Child trafficking is a global plague that uses intimidation and violence to exploit vulnerable populations for the benefit of the offender.
America has made sincere efforts to decrease the opportunity for trafficking, but it still happens. Survivors deserve the right to share their stories and seek justice, and when they are ready, our Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire sex trafficking lawyers will be ready to support them in telling their stories.
Trafficking can leave life-long scars for those who find themselves trapped in it. These costs should not be your burden to bear alone, nor without justice. If you or someone you know has been victimized by trafficking, you can contact our firm for a free consultation online or call us at (619) 236-9363.
Child trafficking is an oftentimes unseen dark force that threatens innocent children, but there are warning signs to watch for, and steps we can all take to contribute to child trafficking prevention and help kids from falling victim to this terrible crime.
What Is Child Trafficking?
To take effective action against trafficking and better understand how to prevent child trafficking, we must first know what exactly it entails.
When people think of trafficking, it is often sex trafficking that comes to mind. While that is something commonly seen, labor trafficking is also a form of human trafficking.
Sex Trafficking
Sex trafficking involves the recruitment, harboring, transporting, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for a commercial sex act. This sex act is brought about through deceit, force, coercion, or in an individual under the age of 18.
Labor Trafficking
Labor trafficking, or forced labor, is the recruitment, harboring, transporting, provisioning, or obtaining of a person for services or labor. Like sex trafficking, this is done through force, fraud, or coercion. The purpose is for involuntary servitude, debt bondage, peonage, or slavery.
If you have been involved in labor trafficking, you deserve to seek justice. Our firm can help you recover compensation for your injuries, pain, and suffering through labor trafficking litigation. While no amount of money can undo what you have experienced, it may provide some financial cushioning to allow you to determine the next steps of your life.
How To Prevent Child Trafficking By Watching Out for These Indicators
Trafficking does not always look the way we may think it does. While there isn’t any one flag that will tell you for sure what trafficking may look like, there are some indicators of trafficking published by the Department of Human Services to help us identify what the situation may look like in terms of children we are close to, or even trafficking in hotels.
If you want to do your part in combating these tragedies and are wondering how can I help stop child trafficking, then familiarize yourself with these indicators below.
Grooming
Grooming behavior is a common strategy of human traffickers. A grooming strategy includes a perpetrator who identifies their victim based on some kind of vulnerability, such as:
- Neediness
- Emotional vulnerability
- Financial stressors
They will then connect with the child, giving them attention and gifts, becoming a present figure in their lives.
When the perpetrator gains trust, they may begin requesting repayment for those gifts in the form of sexual favors or other boundary-testing behaviors.
Once this cycle has started, they may threaten the child with blackmail or even physical violence against their families. The critical factor for adults to remember about grooming is that it is slow and likely someone we know.
Obvious Signs of Abuse
The DHS indicators encourage people to check for some obvious signs of abuse. This may look like a child with multiple bruises in various stages of healing or apparent signs of lacking food, water, or medical care. You may also notice the child is especially jumpy or timid, particularly around the people they are seen with.
Disconnection
Human traffickers will generally operate in a way that cuts the child off from their community. A child may be in danger if they:
- Suddenly stopped going to school.
- Live in unsuitable conditions.
- Appear to have unreasonable restrictions on where they go or how they move around in their home.
Lack of Autonomy
Children who have been victimized by human trafficking may have less autonomy than you may expect of a child their age. This can look like a child who does not have control of their possessions or cannot make basic decisions without deferring to a caregiver or older child around them.
Branding
Branding can be a common way for traffickers to mark their ‘property.’ If you see more than one person in a space with the same scar, tattoo, or other mark on the same part of their body, you may be looking at children who are being trafficked.
Together we should all be taking a stand and asking ourselves, how can I help stop child trafficking? We have a moral obligation to look out for one another, especially our most vulnerable populations, like children.
By staying alert, being present in our communities, and speaking up when we notice something off, we can make a real difference. If you’ve been affected by human trafficking, Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire will help you retake control of your life. Contact us online or call (619) 236-9363 today.
What Does a Child Trafficker Look Like?
Many of us may expect a child trafficker to be the obviously creepy man who looks menacing in a black hoodie. The truth is much scarier, though. Traffickers rarely just kidnap a child off the street and, like many sexual predators, are generally someone who is known to the child and their family.
A trafficker may also look like a new boyfriend who is overly controlling and showering their new partner with expensive gifts. Some trafficking ring leaders will even weaponize other children and teens to recruit other children. Ourrescue.org reports that some parents or step-parents are responsible for the exploitation of their children.
There is no standard for what a trafficker or the people they victimize will look like. Trafficking can happen to anyone and rarely starts as a violent confrontation. As a society, we need to be diligent in supporting and advocating for the well-being of our kids and teens.
How To Help Child Trafficking?
Traffickers tend to identify and target emotionally vulnerable children. Armed with this information, we can prioritize supporting the children and families in our community.
The National Center for Safe Supportive Learning Environments reports a previous history of physical or sexual abuse as one of the top risk factors for children.
Many of the risk factors of child trafficking relate to instability at home, which tells us that implementing community support to decrease that instability can be a protective factor for our vulnerable kids.
Additionally, programs that improve access to mental health and parenting education services can begin a culture of emotional regulation and healthy relationships. Our communities need safe homes and caring adults who pay attention and educate our children on what warning signs may look like.
We all must recognize the role we can play in how to stop child trafficking. It can become easy to look the other way when we see things, and this means that even some of us with the kindest intentions may be allowing it to continue.
Education’s Role in Child Trafficking Prevention
Education can go a long way in protecting our youth against those who may want to exploit them.
The Human Trafficking Prevention report from the Department of Health and Human Services outlines several areas of education that may protect kids from trafficking. Many of these areas are social and emotional skills, such as:
- Healthy and unhealthy relationships curriculum to help identify warning signs in relationships that may turn exploitative or abusive.
- Discussions surrounding safe social media practices.
- Safety planning and harm reduction to help prepare kids as best we can.
Often, the types of kids who are targeted are those who are seeking a feeling of connection in any way they can. They may be so desperate for that type of contact that they don’t realize that it will not benefit them. The more we can have open and honest conversations about boundaries, the better protected they can be.
How to Stop Child Trafficking Using Social Media Safety
Social media is one of the biggest ways traffickers are able to connect with our children.
Teaching them to be suspicious of strangers they meet and showing them how easily someone can create a fake account with a false ID is a start for young kids.
Also, regularly having casual conversations with them about what grooming behavior can look like on social media and the permanence of the content they post may help their informed decision-making as well.
Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire Works to Help Stop Child Trafficking
Child trafficking is a community problem with a community solution. By encouraging easy access to mental health and social services, we can provide families with the support they need to focus on the critical job of raising happy, healthy kids.
Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire is here to support survivors of sex and labor trafficking. We can help you on your journey of healing and share your story. Call us today at (619) 236-9363 or reach out to us online to learn more about how we fight for survivors of human trafficking.