WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?

Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act. Every year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide – including right here in the United States. It can happen in any community and victims can be any age, race, gender, or nationality. Traffickers might use the following methods to lure victims into trafficking situations:

• Violence
• Manipulation
• False promises of well-paying jobs
• Romantic relationships

A HIDDEN CRIME

Language barriers, fear of their traffickers, and/or fear of law enforcement frequently keep victims from seeking help, making human trafficking a hidden crime. Traffickers look for people who are easy targets for a variety of reasons, including:

• Psychological or emotional vulnerability
• Economic hardship
• Lack of a social safety net
• Natural disasters
• Political instability

The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.

What Is Human Trafficking? | Homeland Security (dhs.gov)

WARNING SIGNS

Some indications that a person may be a victim of human trafficking include (especially in the case of women and children):

• Appearing malnourished
• Showing signs of physical injuries and abuse
• Avoiding eye contact, social interaction, and authority figures/law enforcement
• Seeming to adhere to scripted or rehearsed responses in social interaction
• Lacking official identification documents
• Appearing destitute/lacking personal possessions
• Working excessively long hours
• Living at place of employment
• Checking into hotels/motels with older males, and referring to those males as boyfriend or “daddy,” which is often street slang for pimp
• Poor physical or dental health
• Tattoos/ branding on the neck and/or lower back
• Untreated sexually transmitted diseases
• Small children serving in a family restaurant
• Security measures that appear to keep people inside an establishment - barbed wire inside of a fence, bars covering the insides of windows
• Not allowing people to go into public alone, or speak for themselves

HOW YOU CAN HELP FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Join the fight. Consider offering your time and financial support to organizations that provide services to victims. Men can speak out against johns who purchase minors for sex. Parents, parent-teacher organizations and schools can help educate children about how to protect themselves online. Doctors, nurses and hospitality and travel industry workers can seek training to identify victims and help them access services.

Contributions are welcomed and are 100% tax-deductible.
Please make checks payable to “DHHS – Human Trafficking Fund” and send to:

Dept. of Health and Human Services, Director's Office
Attn: Grant Management Unit
400 West King Street, Suite 300
Carson City, NV 89703

Each one of us can do something to combat sex trafficking. The fight to end the exploitation of human trafficking victims continues. Join us.

REPORTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center provides help for victims nationwide. Call 1-888-373-7888 or text "HELP" or "INFO" to BeFree (233733).

To report suspected human trafficking nationwide, contact the US Department of Homeland Security at 1-866-347-2423. For additional information, visit their Blue Campaign webpage.

How to Identify Victims of Human Trafficking while Traveling, CNN article and video posted at CNN.com.

SOAR Online is a new series of CE/CME training modules that you can complete whenever, wherever you like. Each module discusses the SOAR framework and how to apply it where you work to identify individuals who are at risk or who have been trafficked and connect them with the resources they need.

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