Person seems overly fearful, submissive, tense, or paranoid. Person is deferring to another person before giving information. Person has physical injuries or branding such as name tattoos on face or chest, tattoos about money and sex, or pimp phrases. Clothing is inappropriately sexual or inappropriate for weather.
Red Flags: Indicators of Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation
Pelvic, rectal or urinary trauma (evidence of unprotected or violent sex and multiple or forced abortions). Mental health issues, including depression. Post-traumatic stress disorder. Memory loss.
The intention is that the Blue Heart becomes the symbol for human trafficking , similar to the red ribbon which is the symbol for HIV/AIDS.
Traffickers are adept at identifying people with noticeable vulnerabilities or needs. They may scour specific locations such as bus stations, shelters, or local malls looking for someone without a safe place to stay or who they may be able to charm with their flattery and attention.
They may pose as a boyfriend and use romance to prey upon a young person's vulnerability. They may use violence or physical threats. They may offer business transactions or offers to make fast and easy money. Victims are often recruited by someone they know.
Who Are the Traffickers. There is no evidence that traffickers are more likely to be of a particular race, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation. They may be family members, romantic partners, acquaintances, or strangers.
Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to subject victims to engage in commercial sex or forced labor. Anyone can be a victim of trafficking anywhere, including in the United States. Force includes physical restraint, physical harm, sexual assault, and beatings.
While the best-known form of human trafficking is for the purpose of sexual exploitation, hundreds of thousands of victims are trafficked for the purposes of forced labour, domestic servitude, child begging or the removal of their organs.
Africa and the Middle East
In recent years, trafficking has been most prevalent in African countries like Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Eritrea, and the Central African Republics. In the CAR, young women can be coerced into marriages that force them into domestic servitude and sexual slavery.
A red flag is a warning or indicator, suggesting that there is a potential problem or threat with a company's stock, financial statements, or news reports. Red flags may be any undesirable characteristic that stands out to an analyst or investor.
But as is the case in many crimes of exploitation and abuse, human traffickers often prey upon members of marginalized communities and other vulnerable individuals, including children in the child welfare system or children in the child welfare system or children who have been involved in the juvenile justice system; ...
Due to the complex nature of the crime, traffickers often operate under the radar, and those trafficked are not likely to identify as victims, often blaming themselves for their situation. This makes it more difficult to identify the crime because victims rarely report their situation.
In the United States, it is most prevalent in Texas, Florida, New York and California. Human trafficking is both a domestic and global crime, with victims trafficked within their own country, to neighboring countries and between continents.
Suggested Screening Questions
Can you leave your job or situation if you want? Can you come and go as you please? Have you been threatened if you try to leave? Have you been physically harmed in any way?
They need to have access to the victim, either in person or through the internet to lure them into the sex trafficking situation. Many victims are lured by sex traffickers on social media, promising things or a future together.
Tactic 1: Dehumanization
From the viewpoint of traffickers, victims are little more than commodities. Traffickers constantly tell victims that they're worthless, insignificant and forgotten. Victims are exposed to high levels of emotional distress induced by constant threats, fear, and psychological abuse.