Identifying human sex trafficking
Plastic cups of red sand stand at the ready. Participants poured the sand between the cracks of bricks and sidewalk sections to remind survivors of human trafficking that they have not been “lost between the cracks.” LISA PRICE/TIMES NEWS
What is human sex trafficking?
Human sex trafficking is a crime against a person, when that person is used as a physical commodity to earn a profit for the trafficker. In other words, someone profits from the exploitation of another. The trafficker manipulates the victim — using force, fraud or coercion — into engaging in sex acts.
Human trafficking is considered to be one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world. Currently it is second only to drug trafficking, and produces an estimated $32 billion of annual revenue worldwide, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Through education, members of the general public can learn to identify conditions that put others in danger. In the case of human trafficking though, public awareness is still catching up with the epidemic.
How can you be on the lookout for signs of human trafficking? First, learn the common venues, which are the streets, hotels and motels, truck stops, and online sites. Look for physical indicators, such as injuries and scarring, signs of malnourishment, and a change in personality (showing feelings of fear, sadness, or grief or lack of emotion).
The trafficker, sadly, may often be a parent, legal guardian or other family member, boyfriends or husbands, drug dealers, gang members or pimps (male and female). A youth being used in trafficking may become involved in street begging, be often truant from school, or be living with someone who purchases drugs (children may be traded or used as a commodity to enable adults to obtain drugs).
