial records, or bank account
Is not in control of his/her own identification documents (ID or passport)
Is not allowed or able to speak for themselves (a third party may insist on being present and/or translating)

Other

Claims of just visiting and inability to clarify where he/she is staying/address
Lack of knowledge of whereabouts and/or do not know what city he/she is in
Loss of se
Has numerous inconsistencies in his/her story

What is Human Trafficking?

As defined in the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the legal definition of “severe forms of trafficking in persons” is: a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Under the legal definition, trafficking victims in the US can be divided into three populations:

Minors (under age 18) induced into commercial sex;
Adults age 18 or over involved in commercial sex via force, fraud, or coercion;
Children and adults forced to perform labor and/or services in conditions of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery, via force, fraud, or coercion.

Victims are trafficked for a wide variety of purposes, such as commercial sex, agricultural work, or housekeeping, yet they all share the loss of one of our world’s most cherished rights—FREEDOM.

There is no one consistent face of a trafficking victim. Trafficked persons can be rich or poor, men or women, adults or children, and foreign nationals or US citizens.
There is no one consistent face of a trafficker. Traffickers include a wide range of criminal operators, including individual pimps, small families or businesses, loose-knit decentralized criminal networks, and international organized criminal syndicates.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHEAT SHEET

Overview

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery.
Human trafficking is prevalent in many countries around the world. Different countries may be primarily sites of origin, transit, destination, and/or internal trafficking.
Cases of human trafficking have been reported in all fifty states of the United States (Free the Slaves).
Human trafficking is a market-based economy that exists on principles of supply and demand. It thrives due to conditions which allow for high profits to be generated at low risk.

Sex Trafficking

1.2 million children are being trafficked every year; this is in addition to the millions already held captive by trafficking (UNICEF)
Every 2 minutes a child is being prepared for sexual exploitation (UNICEF)
The average age of a trafficked victim is 12-14 years old (U.S. Department of Justice)
Approximately 30 million children have lost their childhood through sexual exploitation over the past 30 years (UNICEF)
The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion (http://www.crisisaid.org/ICAPDF/Trafficking/traffickstats.pdf]
Sex trafficking is the fastest-growing business of organized crime and the third-largest criminal enterprise in the world. The majority of victims are taken from such places as South and Southeast Asia, the former Soviet Union, Central and South America, and moved to more developed ones, including Asia, the Middle East, Western Europe, and North America. (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march_2011/human_sex_trafficking)
An estimated 293,000 American youths currently are at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The majority of these victims are runaway or thrown-away youths who live on the streets and become victims of prostitution. (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/march_2011/human_sex_trafficking)