Human Trafficking

Culture, Demand, and Prevention

Overview
• Culture: How gender roles impact our views of commercial sex
• What our culture and the media emphasize
• How we sexualize women vs. how we sexualize men
• Demand: Why we are all part of the problem
• Demand exists because we tolerate it
• Human Trafficking 101
• Prevention: What is the next step?
• Why you should care
• What you can do
 What is Human Trafficking?
• Sex Trafficking—Commercial sex induced by force, fraud, or
coercion, or the person induced to perform such act has not
attained 18 years of age.

• Labor Trafficking—The recruitment, harboring, transportation,

provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services,
through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of
subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or
slavery.

1) Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-386 (2000), available at http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/10492.pdf.
Culture
How gender roles impact our views of commercial sex
Our Culture Emphasizes:
• Partying
• Youth
• Power
• Money
• Sexuality
 Media—How we sexualize women in
society
• Difference between sexuality
and sexualization

• Sexualized female dolls targeted

to girls as young as 4 years old

• Push-up bra bathing suits for 8-

year olds

• Average child/teen spends 6

hours and 32 minutes with
media

Information on this slide taken from: American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls.
(2010). Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Retrieved from
http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf
Media—How we sexualize men in
society
• “Boys will be boys”
• Party themes that put
males in roles of power
and women in sexually
objectifying roles
• Making excuses for male
behavior (i.e. bachelor
parties, strip clubs, etc.)
Demand
Why we are all part of the problem
The Pimp Culture—Misconceptions that
lead to Demand for Commercial Sex
Demand for this crime exists because
WE tolerate it
• Prostitutes and strippers
portrayed in movies, video
games and music

• Three 6 Mafia’s song “It’s Hard

Out There for a Pimp” won an
Oscar in 2006

• "Big Pimpin'" was the most

successful single from Jay-Z's
fourth album, reaching #18 on
The Billboard Hot 100 and #1
on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart.
 Misconception: Pimps protect the girls
they “manage”
• Facts: (1)
• Monetary quotas to avoid beatings
• “Branding” to demonstrate ownership
• Typically take all the money

• Quote from a pimp: “it’s

impossible to protect all girls
from guys…we eat, drink and
sleep thinking of ways to trick
young girls into doing what we
want.” (2)

1) Human Trafficking FAQs, How is Pimping a Form of Sex Trafficking?, POLARIS PROJECT, http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/human-trafficking-faqs#How is pimping a
form of sex trafficking? (last visited Jan. 14, 2012).
2) Jody Raphael & Brenda Myers-Powell, FROM VICTIMS TO VICTIMIZER: INTERVIEWS WITH 25 EX-PIMPS IN CHICAGO (2010) at 5, SCHILLER DUCANTO & FLECK FAMILY
LAW CENTER OF DEPAUL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW, available at http://newsroom.depaul.edu/PDF/FAMILY_LAW_CENTER_REPORT-final.pdf.
Human Trafficking 101
Who is involved in trafficking?
• The recruiter gains the victim’s trust and then sells them for
labor or to a pimp. Sometimes this is a “boyfriend”, a
neighbor, or even a family member.
• The trafficker is the one who controls the victims. Making the
victim fearful through abuse, threats, and lies the trafficker
gains power over his/her victim.
• The victim could be anyone.
• The consumer funds the human trafficking industry by
purchasing goods and services. Often s/he is unaware that
someone is suffering.
The Trafficker
• Will likely be in a lucrative
business enterprise as the
heart of human trafficking
is exploiting cheap labor
• May be part of a larger
organized crime ring, or
may be profiting
independently
• Most often is the same
race/ethnicity as the victim
• Might be someone who
knew the victim or
victim’s family
• Will likely be bilingual
• Will likely be an older
man with younger women
who seems to be
controlling, watching their
every move, and
correcting/instructing
them frequently
How are People Recruited?
• Grooming
• Internet, social media
• Fake employment agencies
• Acquaintances or family
• Newspaper ads
• Front businesses
• Word of mouth
• Abduction
 Human Trafficking and Technology
Social Networking

Pimps hit social networks to

recruit underage girls to engage
in commercial sex

The pimps "searched Facebook for

attractive young girls, and sent them
messages telling them that they were
pretty and asking if they would like to
make some money"

If a girl expressed interest, a gang

member would arrange to meet up. At
that point, participation stopped
being voluntary.

Messages provided by U.S. Department of

Justice. Visualization created by CNNMoney. http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/27/technology/social/pimps-social-networks/index.html
 Human Trafficking and Technology
Social Networking

Traffickers may pose as

any of the following on
social media:
Escort Service
Modeling Agency
Dancing Opportunity
Boyfriend
Friend

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/27/technology/social/pimps-social-networks/index.html
 Human Trafficking and Technology
“None of these new technologies are in and of themselves
harmful,” but for those criminals searching for means of
exploiting their victims, they provide “new, efficient, and
often anonymous” methods. (1)

• Prepaid Credit Cards Consider anonymity provided for:

• Prepaid Cell Phones 1. The person posting ads online
• No Age verification 2. The persons depicted in those ads
• No identify verification 3. The persons viewing those ads.

1) Mark Latonero, Human Trafficking Online: The Role of Social Networking Sites and Online Classifieds, 13 (2011)
The Trafficked Person
• Risk factors include:
Human Trafficking
reaches every culture and
demographic. Regardless
of their demographics,
victims are vulnerable in
some way, and the
traffickers will use their
particular vulnerability to
exploit the victim.
• Youth
• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Homelessness
• Family backgrounds of
violence, abuse, or conflict
• Runaways
• Immigration status
• A need to be loved
• No meaningful social
network
A Vulnerable Life Before Victimization*
• Of boys and girls recruited into commercial sex:
• 57% had been sexually abused as children (1)
• 49% had been physically assaulted (1)
• 85% were victims of incest as girls, and 90% had been physically
abused (2)
• Nearly half the participants in one study had been “molested or raped
as children or teenagers.” (3)

* These studies considered various forms of commercial sex, not only sex
trafficking. Due to the hidden nature of the crime, little research is available
strictly on trafficking. However, it should be noted that anyone used in commercial
sex who is under 18 or is being forced or coerced is a victim of trafficking.

1) Melissa Farley & Howard Barkan, Prostitution, Violence Against Women, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, 27 WOMEN & HEALTH 37-49 (1998), available at
http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/ProsViolPosttrauStress.html.
2) Hunter, S.K., Prostitution is Cruelty and Abuse to Women and Children, 1 MICH. J. GENDER & L. 1-14 (1993).
3) Jennifer K. Wesely, Growing up Sexualized: Issues of Power and Violence in the Lives of Female Exotic Dancers, 8 No. 10 Violence Against Women, 1182, 1192
(October, 2002).
Why don’t trafficked persons escape?
• Fear of being deported
• May be in danger if they try to leave
• Traffickers have strong psychological and physiological hold
on them
• Fear for the safety of their families
• Fear of the U.S. legal system
• May not be able to support themselves on their own

It is our responsibility to protect and assist people being

exploited.
Prevention
What are the next steps?
Why do I care?
• Human trafficking in in OUR community
and is GROWING.
• The AVERAGE age of entry into commercial
sex is 12-14 years old.
• We have failed to protect these children.
• They could be your daughter, your sister,
your brother, your friend.
What Can You Do?
• Commit to NOT participating in the commercial sex industry
• Sign the Pledge
• To not purchase or participate
• To hold friends accountable and demand their respect
• To take action on behalf of those vulnerable to sex trafficking

• Take part in creating cultural change

• Encourage education for youth on topics such as healthy relationships,
self-identity and life skills
• Support local organizations that serve victims of human trafficking
What Can You Do?
• Talk about it
• The direct connection between prostitution, lap dancing, and strip clubs
and missing and exploited children
• In interviews, Johns admit that they would be deterred from buying sex
if they were held criminally and socially accountable

• Speak out
• Don’t tolerate or use the lingo
• When prostitution is portrayed as a choice or “funny” in movies, talk
about the reality
• Don’t glorify the “pimp” culture
• Share the facts with others