How to Identify a Victim of Human Trafficking

Quick Guide to Victim Identification - Red Flags

There are some indicators which may raise a red flag that a person may be a victim of human trafficking. You may want to take a second look at situations where a person(s):

  • Appears to be under someone else's control. They appear to be under surveillance at all times. All or most contacts with family, friends, and professionals are controlled and monitored. They are rarely alone.

  • Are unable to move to a new location or leave their job.

  • Do not manage their own money or their money is largely controlled by someone else.

  • Are not in control of their own identification or travel documents.

  • Work excessive hours.

  • Are unpaid for their work or paid very little.

  • Live with multiple people in a very cramped space.

  • Live with their employer.

  • Have no English language skills or knowledge of the local community.

  • Appear to have little privacy or are rarely alone.

  • Appear to have visible injuries or scars, such as cuts, bruises, or burns. May have injuries around the head, face, and mouth from being struck in the head or face.

  • Have untreated illnesses or infections, particularly sexually transmitted diseases. May have general poor health and/or diseases associated with unsanitary living conditions.

  • Exhibit submissive behavior or fearful behavior in the presence of others.

  • Exhibit emotional distress such as depression, anxiety, manifestations of trauma, self-inflicted injuries or suicide attempts.

  • Engage in prostitution or living in a brothel.

  • Are sexually exploited in strip clubs, massage parlors, pornography.

  • Are under the age of 18, in prostitution, or hanging around adult entertainment businesses such as strip clubs, massage parlors, adult book/video stores, etc.

Health Characteristics of a Trafficked Person

  • Malnutrition, dehydration or poor personal hygiene;

  • Sexually transmitted diseases;

  • Signs of rape or sexual abuse;

  • Bruising, broken bones, or other signs of untreated medical problems;

  • Critical illnesses including diabetes, cancer or heart disease;

  • Post-traumatic stress or psychological disorders.

 

WHERE ARE YOU LIKELY TO FIND VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING?


SEX TRAFFICKING

Victims of sex trafficking are often found in the streets or working in establishments that offer commercial sex acts, e.g., brothels, strip clubs, pornography production houses. Such establishments may operate under the guise of:

  • Massage parlors

  • Escort services

  • Adult bookstores

  • Modeling studios

  • Bars/strip clubs

LABOR TRAFFICKING

People forced into indentured servitude can be found in:

  • Sweatshops (where abusive labor standards are present)

  • Commercial agricultural situations (fields, processing plants, canneries)

  • Domestic situations (maids, nannies)

  • Construction sites (particularly if public access is denied)

  • Restaurants

  • Custodial work

There are tell-tale signs when commercial establishments are holding people against their will. Visible Indicators May Include:

  • Heavy security at the commercial establishment including barred windows, locked doors, isolated location, electronic surveillance. Women are never seen leaving the premises unless escorted.

  • Victims live at the same premises as the brothel or work site or are driven between quarters and "work" by a guard. For labor trafficking, victims are often prohibited from leaving the work site, which may look like a guarded compound from the outside.

  • Victims are kept under surveillance when taken to a doctor, hospital or clinic for treatment; trafficker may act as a translator.

  • High foot traffic especially for brothels where there may be trafficked women, indicated often by a stream of men arriving and leaving the premises.
    Trafficking victims are kept in bondage through a combination of fear, intimidation, abuse, and psychological controls. While each victim will have a different experience, they share common threads that may signify a life of indentured servitude.

     

CHALLENGES IN IDENTYING VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

1. Trafficked persons tend not to ask for support due to:

  • Shame, embarrassment or stigma

  • Self-blame due to degradation and brainwashing process routinely used to control victims (this can result in an inability to view self as a victim)

  • Fear of retaliation or deportation

  • Isolation or lack of social support and connections

  • Learned helplessness

  • Lack of knowledge of available services

  • Lack of knowledge of victims' rights

  • Lack of trust

  • Language differences

  • Cultural differences

  • Feeling of indebtedness to traffickers

2. Trafficked persons also tend to have low levels of formal education and/or unique cultural backgrounds and:

  • Find it difficult to navigate the court system

  • May perceive law enforcement as threatening or unreliable.

3. Trafficked persons may be immigrants that:

  • Are trafficked within "closed" ethnic communities, which means that victims, traffickers and abusers (customers, johns) are of the same ethnicity

  • Are not aware of their rights and legal protections

  • Fear retribution from traffickers

  • Feel intimidated by a system that they believe seeks to punish the

4. There are specific cultural barriers to accessing victim cooperation:

  • Women from some cultures may be reluctant to seek assistance in cases of sexual abuse or violence

  • In some religions and cultures, women are taught to assume a "submissive" role to men

  • Violence from men may be tolerated and viewed as "normal" in some cultures

  • Victims may believe that it is "normal" for them to be beaten and enslaved since they are undocumented

  • Victims may risk social ostracizing and social stigmatization

  • Women may fear that relatives will discover their involvement in prostitution

  • Men from some cultures may be reluctant to admit that they have been victimized or felt afraid

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