This Column
A trafficking victim might be free to go places, appear happy, and even advertise for more customers.
(TRUE OR FALSE)
True
Human trafficking is about exploitation. Not movement. Not restraint. Human trafficking can be compelled by force, fraud, deception, abuse of power, or coercion – which includes psychological coercion. Furthermore, prostituted women are required to appear happy. Sometimes trafficked individuals are compelled to advertise because they are under pressure to bring in money. Sometimes they even advertise that they are independent and have no pimp when in reality it is the pimp forcing them to write that.
What do "A" "M" and "P" stand for in the AMP MODEL?
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime divides the definition of human trafficking into three sections: the act, means, and purpose.
The act, or what is done, generally refers to activities such as recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons.
The means of trafficking consists of threats or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of the victim.
Finally, these acts are carried out for the purpose of exploitation, which includes prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery or forced servitude, and the removal of organs.
Which of the following is a method of recruitment used by human traffickers?
A) Promises of employment
B) Convincing poor families to sell their children
C) Collaborating with storefronts who pretend they are employment agencies
D) All of the above
D) All of the above
What are some other tactics?
A commercial sex act is, "any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person"
(TRUE OR FALSE)
TRUE
Victims of human trafficking will always immediately identify themselves as victims to potential rescuers and are desperate to escape.
(TRUE OR FALSE)
False
Often victims do not identify themselves as trafficking victims due to a lack of knowledge about it, lack of trust, self-blame, instilled fears of consequences, or specific instructions by the traffickers. Sometimes victims have a traumatic bond with their captors and want to stay. Sometimes it takes years of healing before victims understand that they were victims, that they were manipulated and coerced, and that coercion is not the same as consent. Victims frequently blame themselves and feel shame when they shouldn’t. Sometimes it can take years before survivors understand that their experience qualifies as human trafficking.
Pimp-controlled prostitution is a form of human trafficking.
(TRUE OR FALSE)
True
Rarely is there a case where a pimp is nothing more than a kind facilitator. Any woman whose actions are controlled and coerced by a pimp can be considered a victim of human trafficking – regardless of whether she received money. This is hard for people to understand, but it is key in identifying victims of trafficking. Just because a woman appears to be prostituting herself does not mean she is free. We must think more deeply, stop judging and start helping.
If a practitioner suspects an individual is a victim of human trafficking, who should he/she contact?
A) The suspected perpetrator
B) A local social service agency
C) Executive director of the agency
D) The National Human Trafficking Resource Center
D) The National Human Trafficking Resource Center
If answers to these questions indicate that an individual may be a victim of human trafficking, one should contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. Under the child abuse laws, practitioners who are mandated reporters and who are suspicious that a minor is being abused should immediately report the abuse. For more information regarding specific states' reporting requirements, please visit https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/state.
What are examples of FORCE, FRAUD, and COERCION?
Force - physical abuse/assault, sexual abuse/assault, confinement, food deprivation, use of drugs
Fraud - false promises of work/living conditions, withholding promised wages, contract fraud
Coercion - threats of harm to self/others, debt bondage, psychological manipulation, document confiscation
What is domestic minor sex trafficking?
A) The selling of runaways for sexual services across international borders.
B) The selling of minors to those in other countries for sex purposes and for financial gain.
C) The selling, buying, and/or trading of children for sexual services within the United States.
D) The selling and buying of minors for primarily domestic work, such as housekeeping, but that eventually turns sexually abusive.
C) The selling, buying, and/or trading of children for sexual services within the United States.
Domestic servitude is a
A) form of forced labor.
B) form of sexual trafficking.
C) form of child work in many developing countries.
D) term that refers to trafficking confined to the United States.
A) form of forced labor.
Domestic servitude refers to a category of domestic workers (usually female) who work as servants, housekeepers, maids, and/or caregivers, often in private homes. In some cases, young women are lured with the promise of a good education and work, and when they arrive in the United States, they are exploited economically, physically, and/or sexually. Their passports or identification papers are taken away, and they are told they have to pay off the debt incurred for their travel, processing fees, and any other bogus expenses. Because they do not speak English, they find they have no other recourse but to endure exploitive working conditions. Unfortunately, as in many sectors of forced labor, there are no regulations to monitor the conditions under which domestic servants operate.
A woman who agrees to engage in prostitution can still be a victim of human trafficking.
(TRUE OR FALSE)
True
Remember, it is impossible to consent to being trafficked. If fraud, coercion or force was used to compel service, evidence of consent is irrelevant and cannot be used as a defense.
What are three ways pornography impacts sex trafficking?
1. pornography can be made of trafficked victims; or trafficked into porn industry
2. fuels the demand (more people watching porn > increases demand for sex > increases need for trafficking); johns will request something they've seen in porn
3. traffickers may use porn to "train" (groom) victims
4. individuals in porn industry (cam girls, etc.) can become vulnerable to trafficking
Human trafficking requires moving foreigners across national borders or at least involves some form of travel or transportation.
(TRUE OR FALSE)
False
Under the federal trafficking statutes, the crime of human trafficking does not require transportation. It can take place in your city or in a home with no movement at all. Human trafficking is more accurately characterized as exploitation, a form of involuntary servitude, or “compelled service” where an individual’s will is overborne through force, fraud, or coercion.
How does digital technology play a role in human trafficking?
A) It helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
B) It makes identifying potential victims more difficult.
C) The Internet can create a greater supply of slaves, which then brings down the cost.
D) Young women may be purchased to perform sexual acts, with graphic images then sent via the Internet for purchase.
D) Young women may be purchased to perform sexual acts, with graphic images then sent via the Internet for purchase.
The rampant use of digital technology, such as the Internet, greatly facilitates sex trafficking. The relative anonymity of online contact can empower traffickers to recruit or sell victims. Graphic images of women and children engaged in sexual acts can be easily disseminated over the Internet. Traffickers may employ the Internet for advertising, marketing to those interested in making pornography. In addition, social media sites such as Facebook, Craigslist, and Instagram have been used as a means of facilitating trafficking. Newsgroups offer opportunities for those interested in locating women and children for sexual exploitation.
Why do some traffickers prefer to recruit children to serve as soldiers?
A) They serve as cheap labor.
B) Studies show children have no moral conscience.
C) Demographically, they make up a large percentage of the population.
D) They tend to be more easily molded and submit to orders without question.
D) They tend to be more easily molded and submit to orders without question.
In some cases of trafficking, children are kidnapped and trafficked to serve as soldiers. It is estimated that at any one time 250,000 to 300,000 children younger than 18 years of age are currently serving as child soldiers. Traffickers prefer to recruit children to serve as soldiers because they are inexpensive and more easily molded and shaped to comply and obey without question. They are also more likely to kill fearlessly and recklessly. Child soldiers are treated as adults, without any regard to how the physical and psychological rigors of war will affect them psychologically and developmentally. In Uganda, where children are kidnapped or recruited as child soldiers relatively often, the Lord's Resistance Army has been known to initiate new child soldiers in brutal ritualized killings of others so as to terrorize them into submission and annihilate any moral conscience they may have about killing.
Which of the following is NOT an example of how culture can contribute to human trafficking?
A) Beliefs that girls are less valued than boys makes them more dispensable.
B) Values that emphasize collectivism may encourage victims to sacrifice themselves for their family.
C) Myths that certain races or ethnicities are more erotic and exotic DO NOT affect sex trafficking patterns.
D) In some cultures, it is believed that children in lower socioeconomic/cultural groups should be taught early on to understand their positions in life.
C) Myths that certain races or ethnicities are more erotic and exotic DO NOT affect sex trafficking patterns.
Race and ethnicity have been inextricably linked to sexual violence and victimization. Myths regarding sexuality in certain cultures or racial fetishization may affect trafficking patterns. For example, there is an over-representation of Asian women on American Internet pornography sites in part due to popular myths sexualizing, eroticizing, and exoticizing Asian women. This has translated into trafficking, as traffickers respond to the demand for young Asian women and girls in part fueled by these stereotypes of exotic, docile, submissive, and eager-to-please Asian women.
Some cultures emphasize collectivism and prioritizing the needs of the family and group first before the needs of the individual. Some children may feel they have to sacrifice themselves for their family when traffickers promise money. Traffickers also know that they can threaten to hurt victims' families to keep them from escaping.
Furthermore, in many cultures, boys are more highly valued than girls, and as a result, girls are considered more dispensable. Sons are considered the family's social security, staying with the family while daughters marry into other families. Therefore, girls may be more likely to be sold into slavery than boys.
Child labor is also inextricably tied to cultural factors. In India, for example, child labor is common because it is believed that children in the lower levels of caste system (i.e., the "untouchables") should be socialized early to understand their positions in society. It has been observed that when traditional cultural and societal norms about women's roles were relaxed in some European countries and more women entered the labor force, child labor decreased. Ultimately, it is difficult to unravel the effects of poverty and culture because the pressures of poverty can lead families to use tradition as a justification to sacrifice young men, women, and children.
If a girl is 16 and she has willingly decided to work for a pimp that does not use force, fraud or coercion in any way, she is a child prostitute and cannot be considered a victim of human trafficking.
(TRUE OR FALSE)
False
Anyone under 18 is a child. Any child that is being sexually exploited is automatically considered a victim of human trafficking automatically, even if there is no force, fraud or coercion. Consent is irrelevant. Since a person under 18 cannot legally consent to prostitution, there is no such thing as a “child prostitute.” The more appropriate term is “Commercially Sexually Exploited Child” or (CSEC). You can help build awareness about the trafficking of children by insisting that journalists, law enforcement, government officials and others use the correct language.
How is human smuggling different from human trafficking?
A) The individual has been forced or coerced into a country.
B) The individual willingly volunteered to enter the new country.
C) Specific gender differences exist, as those who get smuggled into the new country are typically men.
D) The perpetrators who bring the individual into the new country often utilize legal means to get them in.
B) The individual willingly volunteered to enter the new country.
It is important to remember that human trafficking is not human smuggling. Human smuggling involves an individual being brought into a country through illegal means and is voluntary. The individual has provided some remuneration to another individual or party to accomplish this goal
How is the debt in bonded labor passed down from generation to generation?
A) The labor laws that bonded labor mandate that the debt become generational.
B) The contractual agreements often indicate that the families' next generations will assume the debt.
C) The victims may agree to work not realizing that they contracted themselves to work for low wages with high interest rates and other accruing fees that can never be repaid.
D) None of the above
C) The victims may agree to work not realizing that they contracted themselves to work for low wages with high interest rates and other accruing fees that can never be repaid.
In many cases of bonded labor, the initial loan may be welcomed by the individual. However, the victims do not realize that with the low wages, unspoken high interest rates and other continually accruing fees, and the owner's manipulation of the "accounts," laborers can never repay the loans. Some families find themselves in a cycle of poverty as the debt cannot be paid off and is passed down from generation to generation. Bonded labor can involve laborers in brick kilns, mines, stone quarries, looming factories, agricultural farms, and other manufacturing factories. In the United States, individuals may be trafficked to work long hours in garment factories, restaurants, and other manufacturing sectors. Frequently, the employer/captor will take away victims' identifications, monitor their movements, socially isolate them, and/or threaten deportation if they do not comply. Migrant workers are at high risk of forced labor.
What is the main factor that differentiates prostitutes and sex trafficking victims?
A) Sex trafficking victims tend to be younger than prostitutes.
B) Victims of sex trafficking often do not get paid for their sexual work, while prostitutes do.
C) Prostitutes have more options in regards to sexual activity, partners, and the hours they prefer to work.
D) Sex trafficking victims experience higher levels of physical and psychological abuse than their prostitute counterparts.
B) Victims of sex trafficking often do not get paid for their sexual work, while prostitutes do.
Although highly controversial, it is said that sex trafficking victims differ from prostitutes in that sex trafficking victims are forced to involuntarily perform sexual services and are often not paid for their "work." On the other hand, individuals involved in prostitution make a decision to provide sex services for a fee. The decision to enter prostitution does not eliminate the possibility of being a victim of trafficking if one is held against his/her will through physical and/or psychological abuse. It is also important to remember that this does not necessarily mean prostitution is a choice these individuals would have made if other options were available or that they have a choice in selecting their sexual partners and/or sexual activities.
What is one of the concerns about the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA)?
A) They do not have access to the Witness Protection Program.
B) Counseling services are not culturally congruent and sensitive.
C) The T-Visas are not issued with long enough time periods for the victim to adjust in the new country.
D) The responsibility lies with the victim to provide evidence that he/she was coerced into the human trafficking situation.
D) The responsibility lies with the victim to provide evidence that he/she was coerced into the human trafficking situation.
One of the criticisms of the Act is that it places the burden of demonstrating innocence and coercion on the victim. The Act also fails to recognize the complex dynamics of human trafficking. Many victims have been abused and terrorized by the perpetrators, who they must now provide information and evidence against to stay in the country. Victims are continually fearful that they will be deported.
Which of the following is NOT a barrier to studying human trafficking?
A) Informed consent issues
B) Participants' fear of reprisals
C) Excessively large sample sizes
D) The hidden and invisible nature of human trafficking victims and perpetrators
D) The hidden and invisible nature of human trafficking victims and perpetrators
Another reason human trafficking has been a difficult topic to research is the hidden and invisible nature of its victims and perpetrators. This makes it difficult for researchers to use traditional sampling methods. Even if trafficked victims are identified, perpetrators can move them to new locations. If and when researchers access this hidden population, victims are often reluctant to talk due to fear, shame, and the stigma associated with their experiences. Consequently, much of what has been studied has relied on interviews with professionals (e.g., lawyers, advocates, police/law enforcement, and other service providers), which has led to recommendations that are not based on firsthand accounts.
A host of ethical issues also arise for those conducting research in this area. Protecting study participants' identities is paramount, and consequently, study participants signing informed consent forms, which are often required by institutional review boards, becomes complicated. Understandably, victims and perpetrators often will not want to sign forms using their real names for fear of deportation, arrest, and/or reprisals.
What's the National Human Trafficking Hotline #?
1 (888) 373-7888
Which of the following statements about the psychological consequences of human trafficking is FALSE?
A) For some human trafficking victims, the feelings of shame lead to self-destructive behaviors.
B) Post-traumatic stress disorder is a universal diagnostic category and should be used for all human trafficking victims.
C) There seems to be an association between those who had greater levels of revenge and higher levels of PTSD among former child soldiers.
D) Some victims may have substance abuse problems because traffickers may force sex trafficking victims to take drugs in order to perform sexual acts.
B) Post-traumatic stress disorder is a universal diagnostic category and should be used for all human trafficking victims.
Victims of trafficking experience a host of psychological, mental health, and emotional distress. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common given the trauma many victims experience, including physical and/or sexual violence and abuse; victims forced into prostitution experience continual, daily sexual assault. In a study of 192 European women who were trafficked but who managed to escape, the overwhelming majority (95%) disclosed that they experienced physical and sexual violence during the time of their trafficked experience. More than 90% reported sexual abuse, and 76% reported physical abuse.
Substance abuse is also common among victims. In interviews, trafficked women discussed how traffickers forced them to use substances like drugs and/or alcohol so they could work longer hours, take on more clients, and/or perform sexual acts that they could not normally. Other victims used substances as a means to cope with their situations.
Children forced into labor experience grueling hours and are frequently beaten by their owners. According to Clawson and Goldblatt, underage victims of domestic sex trafficking fluctuate through a range of emotions from despair, shame, guilt, hopelessness, anxiety, and fear. Depending upon the level of trauma, some engage in self-destructive behaviors like self-mutilation or suicide attempts. For some, their ambivalence toward the perpetrators may be confusing. On the one hand, they want to escape the abuse, yet simultaneously, they may have a sort of traumatic bond with the perpetrators.
Children forced into conscription will also experience a host of psychological symptoms. In a study comparing former Nepalese child soldiers and children who were never conscripted, former child soldiers experienced higher levels of depression, anxiety, PTSD, psychological difficulties, and functional impairments. In another study of former children soldiers from the Congo and Uganda, one-third met the criteria for PTSD. The researchers found there was a relationship between greater levels of PTSD symptoms and higher levels of feelings of revenge and lower levels of openness to reconciliation. In-depth narrative interviews of former child soldiers from northern Uganda found that the children spoke of the violence and atrocities they witnessed without any emotion, as if they had removed themselves from their experiences. This speaks to how the victims have to numb themselves psychologically in order to cope. The researchers also found that the children who lost their mothers were more traumatized by this experience than the violence they witnessed as soldiers.
If a person staunchly advocates for publicizing and raising awareness regarding the community's role in contributing to human trafficking (e.g., by purchasing certain products), what perspective is influencing his or her argument?
A) Feminist perspective
B) Human rights perspective
C) Criminal justice perspective
D) Migration and labor perspective
B) Human rights perspective
As with slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries, trafficking victims today have no choice over their abusive and exploitive conditions. Unlike the "older" forms of slavery, this modern form is an outcome of globalization. The human rights perspective also argues that, to some extent, the general public indirectly contributes to the problem of human trafficking as consumers in the global market. In a study of how human trafficking is socially constructed, the videos being examined portrayed general consumers and corporations as perpetrators of human trafficking in addition to pimps, crime organizations, and middlemen recruiters.