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Child Trafficking

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 The human trafficking hotline website defines human trafficking as the following: "Human trafficking occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will. Force, fraud, or coercion need not be present if the individual engaging in commercial sex is under 18 years of age." (Home | National Human Trafficking Hotline, n.d.)

Different Forms of Child Trafficking

Forced Labor Including Child Labor

  • This includes any activity that uses threats, coercion, or abuses of the legal process to obtain work. According to The Social Media Victims Law Center, in the United States, this often takes the form of unpaid restaurant workers from other countries, or exploiting school-age children in factories (Social Media & Human Trafficking, n.d.).

Sex Trafficking

  • This involves forcing other individuals to participate and engage in non-consensual sexual acts.

Transcontinental Child Abuse

  • This entails a US citizen traveling to another country to interact inappropriately with a minor.

Statistics 

  • According to the 2021 Polaris report, 32% of victims of human trafficking in 2020 were recruited via facebook and instagram, while an additional 72% were recruited on the internet (Analysis of 2020 National Human Trafficking Hotline Data - Polaris, 2022).

  • Since the Human Trafficking Hotline has been created, there have been 100,891 cases reported. Along with that, there have been 197,000 victims identified (National | National Human Trafficking Hotline, n.d.).

  • Between 2019 and 2020, there was a significant decline in the use of traditional recruitment sites such as bus stations, strip clubs, mental health facilities, and private foster homes. Simultaneously, there was a marked 125% increase in trafficking recruitment via Facebook and nearly a 95% increase in those recruiting via Instagram (Mental Health Resources for Parents, n.d.; Social Media & Human Trafficking, n.d.).

  • More than 80% of victims were younger than 11 years old when the exploitation began according to the Social Media Victims Law Center (Social Media & Human Trafficking, n.d.).

Where can Predatory Behavior Happen?

Often these interactions include some form of building trust and a relationship online before the job offer is made or the in-person meeting is organized.

  • Social media

    • E.g. Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, WhatsApp etc.

    • Traffickers can use either fake or real accounts.

  • Dating apps

    • Tinder, Grindr, and Plenty of Fish

    • Traffickers can use either fake or real accounts.

  • Job advertisements

    • Modeling or dancing job offers through fake business profiles, event pages on Facebook, or on Craigslist.

    • These can often be fake or deceptive, including very bold and brazen photos of daily cash profits to encourage potential victims to engage.

Signs of Inappropriate or Harmful Behavior

Online Profiles and Usernames:

  • There are a few cases where some sex traffickers will utilize the anonymity of the internet and create fake profiles to conceal their true identity, or use accounts that impersonate a girl that they have already trafficked (sometimes referred to as a bottom girl, a victim who has gained a higher “status” than other victims).

  • More often than not, cases from the National Hotline show that many traffickers will use their own personal social media profiles for communication.

Building relationships:

  • The trafficker attempts to build relationships with the target to gain trust. This can include:

    • Commenting on potential victims’ photos and eventually sending direct messages, carefully building the rapport and connection needed to entice victims into a false sense of trust.

    • “Boyfriending” – this is the term used for cases of manipulation such as simulated romantic interests, extreme flattery or compliments, promises of gifts or other financial assistance, statements that indicate that they, and they alone, can care for the potential victim, or even claims that they can help the victim from suffering domestic violence or child sexual abuse.

    • Attempting to purchase travel tickets for the potential victim in order to finally meet face-to-face.

Employment advertisement indicators of fraud:

  • Types of false advertisement can include inflated pay, promises regarding immigration status, same day payments, no required experience or training, housing and transportation benefits, and vague conditions about the job.

  • Traffickers can also contact the potential victim directly. They claim to be a recruiter for a modeling agency or the owner of a real business seeking employees.

Practical Guidance

Location safety:

  • Turn off location services and do not share the address of where you live or go to school.

App privacy:

  • Audience selectors (Facebook, Instagram, etc. - making private accounts instead of public)

    • Make your accounts private and only allow those you know to follow you.

    • Only post to friend groups or close friends, not publicly or to people that you do not know personally.

    • Block people or accounts that seem suspicious and unfamiliar.

Tagging in photos:

  • Request tagging in photos so that people cannot tag you in photos that you do not approve.

What to do if you find yourself in a dangerous situation of trafficking  

  • Many survivors have stated that social media helped their exit and others said that they utilized private messages on social media platforms to reach out to support resources (On-Ramps, Intersections, and Exit Routes - Polaris, 2019).

  • Use the disappearing messages features on social media platforms or use disappearing pictures or videos of abuse via Snapchat to loved ones, in a creative and fast way to signal for help. For example in Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook Mobile, victims can set messages to disappear immediately in order to communicate discreetly with support systems without the trafficker discovering the message history (On-Ramps, Intersections, and Exit Routes - Polaris, 2019).

  • If you do not know where you are due to travel and isolation, use a social network’s location discovery services to figure out where you are or publicly signal your whereabouts to family or support networks (On-Ramps, Intersections, and Exit Routes - Polaris, 2019).​

Sources

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