If this is a trafficking emergency 911

THE PROBLEM

What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, harboring, providing or obtaining a person, by means of threat, force, or other forms of coercion, for the purpose of exploitation. Human trafficking does not require that a person be moved from one country to another; a person can be trafficked within their own country and/or home. It is considered modern day slavery. Age, race, ethnicity, and nationality are not factors when considering who can potentially become a victim.​

Types of Human Trafficking
Sex trafficking is defined as a traumatic form of human trafficking in which commercial sex is often induced by force, fraud, or coercion. Sex traffickers can control their victims by use of confinement, sexual or physical abuse, forced drug use, and even threats of violence or harm. The law does not require force, fraud, or coercion to be present if the person committing commercial sex acts is a minor under 18 years old.

Labor trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for labor or services through the use or force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or slavery.

What does a victim of human trafficking look like?
There is no particular age, gender, or nationality to become a victim. Human trafficking can happen to people of all ages, genders, races, and religious backgrounds. While victims of human trafficking are from all demographics, runaway youth are considered some of the most vulnerable for becoming a victim. Runaway youth are often lured from their home, shelters or public places by traffickers who try to befriend them.

Identifying a victim
While some victims are hidden behind locked doors, most victims are hidden in front of our eyes. For adults, evidence of force, fraud, or coercion must be present, but here are some indicators that a person may be in an unsafe situation:

  • Inability to speak to an individual while alone or conversation appears to be scripted or rehearsed
  • Submissive or fearful demeanor
  • Signs of physical, mental, or sexual abuse
  • Poor living conditions (e.g. living in cramped spaces with multiple people).
  • Employer is holding important documents such as passport, Visa, or identification card and refuses to give them to the owner
  • Work long hours with little or no pay
  • Appears malnourished
  • Someone being forced to engage in commercial sex while someone else makes a profit
  • Children that have sexual knowledge beyond what is appropriate for their age
  • Any child under the age of 18 that is performing commercial sex acts

Identifying a trafficker
A trafficker can be of any race, gender, ethnicity and age. A trafficker can live in any area of the world. Traffickers will often try to control their victims either by not allowing them to speak for themselves, or by holding their important documents.  Note that these are only indicators, not evidence; some cultures may present in this way without trafficking occurring.

Where does trafficking occur?
Trafficking can occur anywhere. Traffickers lure victims from in their home, public places, shelters, and most often social media. Traffickers sometimes initially befriend their victims in an attempt to develop the victim’s trust.

Statistics of Human Trafficking
It is very difficult to find accurate statistics because human trafficking is hard to prove and many victims do not outcry. That being said, here are some general estimates:

  • According to Polaris, who runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline Number, there were 10,359 reports of human trafficking reported for the year of 2021 in the United States. This included over 16,000 possible victims and survivors. The internet remained the number one form of recruitment and many victims were trafficked by someone they already knew (family member, intimate partner, or employer).  One of the top vulnerabilities in 2021 was recent migration or relocation.    
  • In Texas, many agencies are now using the Commercial Sexual Exploitation-Identification Tool (CSE-IT) and out of 84,000 screenings done since 2016, 12% showed a score of “Clear Concern” — a high probability that exploitation had occurred.

How to report suspected Human Trafficking
Contact 911 if you have a victim with you, or if there is immediate danger.
For other tips, please call these resources:
In Fort Worth, call the report line 817-392-4222
Elsewhere, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 1-888-373-7888