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It’s Not Knowing the Signs – It’s Knowing the Story
Chances are there’s going to be nothing visible, nothing that you can see from across the room, or even from up close, that should alert you that a stranger is being trafficked. That may come as a surprise – especially if you have been to a training where you have been taught the ‘signs’ or indicators of trafficking, such as a person looking disheveled, upset or scared. But as we learn more about how trafficking really works, we are also learning that the best way to help is to pay attention to people you actually know or interact with – your students, your tenants, your children, your patients, your co-workers. It is all about two magic words: Context and proximity.
Recognizing Labor Trafficking
Keeping victims isolated – sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally – is a key method of control in most labor trafficking situations.
Vulnerabilities and Recruitment
Did you know that the 13th Amendment did not entirely abolish slavery in the United States? There was an exception left in the Constitution: Unpaid prison labor. Unscrupulous corporations and governments have used this exception to plug holes in their budgets and turn profits for decades. This is trafficking, and it is not acceptable in modern-day society.
Recognizing Sex Trafficking
Anyone selling sex who is under 18 is legally a trafficking victim. There are a number of racial myths and stereotypes associated with sex trafficking.
Common signs to take note
Context is key to being able to help understand if what you are seeing is sex or labor trafficking – or something else entirely. People who work in certain industries, for example, may be more likely to spot signs of trafficking that are specific to the way that industry operates. Below are resources specific to either the type of trafficking or to how trafficking situations may intersect with certain kinds of systems and industries. The U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline does not report to law enforcement in situations involving adults without permission from the person contacting the Trafficking Hotline.
Research shows that the majority of human trafficking survivors had some contact with the health care system during the time they were being exploited. That means health care providers are often in the position to recognize that something is wrong and take steps to provide support. Potential red flags specific to a health care setting may include:
- A patient with reproductive or sexual health concerns and or potential signs of sexual violence and reporting an unusually high number of partners
- A patient with work-related injuries reporting that health and safety gear were not provided or conditions were otherwise unsafe
- A patient is unwilling or hesitant to answer questions about the injury or illness
- A patient Is accompanied by an individual who does not let the patient speak for themselves, refuses to let the patient have privacy, or who interprets for them
Hotels and motels are common venues for both prostitution and sex trafficking, and it can be difficult to distinguish between the two, which is why it is important that concerns about potential trafficking be reported to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline rather than directly to law enforcement, which could lead to arrests. Labor trafficking also takes place, where contract workers such as housekeepers may be exploited. They are also common venues for traveling sales crews to house trafficked workers. Below are some potential indicators of sex and/or labor trafficking that may also be indicators of prostitution.
- Presence of a third party (pimp/trafficker) appearing to be monitoring a hallway or door
- Guest is overly concerned with surveillance cameras or entrance policies
- Someone is dropped off and visits for 30 minutes – 1 hour only – or someone waits for that person on property or in the parking lot
- Abandoned or locked out young adults on property
Sex traffickers often set up shop in and around truck stops in hopes of capitalizing on a potential customer base. Truckers Against Trafficking offers in-depth trainings for trucking personnel and more recently for professionals in the bussing industry.
Nannies, house cleaners, and home health aides labor in isolated conditions that put them at risk for trafficking. The vulnerability can be compounded by the fact that many domestic workers are immigrants who may not know their rights in this country. Indicators of potential concern include:
- A live-in domestic worker who sleeps on a floor, in a garage, closet, laundry room or another place not intended for sleeping
- An immigrant worker whose employer is holding her or his passport or other legal documentation
- A worker who is rarely or never allowed to leave the home, or only allowed out/seen in the company of the employer
- An employer who sets up and controls a domestic workers’ bank account
Educators and social services professionals may be in a good position to learn about trafficking situations and help connect victims to services. At least one international study found that almost half of identified child trafficking cases globally began with the involvement of a family member. Victims are sold for sex or forced to work in family businesses. Familial trafficking often goes undetected. While familial trafficking can and does happen in families that appear entirely “functional” or “normal” to an outsider, there may well also be signs of other kinds of child abuse or neglect – which may, in fact, include trafficking. The American Academy of Pediatrics offers information about recognizing child abuse more generally.
The majority of labor trafficking cases learned about on the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline involve immigrants, many of whom are in the United States on legal temporary work visas, some of which require that employers provide housing. In general, housing and similar living/working conditions may be the best indications available that something is not right in the workplace. Examples might include:
- Workers living in too-close quarters such as too many people in a single bedroom apartment who all work in a particular restaurant or store
- Workers living in/sleeping at construction sites
- Workers living in unsanitary conditions such as on a school bus with no running water in a farm labor situation