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Every 30 seconds, someone becomes a victim of modern day slavery.

 

Start here.

Don Brewster said it best; human trafficking simply put is the exploitation of vulnerability. As the world’s fastest growing criminal industry, generating over $32 billion per year, human trafficking affects every nation across the globe. There are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in history, with an estimated 27 million in bondage across the globe. Men, women, and children are being exploited for manual and sexual labor against their will.

National Human Trafficking Resource Centre (NHTRC) Toll free Hotline: 1-888-3737-888

 
 

  • Human trafficking victims can come from a range of backgrounds and some may come from middle and upper class families. Poverty is one of many factors that make individuals vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking.

    Since human trafficking victims can be men or women, adults or children, and foreign nationals or U.S. citizens, trafficking is a crime that cuts across race, nationality, gender, age, and socio-economic background. However, human traffickers typically prey on individuals who are vulnerable in some way.

  • While anyone can become a victim of trafficking, certain populations are especially vulnerable. These may include: undocumented migrants; runaway and homeless youth; and oppressed, marginalized, and/or impoverished groups and individuals. Traffickers specifically target individuals in these populations because they are vulnerable to recruitment tactics and methods of control.

    + Aging out of the Foster Care System
    + Vulnerability
    + Addiction
    + Under the power of a pimp or madame
    + Exposed to pornography and ‘drafted’ by parental figures
    + Victims of rape or incest

  • Are you getting paid to do your job? Do you receive payment or is your money being held for you? Can you come and go as you please? Are you supervised when you are in public places?

    How do you feel about the police?

    Have you been threatened if you have tried to leave? Have you or your family been threatened?

    Have you been physically harmed in anyway?

    Have you ever been deprived of food, water, sleep, or medical care?

    Do you have to ask permission to eat, sleep, or go to the bathroom?

    Are there any locks on your doors and windows so you cannot get out?

    Has your identification or documentation been taken from you?

    Is anyone forcing you to do anything that you do not want to do?

  • Many victims have a strong sense of distrust. Before questioning a person who may be a victim of sex trafficking, try to separate the person from the individual accompanying her/ him.

    This individual could be the trafficker, acting as a spouse or any other family member. Evidences of possible “Stockholm” syndrome where kidnapped victims, over time, become sympathetic to their captors.

  • Report it:

    National Human Trafficking Resource Centre (NHTRC) Toll free Hotline: 1-888-3737-888

    Text INFO or HELP to BeFree (233733)

    Local police: 911

    Local FBI: Find your city by visiting this website: https://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/focities.ht

 
 

CLUES TO IDENTIFY A VICTIM OF TRAFFICKING

  • Force


    Beating and slapping. Beating with objects (bat, tools, chains, belts, hangers, canes, cords). Burning. Sexual assault. Rape and gang rape. Confinement and physical restraint.

    Evidence of being controlled: the person is accompanied by a controlling person, and do not speak on their own behalf. The person is transported to or from work or the person lives and works at the same place and is rarely allowed in public.

    Fear, depression, and overly submissive behavior. The person is frightened to talk to outsiders and authorities as a result of threats.

    Substance abuse problems or addictions. The person is often coerced into drug use by their traffickers or turn to substance abuse to help cope with their dreadful situation.

  • Fraud


    False promises. Deceitful enticing and affectionate behavior. Lying about working conditions. Lying about the promise of a better life, “selling a dream”.

    Lack of control over personal schedule. The person is not able to move freely or leave a job. For example a women who works extremely long hours, sees an important number of clients, and has no time for herself.

    Poor health. Sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, pelvic pain and traumas, urinary difficulties, pregnancy resulting from rape and prostitution, infertility from chronic untreated STDs and unsafe abortions. Malnutrition and serious dental problems.

  • Coercion


    Threats of serious harm or restraint. Intimidation and humiliation. Creating a climate of fear. Enforcement of trivial demands. Occasional Indulgences. Intense manipulation. Emotional abuse. Isolation. Creating dependency and fear of independence.

    Lack of control over money. The person is not able to keep the money earned. It is “withheld for safe-keeping.” Most of the time the person owes debt to the employer.

    Bruises, scars and other signs of physical abuse and torture. Sex trafficked victims are often beaten in areas that will not damage their appearance, like their lower back.

Articles

 

The Second Most Common Form of Human Trafficking is Prostitution

All Worthy of Love is a justice focused non-profit that reaches out to men and women entangled in street-prostitution. Our mission is to restore broken dwellings, based on the teachings of Isaiah 58. We work in a three stranded cord; reach, rescue, and restoration. We prevent sex-trafficking through awareness. We promote awareness through various speaking engagements at local churches, schools, and small groups to educate the community of modern day slavery. We rescue victims of trafficking through weekly outreach. We restore victims of trafficking through partnerships with local organizations that offer safe housing and restorative care.

Our main focus is outreach. The vision for our outreach team is building consistent relationships. We can spend three years fostering a relationship before seeing an individual ready to exit the industry. Our outreach team is intentionally kept small and we require a one year commitment so our friends working the streets see the same people consistently and as a result develop deep friendships. A team of 4 goes out to the same neighborhood every week. We reach out to men and women working on the street and we visit several crack houses. We pray with prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, and gang members. We believe that the women are enslaved to one thing and the pimps/drug dealers are enslaved to another – but both are worthy of love. We believe that people know what is wrong with them, they need to know what is right with them – so we speak truth in love. We encourage, pray, and tell them they are beautiful and amazing.

 

Prostitution in Trafficking

*Special thanks to the Polaris Project 

Human trafficking victims are often found in street prostitution where they are forced to provide commercial sexual services by a controller or “pimp.”  Pimps force adults and minors to sell commercial sex on the streets by means of physical abuse, threats, lies, manipulation, and false promises.

Street prostitution becomes trafficking when a pimp uses force, fraud and/or coercion to maintain control over the person providing commercial sexual services and cause the person to engage in commercial sex acts.

An individual engaged in street prostitution under the age of 18 is considered a victim of sex trafficking regardless of the presence of force, fraud or coercion.

  • Estimated number of men, victims must have sex with daily: 1 – 15 men daily

  • The individuals we’ve met are not on the streets because they want to be

  • Standard quota per night: $500 to $1,000 or more

  • Most common lure of prostitution is a drug addiction.

  • The average entry age is 13 years old

  • The average life span of a prostitute is 4-6 years

  • Mortality rate is 40x higher than national average