​Human Trafficking

When does it become trafficking?

Trafficking occurs when the agency or pimp uses force, fraud, and/or coercion to maintain control over the escort and to cause the person to engage in commercial sex acts.  A victim under the age of 18 is considered a victim of sex trafficking regardless of the presence of force, fraud or coercion.  Common means of each of these are as list;

Force – Physical or sexual abuse, often in the form of repeated rapes by one or more people to create submission; confinement to the residence; restrictions on movement and communication to family and friends; frequent forced movement between cities.

Fraud – False promises of a better life through the trafficker presenting as a boyfriend or caretaker figure; false information about working conditions, payment, and whether commercial sex will be required; telling the victim that if he or she initially consented to be part of the escort service that he or she must continue to consent and is not a victim.

Coercion – Threats of harm to the victim or victim’s family; threats to shame the victim by revealing the commercial sex to his or her family and others in the community; verbal, psychological and emotional abuse; nightly quotas; confiscation of birth certificates and other identification documents; forced dependency on the pimp, agency or controller; exploitation of victims’ shame; rumors of or witnessed violence at hands of traffickers; cycle of rewards and punishments; convincing the victim that police/service providers will only see the victim as a prostitute and will arrest and not assist the victim; threats of deportation if victim is a foreign national.