WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

[Pages:16]WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

What you need to know about Human Trafficking

Yes, need to know. And not just because your own daughter or son could be at risk; but because you have an important role to play in the fight against this horrible, dehumanizing crime. Your very awareness can help stop it. We know you will want to do your part.

What exactly is human trafficking?

Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It is the commercial exploitation of human beings, whether as unpaid (or very poorly paid) laborers or as sex workers. When adults are the victims of sex trafficking, force, fraud or coercion are involved. When minors are induced into the commercial sex trade, it doesn't matter whether they have been coerced; exploiting children for sex is a federal crime.

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The Problem of Trafficking in the Movies

In the 2008 thriller, "Taken," the daughter of Liam Neeson's character and a friend are abducted by a group of Albanian sex traffickers during an unchaperoned trip to Paris. The ex-CIA dad's frantic search takes him to a dismal human warehouse in which young women are made compliant by injecting them with drugs until they are hopelessly addicted. Then they are required to perform sexual acts with whomever their captors choose, or face the agony of withdrawal. Lost, dehumanized, barely aware of who they are anymore, these girls play out their assigned roles simply for the avoidance of pain and the promise of oblivion. The plot of "Taken" is the common misperception of trafficking. This does occur, but the preponderance of trafficking in the US is exploiting our home-grown girls. In fact, the recruiting and breaking process is even more insidious than depicted in "Taken."

Only in the movies? Only in foreign countries? No, it could just as easily have been Seattle. Or Dallas. Or Atlanta. Or your hometown. Human sex trafficking is not a crime limited to dark alleys someplace far away. Particularly with the pervasiveness of social media, it is right here under our very noses. It's everywhere and growing bigger, more treacherous and more profitable.

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More virulent than ever

The findings that preface the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000[4] help explain how and why this cancer seems to be metastasizing:

"Traff"iTcrkainffigckiinngpienrspoenrssoinssiniscirnecaresiansginlyglypepreprpeettrraatteedd bbyy oorrggaannizizeedd, , sophisticated crimsinoaplheisntitceartpedriscerism. Sinuaclhenttrearfpfirciskeins.gSuischthteraffafisctkeinstggisrothweinfagstseostugrcroewoinf gprofits for orsgoaunrciezeodf pcrroimfitsinfaolr eonrgtaenrpizreisdecsriwmoinrladlwenidteer.pPrirsoefsitwsofrroldmwidthe.ePtrroaffiftiscfkrionmg indutshtreytrcaofnfictrkiibnug tiendtuosttrhyeceoxnptraibnustieontoothf eoregxapnanizseiodncorfimoregainnizthedecUrinmiteeidn States and wthoerUldnwiteiddeS.t"a[t1e]s and worldwide." [1]

[1] PUBLIC LAW 106?386--OCT. 28, 2000, Division A, Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, Section 102, b., Findings.

Today, sex trafficking is facilitated mainly through the Internet, whether by individual pimps, groups, or networks. In larger organizations, individuals may be assigned to recruitment, escort, transport, management, or collections. In the more familiar pimp/prostitute model, the pimp may assign some of these tasks to an assistant, often someone else he has coerced or seduced. The more sophisticated businesses use the dark web to evade law enforcement. There, hidden beneath multiple layers of encryption, they can operate with impunity. Contacts are often arranged via social media or through sites like Backpage and Eros.

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No one to stop them

Despite every effort, law enforcement continues to lag behind the growth of Human Trafficking. Here's why:

? Already overburdened law enforcement agencies lack the time and specialized expertise to go after traffickers, gather evidence and secure convictions.

? Perpetrators are very difficult to find and track. They are skilled at using the Internet, including the Tor (anonymity) network on the dark web, to hide their identities, whereabouts and activities.

? Local contacts and arrangements are often made through untraceable prepaid phones (burner phones). Anything traceable is registered in the victims' names, not their captors' name.

? The hospitality and transportation industries, on which the sex trade relies, can be unwitting accomplices. Employees generally don't recognize or have the tools to respond to trafficking that takes place on their watch.

? Most people don't know that this is going on, day in and day out, right here in America. They don't realize they have an important role in stopping it.

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What you have seen ? and not seen

Chances are good that you -- and your children if you're a parent -- have actually seen human traffickers and their victims. You just haven't realized it. You've seen them at the mall, at parks, on boardwalks, in hotels, in airports, and anywhere teens hang out -- especially unsupervised or runaway kids. You've seen traffickers scoping out and courting their prey. You just haven't recognized them.

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Many go willingly with their captors

All too often, socially "lost" people are seduced by the promise of a better life. Abused or neglected at home and without resources of their own, they're drawn to this person (usually a man, but not always) who seems to care for them and is offering love and protection, along with fulfillment of their material desires. Jewelry, clothing, makeup, whatever they yearn for magically appears "if you'd care to come with me." The trafficker is adept at reading his victims' needs and building the trust required to bring them into his service. This is true whether the contact is made at a fast food restaurant, a mall, or an online dating site.

Sometimes teens who have hooked up with a trafficker refer their own friends. Believing, in the early stages, that they've found the good life, they want to share the wealth. This is before the work begins -- before the inevitable price must be paid. Experienced traffickers know just how long it will take to make their victims totally dependent on them and totally compliant. After that, the girls are assigned a daily quota, reportedly $500 to $1,000 a day. Failure to produce brings certain unpleasant consequences. Victims have described regular physical, emotional and sexual abuse. And the girls (or boys) can't simply run on home; they have usually been moved to another city or country, cut off from communications with friends or family, sometimes even given new names.

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Others are intimidated into slavery

Recent immigrants, documented or not, are especially vulnerable to human traffickers. Frightened, unable to speak the language, bewildered by new rules and customs, they are easily manipulated and intimidated. Whether they're recruited to be sex workers or laborers, they may be threatened with deportation or required to pay off a "debt" for their transport into this country. Their lives and their families' safety may be threatened if they don't, for example, provide sex services in an erotic massage parlor -- or in the back room of a cantina. Even if they could, they generally won't report the abuse, for fear of reprisals to themselves or their families.

The costs to the victims are devastating

As you would imagine, women and children trafficked in the sex industry are often exposed to deadly STDs, including HIV/AIDS. Many are addicted to drugs. They are sometimes worked or beaten to death. Trafficking victims are generally not a picture of health, physically or mentally.

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