Your safety comes first. We are dedicated to helping those who have been trafficked in the past look into their current civil legal options, but we want to make sure that you are safe FIRST. The National Human Trafficking Hotline helps with immediate needs and has an online directory of local resources.
You can reach them here NATIONAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING HOTLINE or simply call 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733 to get started with them confidentially.
——————
While it may seem like an easy question, there is a lot of confusion surrounding sex trafficking.
So, what exactly is sex trafficking?
Trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the 21st century – a multi-billion-dollar industry; after drug dealing, it is the second-largest illegal or criminal industry in the world.
US Federal Law defines sex trafficking as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, soliciting and/or advertising of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act, in which the 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.
Adults can also be trafficked, meaning that if they are forced to perform sex acts, even as an adult, it is considered trafficking if used for the purposes of financial gain.
WHO CAN BE TRAFFICKED
Anyone can be trafficked. It occurs in our backyards. The trafficked female or male often appears to be the opposite of what people imagine: looks can be deceiving and even the most “clean cut” teen could be lured into trafficking by sophisticated criminal elements.
Given the enormity of social media in all our lives today, it is no surprise that many trafficked people first “meet up” with their traffickers online.
WHO IS VULNERABLE TO TRAFFICKING?
- Black, Brown, and Indigenous woman and girls
- Those facing poverty or economic need
- Immigrant or non-English speakers
- LGBTQ+ individuals
- Foster care, runaway and homeless youth
- Those with a history of child sexual abuse
SEX TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY WOMEN OF COLOR
In a two-year review of all suspected human trafficking incidents across the US, 94% of survivors were female, 40% were Black, and 24% were Latina.[i]
In Nebraska, 50% of individuals sold online for sex are Black, even though Black people comprise only 5% of the population.
WHAT ARE SOME MYTHS RELATED TO SEX TRAFFICKING[ii]
MYTH: People being trafficked are physically unable to leave their situations/locked in/held against their will
REALITY: That is sometimes the case. More often, however, people in trafficking situations stay for more complicated reasons. Some lack the necessities to get out physically – such as transportation or a safe place to live. Some are afraid for their safety. Some have been so effectively manipulated that they do not identify at that point as being under the control of another person.
MYTH: Traffickers target those they don’t know
REALITY: Many survivors have been trafficked by romantic partners, including spouses, and by family members, including parents.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I WAS TRAFFICKED
If you were coerced into sexual activity in order to make money for someone else, you were trafficked.
Trafficking has nothing to do with transportation. No legal definition includes the word “transportation.” This is a common misunderstanding. The legal definition involves force, fraud, and coercion, but in reality, it’s about control, coercion, and exploitation – by third parties. It involves a buyer and a seller who are equally involved in the crime, often with complicity at the location of the crime, which often occurs at a hotel or motel.
When survivors speak about their experience, they often describe it as volunteer slavery and “the choice that’s not a choice”. Only in retrospect do women find that the appearance of choice is very different from reality. There is no real choice, only an illusion, and the outcome is already predetermined – traffickers are skilled manipulators.
While many women are groomed through person-to-person contact, the most common way a relationship between an abuser and their victim begins is through the Internet on dating sites where a trafficker develops a relationship, making promises and expressing a desire to meet up IRL (in real life). They promise love, marriage or a relationship, and even legitimate jobs. Before they know it, women are dependent on the trafficker for whatever has been promised, and the traffickers exploit that to their advantage.
WHAT DOES A CASE FOR WOMEN DO?
We’re here to help people who have been hurt look into their civil legal options, which is different than pursuing something criminally. We are not involved in criminal lawsuits against the perpetrator or trafficking ring. We go much bigger and focus on the hotels, online sites, and businesses that have looked the other way and profited from the business of sex trafficking.
I Want More Information!
Reach out to us today at 214-842-5839 or yourpower@acaseforwomen.com if you’d like to get started looking into your civil legal options. You can also get started here and we’ll begin our review immediately. Our team is here 24/7 and is ready to support you through our process.
Our focus is dedicated to civil legal action, but there are many organizations whose focus is informing and educating the public on human trafficking that include more resources and referral information that can also help. We highly recommend the following organizations’ websites to anyone who is interested in learning more:
Other related articles of ours that may help:
[i] https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking
[ii] https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/human-trafficking/myths-facts