Educator And Student Trafficking Education Resource Network

Educational Curriculum
Protecting American Students from Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Instructor’s Guide

WARNING
The trafficking and sexual exploitation of young people is an extremely difficult issue dealing
with mature subject matters. This curriculum is designed for grade levels 8 – 12 and must be
delivered by an educator who has completed all the instructor requirements.

EASTERN Curriculum
P.O. Box 498
Old Saybrook, CT 06475 USA
860-339-5387
EASTERNCurriculum.com
 EASTERN
Educator And Student Trafficking Education Resource Network
Educational Curriculum
Protecting American Students from Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Instructor’s Guide

INDEX

- Overview
- Introduction
- Requirements for Instructors
- Beverly's Story
- Section One: The Law
- Section Two: Myth vs. Reality
- Section Three: The Girl is the New Drug
- Section Four: Challenges of Helping Underage Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation
- Section Five: Do We Really Have a Clear Understanding of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in
America?
- Section Six: Getting Involved in the Fight Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
- Section Seven: Other Forms of Human Trafficking
- Section Eight: EASTERN Level 1 Lesson Plans
- Section Nine: Red Flags
- Section Ten: Explaining Commercial Exploitation to Younger Children and Families
- Section Eleven: EASTERN Level 2 Lesson Plans
- Section Twelve: EASTERN Level 3 Suggested Student Activities
- Section Thirteen: EASTERN Level 3 Resources for Extended Study
- Section Fourteen: EASTERN Level 3 Dynamics of the Pimp and Victim
- Section Fifteen: Resources for Law Enforcement
- Section Sixteen: Standards of Holistic Care for Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation
- Section Seventeen: Residential Facilities for Underage Victims of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation, A Guide for Students Who Want to Help
- Section Eighteen: Instructors’ Guide for Young Men
- Section Nineteen: Article – “Authorities fear surge in human trafficking . . .”
 OVERVIEW

This curriculum is designed to help instructors understand the crime of Commercial Sexual Exploitation
(CSE) and guide them in communicating the issue to students.

Goals
The goal of this guide and curriculum is to teach students about the crime of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation thereby protecting them from the dangers of the crime.

Methodology
This curriculum utilizes several strategies for helping law enforcement officers communicate the dangers
of Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) to students in grades 8 - 12 and their families. Instructors will
use a mix of lecture, power point, audience participation, individual exercises, and group exercises.

Sensitivity to the issue of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America

This lesson plan presents information on human trafficking in order to facilitate a dialogue between high
school students from around the United States about human trafficking. This lesson plan also strives to
represent Commercial Sexual Exploitation as an issue that directly affects the United States and its
citizens. However, its main purpose is to protect young people – those in the Jr. High School and High
School age range – from the dangers of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America. While there are
other educational programs touching on this topic, EASTERN Curriculum is the only program specifically
developed to protect students in the United States from these pervasive crimes.
EASTERN Curriculum provides all the resources you need for this process to take place
effectively. Its success hinges on your level of leadership and preparation – which will ultimately lead to
a greater level of your students’ engagement.
Due to the very sensitive nature of this content, the instructor must be aware of possible
negative student and parent reactions. There is no way to diminish the often disquieting – even
disturbing – dynamics of how Commercial Sexual Exploitation of young people in America. In preparing
this curriculum, we have not attempted hide or smooth its rough edges in any way. Our young people
not only deserve to know the truth of the dangers facing them, they must know in order to provide for
their utmost safety.

Curriculum Materials
1. Instructor’s guide packet (this document)
2. Power Point presentation
 Level 1 - Introduction
 Level 2 - Extended Study
 Presentation to Law Enforcement
3. Power Point Narration Scripts
 Level 1 - Introduction
 Level 2 - Extended Study
 Law Enforcement notes are embedded into Power Point presentation
4. Quizzes for Levels 1 & 2
5. Level 3 Resources for Students who want an extended individual study
 List of possible activities
 List of resources
 INTRODUCTION

As a first responder, you play a critical role in communicating the dangers of Sex Trafficking to young
people in America.
Human trafficking, commonly referred to as “modern day slavery” is a global phenomenon that
involves obtaining or maintaining the labor or services of another through the use of force, fraud, or
coercion in violation of an individual’s human rights. Generating billions of dollars in profit each year,
human trafficking is one of the world’s fastest growing criminal activities, operating on the same scale as
the illegal trade of drugs and guns. Fueled by global economic conditions and the power and anonymity
of the internet - along with several other factors described in this curriculum - the market for and trade
of human beings continues to expand rapidly.
Human trafficking can and does happen anywhere, including and especially the United States. As
a law enforcement officer, you should be prepared for the potential of human trafficking in your
community. Trafficking networks are not limited to urban localities, as traffickers also seek the seclusion
of rural and remote areas to operate undetected. You are key to identifying and apprehending these
criminals.
But there is far more you can do. With this curriculum you can protect the young people of your
town from the dangers of this crime.
This guidebook and the EASTERN Curriculum provides you with the knowledge and tools to
effectively teach the topic of human trafficking, and more specifically Commercial Sexual Exploitation
(CSE), to students in grades 8 - 12.
In order to provide a widespread and complete understanding of these issues and to allow
students who are interested in exploring the topics further, the EASTERN Curriculum is offered at three
levels:

Level 1 consists of materials for an abbreviated, 90-minute course for students - and interested parents -
that serves as a primer for the overall topic of CSE. It provide students with the basic knowledge and
resources to protect themselves and those around them. This section may be necessary simply to make
parents and administrators comfortable with the idea of bringing this topic to students. This may also be
the most appropriate level for younger students.
After completing this ‘quick look’ into the topic of CSE in America, students will be able to:
 Define human trafficking and its subset: Commercial Sexual Exploitation
 Understand and describe examples of human trafficking
 Understand and describe CSE as it relates to teens and young adults:
o Dangers they face every day
o Dangers they face online
o Dangers pertaining to particular people or situations
 Understand and give answers to questions about common signs – “red flags” - of CSE
 Understand and be able to act responsibly if they notice any danger signs around them
 Understand why the crime of CSE is increasing in the United States and why it exists in their
community.
Level 2 provides a more in-depth course for students covering all forms of trafficking and CSE, its
relation to drugs, runaways, recruitment methods and ongoing tactics for coercion and control. This
eight, one-hour session course provides presentations, activities, discussions and assignments that will
enable students to be highly aware of CSE in America and what they can do to protect themselves, their
friends and community.

Level 3 is an individual study program that can be tailored to those students who want to go further into
addressing the topic of CSE. It provides them with areas of deeper study, along with ideas and plans for
community activities and awareness campaigns.

This extensive guidebook includes:

 The Requirements you need to meet in order to teach the EASTERN Curriculum
 Instructors Materials for Levels 1, 2, and 3
 Student Materials for Levels 1, 2, and 3
 Materials to effectively communicate the issue and dynamics of Commercial Sexual Exploitation
to other Law Enforcement Professionals.
 REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTRUCTORS

It is imperative that every instructor become keenly aware of the dynamics of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation and young people in America. To effectively communicate the issue and to protect your
students, EASTERN Curriculum can only be facilitated by those who have completed the following:

 Read and become easily familiar with all the materials for Instructors:
o This Guidebook
o Lesson Plans
o All three levels of the Student Materials
o All three Power Point Presentations (including rehearsal)
 Read the book, "The Berlin Turnpike: A True Story of Human Trafficking in America"
Available at TheBerlinTurnpike.com
 EASTERN

Educator And Student Trafficking Education Resource Network

Educational Curriculum
Protecting American Students from Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Instructor's Guidebook

The EASTERN Curriculum is designed to educate, equip and empower students on the dangers of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America. This curriculum is designed to empower students and help
protect them from this growing crime.
The ultimate goal of for students is meaningful action. It is best to motivate them to use what
they learn. That is why you, as their instructor, will be asking them some important questions, like: Now
that you know about how Sex Trafficking works in America and how it could affect your life, what can
you and your friends do about it?
First, it is important that you read this true account of one young woman from New England.
(Your Level 2 students will be reading this as well.) Her name is Beverly.

Beverly’s Story . . .
“I was 14 years old when a man made me sell myself. At that age, I was all about finding my own identity
and doing anything to go against my parents. So when a man came into my life and gave me a lot of
attention and listened to me when I complained about my parents, I didn’t care that he was ten years
older than me. He told me I was mature for my age and told me I understood him better than anyone
his own age. I didn’t know he was just trying soften me up by making me believe he loved me. I wanted
to believe him so much. And it didn’t matter what my parents said. They didn’t understand me. HE was
the only one who knew what I was thinking before I did. After six months, I thought I loved him, at least
that is what he told me, so I did what I thought my heart was telling me and ran away to be with him.
We ended up in Cleveland, Ohio. He told me we were going to meet the rest of his family.
I didn’t know his family meant myself and three other girls. After I was introduced to them I was
told what my role would be. I would go out to work that night and bring him back the money. He told
me that’s how we were going to build our dream home. He always told me he loved me no matter what,
but he needed to know how much I loved him by making sure I would do anything for him. So I did.
Later that evening, his friends came by the motel. At first, he told me to have sex with someone.
I didn’t want to. I really didn’t want to, so his friends raped me. After it happened he said it wouldn't
have happened if I had have just listened to him. So then I blamed myself for being raped instead of
being angry at him. I was angry at myself for not listening to him in the first place. After that, he picked
my clothes out, told me what to wear, what to say, how to walk, what to say to "johns" and how much
money I was to bring back to him. Finally, he took pictures of me and put me on some websites where
people could see me and make arrangements for “dates” with me.
While that was all happening he said I had to get trained first so he sent me out to walk on the
streets. I walked around the streets back and forth for hours. Finally, I got into a car because we were
always being watched and I knew I had to get into a car sooner or later. Our quota was $500 and I had
only made $50 that night to give back to the pimp. He was mad I didn’t bring enough money to him. He
beat me up in front of the other girls to make an example out of me and then he made me go back out
until I had made the money. This was the same man who had taken me out to eat and was romantic just
a few days ago. He had listened to me when I wanted to complain about my parents and gave me words
of advice. I was now seeing a side of him that I never saw before - a brutal side where he repeatedly hit
me in front of the other girls to teach us all a lesson.
I was shocked. I was scared. What would happen to me if I tried to leave? Who would believe
me if I told them what was going on? I worked from 6 until 10 p.m. the next night without eating or
sleeping. I came back with the $500, but in his mind I still had not learned my lesson. He sent me back
outside until 5 a.m. the next morning. After the second day, he finally bought me something to eat. But
as a punishment to learn never to defy him again, he locked me in the closet. Since that night, I was
locked in the closet a bunch of times. He broke my finer, which never set right. None of us were ever
allowed to see a doctor so we just took our pain by pushing it deep down inside and trying to forget it
ever happened. I think teenage girls are good at that.
I can't count the number of times people have asked me "Why didn't you just leave?" "Couldn't
you escape?" I want to yell at them and say, "Do you ask a child who is kidnapped why they didn't try to
leave?" No! We all know they are a victim. It wasn't their fault. Now, after all this time, I know it wasn’t
my fault that a pimp manipulated a child.”

------------------------------------------------

“When they hear the term “child trafficking,” most Americans think that it only happens
somewhere else, in Southeast Asia or Central America. Even if they acknowledge that
this crime happens in the United States, they assume the victims are foreign children
brought into this country who are trafficked only in large cities. In fact, we have learned that most of the
victims of domestic minor sex trafficking are American kids who initially leave home voluntarily and are
being trafficked on Main Street USA. One police commander said to me, “the only way not to find this
problem in any community is simply not to look for it.” The good news is that America has begun to
look. The bad news is that we have barely scratched the surface.”
Ernie Allen
President and CEO
National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
 Section One
The Law

Depending on the political climates, health issues, religious fervor and, in no small way, the
level of corruption of the day, the buying and selling of sex in the United States has historically run the
gamut from being illegal to regulated, tolerated, legalized, glorified, promoted, forbidden, deregulated,
and back again to every conceivable type of acceptance and rejection.
The attitudes toward prostitution ― and what has been called “trafficking” for more than a
hundred years ― have shifted dramatically over time. The only constant America has demonstrated
pertaining to the sex-for-sale business is the cyclical nature of its attitudes toward those involved.
More recently, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA ― formally the Victims of
Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000) defines the crime of, “trafficking in persons,” as “sex
trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person
induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age”; or “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.”
For clarification, the US Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and delinquency Prevention
defines the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children as “Crimes of a sexual nature committed against
youthful victims (younger than 18 years old) primarily or entirely for financial or economic reasons.
These crimes include, for example, trafficking for sexual purposes, prostitution, sex tourism, mail-order-
bride trade and early marriage, pornography, stripping, and sexual performances.”
Very simply,
 It does not matter if a victim once consented to work for their trafficker;
 It does not matter if the victim returned to their trafficker after he or she was freed;
 It does not matter if the victim’s enslavement was through chains of mental dependency
or psychological manipulation as opposed to being physically locked up;
 It does not matter if their trafficker was at times nice to them or gave them presents or if they
veered between feelings of love and fear for their pimp. If that adult was held for labor or sex through
force, fraud, or coercion, they’re a trafficking victim. In the case of minors in sex trafficking, there is no
requirement to show force, fraud, or coercion. No child can consent to being sold into commercial sex. If
a pimp used a child for commercial sex that child should be treated as a victim, not a criminal. Frankly
that’s all that matters.
Along with common sense this latter section of TVPA should have, but has not yet, led to the
demise of the term “child prostitute” which is used frequently by the media, anti-trafficking advocates,
law enforcement, and legislators. The law clearly gives young people involved in commercial sex acts the
legal status of victims rather than perpetrators.
The Los Angeles Times, in an article describing services for young victims of trafficking, described
“New York-based Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, founded in 1999 by a former child
prostitute.” The founder to whom they referred was Rachel Lloyd, who was victimized as an adolescent
and began one of the first and finest trafficking victim restoration organizations in America. "These
terms are completely offensive and irresponsible, and reinforce the fantasy that these girls choose to be
out there,” Lloyd explains. “For underage girls, who are forced, misled, beaten, and abused into these
situations, it is not a matter of choice. To be more accurate, these girls are victims of commercial sexual
exploitation (CSE) and domestic trafficking. News coverage must stop using terms like “prostitute” or
“teen hooker” to describe girls and young women who are experiencing commercial sexual exploitation
and domestic trafficking.”
Since it was first established in 2000, TVPA was refined and reauthorized in 2003, 2005, and
2008. Certainly, it will undergo further changes in the future. However, it is by no means the first federal
law to address prostitution in the United States. The Page Act of 1875 outlawed women being brought
into America by "obnoxious persons" for prostitution. Brothels were becoming more common during
this period. Demand for women to work as prostitutes was high, but domestic supply was often limited.
Criminal elements ― usually ethnic based gangs ― were increasingly importing women from oversees
to work in expanding urban areas in the states. The Page Act sought to curb this activity.
The Mann Act of 1910 was enacted out of early 20th century panic over “white-slavery” within
the changing cultures of growing American cities. The law provided a broad legal scope making the
"transportation ...for immoral purposes of women and girls, and for other purposes," illegal. The law
was often used as a catchall for political enemies and as a tool in the practice of racial inequality.
Later, the 1913 Supreme Court ruling in Hoke vs. United States, which challenged the Mann Act
on grounds it violated the Tenth Amendment (the guarantee of State's rights), held that Congress could
not regulate prostitution per se, as the activity was strictly the province of the states. However, the
decision upheld the Mann Act citing that Congress could regulate interstate travel for purposes of
prostitution or “immoral purposes."
Since that time there have also been international efforts to end human trafficking and slavery
of all kinds, the most notable of which is the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
“adopted and proclaimed” on December 10, 1948. Among its articles the Declaration states
unequivocally that, "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. No one shall be held in
slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. No one shall be
subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
In 2000, while TVPA was becoming law in America, the United Nations was establishing what
became known as The Palermo Protocol, or officially titled, The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children. The rule, meant to instill cooperation in
fighting trafficking among diverse nations of the world, defined "trafficking in persons" as "the
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of
force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a
position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a
person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at
a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced
labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs." It further
declared that "The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth
shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth have been used." The Palermo Protocol also
prohibited signing nations ― nearly 1 signing on as of 2010 ― from "the trafficking of children (which
is defined as being a person under 18 years of age) for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation of
children (CSEC), exploitative labour practices or the removal of body parts." The Protocol went into
effect on December 25, 2003.
In the United States, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 reflected the victim-centered
approach of the Palermo Protocol. Its provisions called for:
 Preventing trafficking through the creation of an Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking
within the State Department, which must report on and rank all nations (including the US as of 2010) in
their efforts ― or lack thereof ― to combat trafficking. The President has the power to impose sanctions
on non-compliant nations, though it is not mandatory. It also created public awareness and information
programs, international economic development programs to assist victims, and a federal task force
charged with implementing TVPA.

 Protection and assistance to foreign victims of trafficking through eligibility in the Witness
Protection Program and other benefits similar to those afforded to refugees, such as education, health
care, job training, counseling, and other assistance programs. Protection was also provided by the
establishment of the T Visa; thereby allowing trafficking victims to become temporary U.S. residents and
eligible for permanent residency after three years.
 Prosecution of traffickers by making the activity, as defined by the law, a federal crime with far
more serious penalties than those carried by state or local prostitution laws. Even attempts to engage in
trafficking is criminal. And evidence to the victim centered approach of the law is found in its mandate
that restitution be paid to victims (18 U.S.C. § 1593).
The 2003 Reauthorization (TVPRA) called for creating a budget of $200 million to fight trafficking
between 2003 and 2005. It further required the US government to end contracts with contractors who
engage in sex trafficking, prostitution, or forced labor. And it allowed an easier legal path for victims to
sue their traffickers.
The 2005 TVPRA called for more than $300 million to fight trafficking for a two year period. It
also recognized domestic victims by authorizing new programs for US citizen victims of domestic
trafficking. It addressed the issue of sex tourism through further criminalization and prevention
programs, including offenses committed by US government personnel and contractors while overseas.
The 2008 TVPRA called for the expansion of federal criminal jurisdiction to US citizens who
commit human trafficking crimes overseas.
It significantly expanded the crime of sex trafficking by removing the "knowledge-of-age
requirement" involving underage victims. Previously, the accused trafficker could proclaim innocence
simply because he was not aware the victim was under the age of 18. In response to previous attempt to
prosecute traffickers in specific cases, the 2008 provision modified the law so that the trafficker could be
found guilty whether or not he was aware of the victim's age. It also lowered the legal standard of proof
to “reckless disregard” of the use of force, fraud, or coercion in causing a person to engage in
commercial sex.
Realizing the federal government had defined trafficking in such a way as to render impossible
by sheer volume the prosecution of all crimes within its sole jurisdiction, TVPRA 2008 also bound the
Department of Justice to create a model state law which could be adopted by individual states in order
to more effectively investigate and prosecute human trafficking violations at the their level and within
their individual borders.
Going further than its two previous reauthorizations, TVPRA 2008 required the formation of an
integrated database to collect and utilize human trafficking data from all federal agencies. It also
provided assistance to unaccompanied alien children through the assumption that they may be human
trafficking victims while providing for new services to US citizen trafficking victims.
While America was making progress, the 2010 Trafficking In Persons Report (TIP), submitted
annually by the US Department of State according to TVPA decree, stated emphatically, "More U.S.
citizens, both adult and children, are found in sex trafficking than labor trafficking; U.S. citizen child
victims are often runaway and homeless youth," while clarifying that, "more foreign victims are found in
labor trafficking than sex trafficking." It also recommended that the US should, "offer advanced training
to more federal agents and Assistant U.S. Attorneys with greater depth and frequency on the
complexities of trafficking victim protection and proper identification, investigation, and prosecution of
human trafficking cases."
Review - Human Trafficking is:

Process + Way/Means + Goal

Recruitment Threat Prostitution

or or or
Transportation Coercion Pornography
or or or
Transferring Abduction Violence/Sexual Exploitation
or or or
Harboring A Fraud A Forced Labor
or N or N or
Receiving D Deceit D Involuntary Servitude
or or
Deception Debt Bondage
or (with unfair wages)
Abuse of Power or
Slavery/Similar practices

If one condition from each category is met, the result is trafficking. For adults, victim
consent is irrelevant if one of the Means is employed. For children consent is irrelevant with or
without the Means category.
Trafficking is not migrant smuggling. Smuggling is a voluntary activity where a person pays someone
else to help them illegally cross the border. It always involves crossing national borders. Trafficking is
an involuntary, forced exploitation for labor or services that does not necessarily involve crossing of
national borders. The key difference is the persons freedom of choice. Smuggling may turn into
trafficking if the smuggler sells the person into servitude or requires them to work to pay off the
smugglers fee. When the nature changes such that the person is being exploited for labor and denied
their freedom, the crime is trafficking. In the United States, once a person has been exploited and
becomes a victim of trafficking, their status as a trafficking victim supersedes any smuggling or
immigration questions and affords them legal protection and social services.

Trafficking
Consent Trafficking victims have
neither consented or, if
they initially consented,
that consent has been
rendered meaningless by
coercive, forceful, or
fraudulent actions by the
traffickers
Exploitation Trafficking involves
ongoing exploitation of
the victim
Transnationality Trafficking can occur
regardless of whether
victims are taken to
another State or country
Smuggling
Smuggling is a
consensual activity –
even if conditions are
dangerous or degrading
Smuggling ends with the
migrants’ arrival at their
destination
Smuggling is always
transnational – involving
crossing national borders

Trafficking is not prostitution. Prostitution is one of the many ways that trafficking may
manifest itself on the surface, but a close look will reveal important differences, namely the willingness
of the victim. Identifying the victim as a prostitute not only victimizes her further by attaching criminal
labels to something she had no control over, it also deflects attention from the true criminal - the
trafficker.

Trafficking is not confined to immigrants and aliens. A common misperception is that trafficking
only involves immigrants and aliens. This is not true – trafficking of domestic victims is a very real
problem.

------------------------------------------------
 Section Two
Myth vs. Reality

This section identifies common myths about trafficking that bias and therefore hinder people’s
perceptions of the crime and the victims. The purpose is to make law enforcement officers aware of
these myths so that they may correct any misperceptions they hold, and better address such beliefs in
their community.
The multidimensional nature of human trafficking lends itself to numerous myths and
misconceptions that law enforcement officials should be aware of for purposes of identifying and
investigating the crime, as well as for purposes of outreach and community education on the issue.

A. Trafficking victims must be foreign
nationals or illegal aliens
B. Trafficking requires transportation across
state or national borders
C. If victims can consent to prostitution
before the coercion or are paid then it is not
trafficking in persons
D. All Prostitutes are willing participants
E. All immigrants are smuggled into the U.S.
willingly
F. Trafficking is a crime prosecuted only at
the federal level
G. All participants involved in Human
Trafficking are criminals
 The victim knew what they were getting
in to
 The victim committed unlawful acts
 The victim was paid for services
 The victim had freedom of movement
 There were opportunities to escape but
the victim didn't
 US citizens can't be trafficked
 The traffickers actions are culturally
appropriate
 It can't be trafficking when the victim
and the trafficker are related or married
 I can conclude this isn't trafficking
without doing interviewing

The most important thing to remember is that persons who are forced, defrauded, or coerced
into prostitution, other sex work, or labor are victims and not criminals. They did not consent to being
exploited nor did they engage in criminal activity such as prostitution of their own volition. Even
immigrants who are in the United States illegally and are being exploited through force, fraud, or
coercion are victims, regardless of whether they were trafficked into the United States or smuggled in
and subsequently forced, defrauded, or coerced into exploitative work.
It is essential to dispel the commonly held myths surrounding human trafficking and, more
specifically, commercial sexual exploitation. So ingrained are these misconceptions that the facts of any
given human trafficking situation are often questioned because they do not fit into preconceived
notions. Perhaps it is simply easier to move along with the common thinking of the masses rather than
dispose of the obfuscation surrounding trafficking. “Some myths addressed here may prove resistant to
debunking,” writes Joseph Campbell, author of Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported
Stories in American Journalism. “They may still be widely believed despite the contrary evidence
marshaled against them.”
Myth Number One: Slavery ended.
The first is a broad myth commonly held to be true by most citizens of the world: Slavery ended. It
didn't. Certainly legal slavery has ended around the world and has been denounced by the United
Nations since 1948, but the enslavement of people has never gone away. In fact, slavery ― one person
holding another in bondage for their personal gain ― may be more in practice today than at any point in
human history.
In June 2010, actress and human rights advocate Emma Thompson told an audience in New York
City that, “It is not ‘over there.’ You have a huge number of people in this city who are slaves, who are
being forced to perform sexual acts with 30 people a day, and not being paid; and not being properly
fed, but who are being traumatized to within an inch of their lives. People do not know about this trade.
They do not understand what it is. They think that girls have chosen it and it is just one of those
prostitution rings. They think about it the same way they think about selling drugs. They do not
understand that these persons have not chosen this."
"Elementary students across America are taught that slavery ended in the 19th Century. But,
sadly, nearly 1 years later, the fight to end this global scourge is far from over," declared US Secretary of
State, Hillary Rodham Clinton in November 2010. "Today it takes a different form and we call it by a
different name ― "human trafficking" ― but it is still an affront to basic human dignity in the United
States and around the world. I have seen firsthand the suffering that human trafficking causes. Not only
does it result in injury and abuse ― it also takes away its victims' power to control their own destinies."
On January 4, 2010 President Barack Obama proclaimed, "The United States was founded on the
principle that all people are born with an unalienable right to freedom ― an ideal that has driven the
engine of American progress throughout our history. As a Nation, we have known moments of great
darkness and greater light; and dim years of chattel slavery illuminated and brought to an end by
President Lincoln's actions and a painful Civil War. Yet even today, the darkness and inhumanity of
enslavement exists. Millions of people worldwide are held in compelled service, as well as thousands
within the United States."

Myth Number Two: Trafficking occurs mostly in other countries, rarely in America.
The truth is that human trafficking has the potential to occur in every community in America. “This is a
crime that does not respect borders and jurisdictions” said Nicholas Sensley, Chief of Police in Truckee,
California. According to the US State Department's 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, "The United
States recognizes that, like other countries, it has a serious problem with human trafficking.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney said emphatically, "too many think that sex trafficking is only a
problem in foreign countries. But here in the U.S. underage girls ― most of them American citizens ―
are exploited through commercial sex each year. This is simply unacceptable. We have a moral
obligation to help; these are America's daughters, granddaughters, sisters, and nieces."

Myth Number Three: Most victims in America are from other countries.
“There is no reason to believe that any set of men would go to the risk and expense of getting
foreign products, when American conditions are over flooding the market with thousands of girls,”
wrote activist Emma Goldman in 1911. The same logic held true a century later.
Again, Ernie Allen, President and CEO of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(NCMEC), has observed the same truth, saying that trafficking "is happening on Main Street USA, and
that most of the victims are American kids who initially leave home voluntarily." And while many
foreign-born victims are abused and trafficking laws and enforcement are predicated on the false
assumption that victims are from other countries, the truth is that most are from the United States.
Yes, transnational criminals do bring in young women and girls from Asia, Eastern Europe, and certainly
across the nation's southern border. However, most pimps are local and not necessarily tied to
organized crime. They are looking for the most efficient ways to do business, That means staying close
to the turf they know; using girls who speak the language and understand the culture. By doing so, both
pimp and victim can blend in more easily and remain safely hidden from undue suspicion.

Myth Number Four: Trafficking occurs only in cities where minority victims from poor backgrounds are
found.
As Ernie Allen sees it, “Commercial sexual exploitation knows no biases.” Many victims are from
suburban or rural areas. Many, if not most, are NOT minorities. Not all come from economic hardship.
Apparently, human nature does not pay attention to geography, genealogy, bank accounts,
religion, or ethnicity. Likewise, pimps don't care where a girl comes from. He only cares how much
money she will generate for him. And since they know vulnerable girls live everywhere in America, CSE
occurs in cities, suburbs, and rural settings. Furthermore, its victims come from every ethnic and
socioeconomic background.

Myth Number Five: To be considered trafficking, victims must be taken from one place to another;
across national borders, or across state lines.
While it often involves movement, trafficking does not require transporting or moving people to be
considered a crime.
Perhaps human trafficking is a misnomer. The phrase clearly implies movement. It is no wonder
that law enforcement, law makers, and the public hold the common ― and valid ― misconception that
human trafficking involves movement, or the transporting of victims across state lines or international
borders. It does not. The test of force, fraud, or coercion, or the ages of the victim are the primary legal
tests in determining whether a trafficking crime has been committed. While there are laws that take the
transportation of victims into consideration, including TVPA, it is not a requirement. "Many people hear
the word 'trafficking' and associate it with transportation," said Congresswoman Maloney. "But under
current law, transportation is not required for a criminal conviction for human trafficking. While an act
of human trafficking can include transporting victims, in the criminal justice system, the 'trafficking of
persons' federal law is understood more like involuntary servitude and/or the buying or selling of human
beings.", there is movement of CSE victims into and across America. However, this movement by
traffickers, who realize the advantage of keeping their “product” close to “customers,” does not in itself
define the crime as trafficking.
In trying to explain that trafficking has absolutely nothing to do with taking or smuggling victims
from one place to another, Detective Tyson Elliot from Alachua County, Florida explained, “To have
someone who is being psychologically manipulated or coerced or physically threatened or forced into
doing some type of action that they don’t want to do,” is trafficking.

Myth Number Six: This is a victimless crime because most young women are prostitutes by choice and
they make a lot of money.
Essentially, this entire course of study addresses this myth. In brief, if a pimp is involved in an act of
commercial sexual exploitation, force, fraud, or coercion will eventually be used. They are not paid
because they are victims of human trafficking. Therefore many of them do not have a choice or believe
they have choice. They are led to believe that this is the purpose of their life; that they cannot survive
without their pimp; and that harm will come to them should they attempt to leave. Preying on their
vulnerabilities, the misogynist pimp convinces the women under his control that rape is normal and to
be expected.
Having experienced this abuse, one victim who shared her story with me, Simone, said, "When
you’re younger, you have dreams of something you want to be. And nobody ever dreams of being a
prostitute. There’s no way these women can feel okay with it; every day, every night. These girls have no
idea what it will do to you. And once you’re in it, it’s almost impossible to get out. It’s almost impossible
because you lose your self-esteem. You think you can never be anything else. You think that’s all you’re
good for."

Myth Number Seven: Victims are kidnapped.

While kidnapping for CSE does occur ― and makes the best headlines ― this is not the typical scenario.
Pimps/traffickers do everything possible to remain invisible. To kidnap a girl and have the entire nation
notified through an Amber Alert would not be a smart way of doing business. It is far easier to recruit or
coerce victims; even romance and seduce them. The pimp understands his best target has an extremely
low self-esteem. Her self-worth is damaged or nonexistent. He is fully aware that she has never heard
someone tell her she is special; at least not enough so that she believes it. She is easily beguiled. He
knows the power of convincing her that, "I can love you. I can give you everything you want." These are
words she has been waiting to hear all her life. She wants to believe they are true and will do almost
anything to remain convinced that they are; including anything he tells her to do.
Pimps are skilled at seduction and are on the lookout for vulnerable girls. Such girls are the ones
with lower self-esteem, with family and/or peer problems, and that appear shy and submissive. Once
spotted, pimps employ strategies not unlike methods used to recondition soldiers in prison camps: a
honeymoon period of "wooing" occurs, with pimps' spending money on the girl, taking her to nightclubs
and other "sophisticated" parties, making the girl fall madly in love with him.
Next comes the part where he starts isolation tactics, pulling her away from family and friends -
creating a rift between them and her. Then he employs tactics of fear - usually fear that she will lose him
or displease him, and sometimes even fear of physical violence to her and to her family. To keep his
approval she will likely turn a few tricks like he asks, and thus receive lavish praise from him.
At this point his work becomes relatively easy, as her behavior of turning tricks will severely
damage her fragile self-esteem and she will begin to see herself as a "whore" or "hooker". She quickly
becomes convinced that she is worthless, and is utterly grateful that her boyfriend, now pimp, even
wants to be around her. She will willingly hand over all of her money, and put up with violence and
abuse just to keep in relationship with him.
Young girls and women that are trafficked into the sex trade have different stories, but the end
result is the same: the dehumanization and victimization of those helpless to change their
circumstances.
The most effective method for controlling a victim is to create in her a desire to stay. She must
want or feel a need to remain loyal to her pimp. The “relationship” he establishes with the girl,
combined with constant fear and the careful administration of drugs, creates an addiction like attraction
to the pimp. She comes to believe she must remain with him, obey him, satisfy him, and pay him.
While this type of “ride or die” loyalty takes a certain vulnerability in a women and a man willing
to exploit it to the extreme, it will not likely occur through kidnapping. It simply isn't necessary. In 2008
Corey Davis, a brutal pimp who called himself "Magnificent," was convicted of human trafficking charges
in Bridgeport, Connecticut. While an active pimp, he gave prospective girls a business card that asked,
"Do You Know What You're Worth?" He would then tell each girl the extraordinary amount of money
she could be make working with him. They quickly came to believe him simply because he proclaimed it
so strongly ― then proceeded to prove it. Like other pimps, he recognized a void in a young girl and was
skilled at filling it.
The media, seeking a way to heighten the sensational aspects of trafficking while oversimplifying
the issue to the point of inaccuracy, often reports the recruitment of CSE victims as kidnapping.
“Officials say popular sites for teen trafficking include Craigslist and Backpage.com. Children are
abducted by pimps and then forced into the sex trade online,” is typical of the headlines promoting the
myth that trafficking begins with kidnapping. The inevitable barrage of news stories surrounding rare
kidnapping/trafficking cases no doubt magnifies the perception of its frequency.
Another long-standing warning propagated by the media is alerting young women to beware of
places they most often visit and socialize. "Malls are major child prostitution recruiting grounds," was
the headline of a Seattle news report in 2010, which warned parents, "food courts and back hallways
near restrooms are especially popular places for grooming to start."
One hundred years earlier it was movie theatres, shops, and dance halls. In the first few years of
the 20th century, "young women were warned that 'cadets' recruiting for the vice trade lurked
everywhere in US cities and were ready to snatch victims at every opportunity," according to historian
Shelley Stamp Lindsey.
Often, new victims are often introduced by friends or someone they know. A trafficker knows
his best source for finding new girls is the girls he already has; coaxing them to get friends, relatives, any
other girls they know who might be equally vulnerable.
Of course, there are other common methods of induction, especially in cases involving children
and their families. In March 2003 three-term Waterbury, Connecticut Mayor, and ex-Marine, Philip
Giordano were convicted in Federal Court of violating the civil rights of two young girls. While
investigating corruption in that city, the FBI discovered communications between Mayor Giordano and a
local woman who was known to be a prostitute. Thinking they had uncovered yet another politician
paying for sex, the agents soon realized the woman had agreed to take money from Giordano in
exchange for arranging him to receive oral sex from her eight-year-old daughter and 10-year-old niece.
"This case is the worst I've ever seen," said presiding Judge Alan Nevas during Giordano's sentencing.
Speaking directly to the former Mayor, the Judge referred to the girls saying, "You preyed upon them,
and you destroyed their innocence to satisfy your own sexual desires.'' He then sentenced Giordano to
37 years in Federal Prison. He is scheduled to be released from the US Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois in
2033.
The mother and aunt of the two girls, often referred as a "crack-addicted prostitute," was
sentenced to 10 years.
Relatives, friends, boyfriends, neighbors, acquaintances; all near enough, and perhaps trusted
enough, by victims to simply sell them into CSE. No one reports them missing. No one looks for them.
No one knows their pimps are the people closest to them.
The phenomena of this betrayal was explained by Francey Hakes, the National Coordinator for
Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction within the US Department of Justice, “American children
are recruited by pimps and madams from all socioeconomic backgrounds and all races. They become
victims often because of abandonment, abuse, or unhappiness. The children targeted by pimps and
madams typically are runaways, throwaways, or victims of physical or sexual abuse. These vulnerable
children are promised stability, love, attention and a home, but find themselves forced into prostitution
instead. American pimps and madams can recruit children for nearly nothing, and can easily replace one
child with another. They seem to have little fear of law enforcement, confident in their ability to keep
their victims from cooperating against them. And, sadly, these pimps and madams are confident that
they have customers willing to pay to sexually assault these children.”
There is no need to kidnap victims when mothers are willing to give their children away.

------------------------------------------------
"If you want something to stop you have to do something to make it stop. You can’t just sit here and
expect it to go away. It’s gonna grow and it’s gonna get worse. When I was out on the streets of
Waterbury, it was mostly older women. Now there’s girls, like, little girls. You ask the question, ‘Where’s
their mother?’ Their mother is out there trickin’ too. How did not one generation, but two generations,
three generations go that badly wrong?"
Danita
Victim of commercial sexual exploitation on the streets of Waterbury, Connecticut

------------------------------------------------

Myth Number Eight: Human Trafficking in America is new.

"I've read hundreds of medical books, and I've had thousands of cases in real life which have taught me
more than my medical books. What I've learned has not made me any happier, either. Knowledge
doesn't bring you peace of mind on a subject like this. It shows you how much greed and wickedness
and misery there are in the world."
"But, doctor, do you think this white slave traffic is a new development? We've only heard about it for
the last two or three years, haven't we?"
The physician nodded.
"Yes, but it's been there in one form or another. It caused the ruin of the Roman Empire; it brought the
downfall of mediaeval Europe, and whenever a splendid civilization springs up the curse of sex bondage
in one form or another grows with it like a cancer."
"But medicine is learning to cure the cancer. Can't it help cure this?"
"We are getting near the cure for cancer, maybe near the cure for this cancer as well. But this latest
development—organized capture of ignorant, weak, pretty girls, to be held in slavery by one man or by
a band of men, is comparatively a new thing in America.”
From the 1914 book - Traffic In Souls

Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America is not new. However, it is being proclaimed as new
by those who conveniently ignore history. Reports of non-slavery related CSE go back to at least to 1834.
That year, the “New York Moral Reform Society” began to address the rising problem of male
“licentiousness and its destructive effect on women.” Cities in America were growing rapidly. Young
men and women were leaving their families in rural areas to find work and homes in new urban centers.
“The Moral Reformers were alarmed,” writes Patricia Cline Cohen in her book, A Calculating People: The
Spread of Numeracy in Early America. “One way they chose to communicate that alarm was through
statistics.” In a publication distributed widely by them in the mid-1830s, the Reformers stated
emphatically that in America “there were as many as 12,000 brothels, 75,000 to 120,000 ‘harlots,’
500,000 licentious wicked men, and shops selling ‘evil books, pictures, and the paraphernalia of
destruction.’” They also claimed that 20,000 women died each year “as a result of prostitution.”
Indeed, The dynamics of young women being victimized by commercial sexual exploitation in
the United States have remained unchanged for at least 170 years.
A close examination of young girls being sold for sex was written by Richard Henry Dana, Jr. in 1843. The
similarities in his first-hand account to contemporary living conditions, prices paid, the abuse taking
place in close proximity to wealth and prosperity, where they come from, and the depths of their mental
and physical captivity are striking. Dana could easily be describing a tour of any such American area in
modern times.
Born in 1815, Richard Dana belonged to one of New England’s most prominent families. A
champion of the downtrodden from sailors to slaves, Dana was a graduate of Harvard, an attorney, and
author of the book, Two Years Before the Mast. In 1840 Dana began a detailed, daily journal of his life,
thereby providing a rare insight into many aspects of mid-19th century America.
On Wednesday, January 4, 1843, he writes of a stroll he took down Broadway in New York City and his
sudden curiosity to visit an area called Five Points; at the time, New York’s red light district.
“Following Anthony Street down, I came upon the neighborhood. It was about half past 10, and
the night was cloudy. The buildings were ruinous for the most part, as well as I could judge, and the
streets and sidewalks muddy and ill lighted. Several of the houses had wooden shutters well closed, and,
in almost every such case, I found by stopping and listening that there were many voices in the rooms
and sometimes the sound of music and dancing.
“At one door, removed from sight and in an obscure place where no one seemed in sight, two
women were sitting, one apparently old, probably the ‘mother’ of the house, and the other rather
young, as well as I could judge from her voice and face. They invited me to walk in and just say a word to
them.
“I had a strong inclination to see the interior of such a house as they must live in, and finding
that the room was lighted and seeing no men there and no signs of noise or company, I stopped in
almost before I knew what I was doing.
“The room had but little furniture, a sanded floor, one lamp, and a small bar on which were a
few glasses, a decanter, and behind the bar were two half barrels. The old woman did not speak, but
kept her seat in the door way. The younger one, after letting me look round a moment, asked me in a
whisper and a very insinuating air, putting on as winning a smile as she could raise, and with the
affectation of a simple childish way, to ‘just step into the bedroom: it was only the next room.’
“The bedroom was very small, being a mere closet, with one bed and one chair in it, the door
through which we came, and a window. There was no light in it, but it was dimly lighted by a single pane
of glass over the door through which the light came from the adjoining room, in which we had been. The
bedstead was a wretched truck, and the bed was of straw, judging from the sound it made when the
woman sat upon it.
“Taking for granted that I wished to use her for the purposes of her calling she asked me how
much I would give. I said ‘What do you ask?’ She hesitated a moment, and then answered hesitatingly,
and evidently ready to lower her price if necessary, ‘half a dollar?’ I was astonished at the mere pittance
for which she would sell her wretched, worn out, prostituted body. I can hardly tell the disgust and pity I
felt. I told her at once that I had no object but curiosity in coming into the house, yet gave her the
money from fear lest, getting nothing, she might make a difficulty or try to have me plundered. She took
the money and thanked me, but expressed no surprise at my curiosity or strangeness.
“As I retrod the ground very nearly the same scenes presented themselves; and I observed that
there were a great many girls of from 8 or 10 to 12 or 14 years of age in the street and going in and out
of the houses. The greater part of the women in this course of life are victims of seduction, from other
places, and from respectable situations in life, who come or are enticed by cunning to the city; yet it
seems there are some who are bred up to vice from out of its midst.
“From these dark, filthy, violent and degraded regions, I passed into Broadway, where were
lighted carriages with footmen, numerous well-dressed passersby, cheerful light coming from behind
curtained parlor windows, where were happy, affectionate and virtuous people connected by the ties of
blood and friendship and enjoying the charities and honors of life. What mighty differences, what awful
separations, wide as that of the great gulf and lasting for eternity, do what seem to be the merest
chances place between human beings of the same flesh and blood.”
 From the final closing of its “landed” frontier in 1890 until the end of fighting in World War I in
November 1918, America had evolved into an entirely different nation. Every aspect of life and culture
was changing at an unprecedented pace. During the Elliot Spitzer prostitution scandal of 2008, National
Public Radio gave a historical overview of national laws governing the practice beginning at the turn of
the 20th century saying, “the old order of rural, largely male-dominated America began to fade. New
technologies, such as the typewriter, allowed many women to support themselves financially for the
first time, and many flocked to the cities. The modern notion of dating was born. With these changes
came concerns about the country’s moral underpinnings.”
In fact, many were overwhelmed by the influence and rapid increase of industrialization,
urbanization, immigration, communication, and transportation. During this Progressive Era, as Connelly
notes, “the United States was transformed from a predominantly rural-minded, decentralized,
principally Anglo-Saxon, production-oriented, and morally absolutist society to a predominantly urban,
centralized, multi-ethnic, consumption-oriented, secular, and relativist society.”
Historically, the Progressive Era is looked upon as exactly that – progressive and modernizing.
However, there was a vast amount of “tension, anxiety, and fear” throughout the populace
accompanying this period as one of its main tenets was to purify the system of corruption. The 1907
McClure’s article observed that, “for at least half a century, strong reactionary forces have been
continuously at work in this country to drag its inheritance of civilization down again to barbarism. The
lowest point that they have yet attained is their nation-wide organization for the sale of the bodies of
women.” The panic over prostitution was born from a “cluster” of mounting fundamental beliefs,
rampant emotions, and unchecked terror derived from a society that was changing faster than anyone
could perceive.
Previously, prostitution was more of a local issue, with sporadic “purity movements” gaining
momentum, always following the growth of new or expanding urban centers. Prostitution became more
visible whenever and wherever more people began living in closer proximity. Dr. Alfred Blaschko, a 19th
century dermatologist who studied prostitution and the venereal diseases related to it, observed that,
“Although prostitution has existed in all ages, it was left to the nineteenth century to develop it into a
gigantic social institution. The development of industry with vast masses of people in the competitive
market, the growth and congestion of large cities, the insecurity and uncertainty of employment, has
given prostitution an impetus never dreamed of at any period in human history.” The level of opposition
and alarm against it would grow concurrently with its level of conspicuousness.
It was not until the first two decades of the 20th century that prostitution became a “major
national issue,” which precipitated a frenzy of protest and public awareness “quite unlike anything
before.” Reaching a fever pitch after a sensational McClure’s Magazine article, “indignation and concern
over White slavery became intense, widespread, and often hysterical.”
The flames of panic were swiftly fanned into an inferno by competing newspapers, magazines,
publishers, theaters, and “moving picture” companies, eager to make a profit from their new ability to
“instantly” communicate the shameful narratives of these “ruined women.” As Eric Weiner reported in
the 2008 NPR story, “There were rumors, taken as truth, that women were being forced into
prostitution and shuttled around the country by vast networks. Muckraking journalists fueled the
hysteria with sensationalized stories of innocent girls kidnapped off the streets by foreigners, drugged,
smuggled across the country and forced to work in brothels.”
Politicians of the day rode the wave of the public “crisis.” Edwin W. Sims, Chicago’s U.S. District
Attorney, claimed to have proof of a nationwide slavery ring. He declared, “The legal evidence thus far
collected establishes with complete moral certainty these awful facts: that the White slave traffic is a
system operated by a syndicate which has its ramifications from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific
Ocean, with “clearinghouses” or “distribution centers” in nearly all of the larger cities; that in this
ghastly traffic the buying price of a young girl is from $15 up and that the selling price is from $200 to
$600... This syndicate is a definite organization sending its hunters regularly to scour France, Germany,
Hungary, Italy, and Canada for victims.”
Sims never shared the “evidence” of which he spoke. However, a friend of his, Congressman
James Robert Mann, as Chairman of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, drafted
a fast – and vague – bill that would prove to the American people that their Congress was acting quickly
to face the “crisis.” It also had the added benefit of making the United States compliant with a 1904
international treaty addressing what would be referred to 100 years later as human trafficking. Mann
was able to draft the proposed law so rapidly due to the fact that he borrowed much of the language
from the 1907 Immigration Act. That law banned the “importation into the United States of any alien
woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose.” What became known
as the Mann Act was put before Congress on June 25, 1910. Facing little opposition the bill passed
without hesitation. President William Howard Taft signed it into law a few weeks later.
Officially known as The White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910, The Mann Act was a part of this “social
reform zeal.”163 Its specific intent was to address prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking.
Unfortunately, the initial ambiguous language allowed prosecutors to use it selectively for criminalizing
all forms of sexual conduct.
In March 1913 two married men, Drew Caminetti and Maury Diggs, took their non-prostitute
mistresses by train from Sacramento, California, to Reno, Nevada. Discovering the clandestine trip, their
wives informed the police. The men were arrested upon their arrival in Reno, tried, and found guilty of
violating the Mann Act. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court where it was ruled “that not applying
the law in this case would shock the common understanding of what constitutes an immoral purpose.”
Their conviction stood.
This interpretation effectively criminalized all non-marital, sexual relationships, which simply
crossed state lines. It gave criminal justice and politicians a new power to intimidate or even ruin those
they found to be “undesirable.” For instance, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Tommy
Burns, was defeated by a Black fighter named Jack Johnson in Australia on December 26, 1908. The fact
that a Black man was now the heavyweight champion of the world was bad enough for traditional
Whites, but to make things worse Johnson made no attempt to hide his numerous affairs with White
women. Inciting institutionalized racism even further, Johnson was married three times to White
women, the second of whom, Lucille Cameron, was a prostitute.
On July 4, 1910, former undefeated heavyweight champion James Jeffries left retirement to
fight Johnson and, as he said, “make an effort to reclaim the heavyweight championship for the White
race.”165 In a special arena built for the event, Jeffries lost for the first time in his career to Johnson.
Race riots ensued immediately across the United States by humiliated Whites, despite it being the July
4th holiday. Unable to defeat him in the boxing ring, federal criminal justice authorities charged Johnson
with Mann Act violations – twice – and convicted him in 1913.
In 1926, architect Frank Lloyd Wright was charged and later acquitted of Mann Act violations for
crossing state lines with Olgivana Ivanovna Lazovich, the woman with whom he lived and would later
marry.
In 1944, actor Charlie Chaplin was acquitted of a Mann Act indictment from a maternity case
motivated by Chaplin’s liberal political views. The charges were instigated by FBI Director J. Edgar
Hoover, who referred to Chaplin as one of the Hollywood “parlor Bolsheviki.”
In 1959, Chuck Berry, the Black rock & roll pioneer, served 20 months in prison after being
convicted of Mann Act violations for bringing an underage Native American girl across state lines. The
girl was later arrested for prostitution.
Never repealed, the Mann Act has been significantly amended over the years. In 1978, Congress
updated the definition of “transportation” in the act, and added protection for minors of either sex
against commercial sexual exploitation. A 1986 amendment further protected minors and added
protection for adult males, and replaced “debauchery” and “any other immoral purpose” with “any
sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense.”
In short, The Mann Act was a result of legislation being made because of bad information. It was rushed
through the legislature and was so massively flawed that trafficking has continued to grow 100 years
after it was passed.

Myth Number Nine: Most traffickers specifically target, recruit, market, and sell underage victims
while most johns are eager to pay for sex with them.
Yes, this certainly does happen. A certain number of men are seeking to have sex with young teen girls,
sometimes even younger as was the case with Waterbury's former mayor. This crime ― exclusively
horrid among human trafficking violations ― must be a priority for law enforcement and care givers.
Everything is stolen from its victims: their development, their education, their health, and their right to
grow up in a protected and safe environment free from harm.
However, many aspects of commercial sexual exploitation have several layers of complexity
waiting beneath the service. The entire truth is that many underage victims are merely caught up in
trafficking. They are more vulnerable, malleable, and are far easier to intimidate and manipulate.
However, many johns do not want to know they are paying to be with a younger girl. The risk of being
caught, labeled as a pedophile, and serving serious jail time is too great. Unlike others whose
compulsion leads them to abuse younger girls no matter what the risk, many are far too alarmed by the
potential consequences. Pimps face similar risks. If he is caught trafficking an underage girl, he knows his
time in prison will be measured in decades. Yet using younger girls, always posing as young adults of 18,
19, or 20 years old, makes his life easier from the standpoint of controlling her. She is far more likely to
be taken in by his performance.
Adult victims carry fewer risks for pimps. Yet, they are often left with an “optionless life” in the
words of actor and activist Ashton Kutcher. Indeed, there are very few available services for the 25-year-
old American human trafficking victim, especially if law enforcement does not take an interest in their
case.
“We continue to see the devastating effects of sex trafficking, where services for survivors are
as rare as programs that address the demand for their victimization," said Ambassador-at-Large Luis
CdeBaca of the State Department in 2010. "And if they are found, women are locked in “shelters” that
look more like prisons than the safe haven that a survivor needs.”
If she is able to escape from her pimp or the streets, she faces insurmountable problems of
every kind: legal, health, physical, mental, emotional, financial and so on. Most often she gives up and
returns to the only person who ever “cared.”

------------------------------------------------

“We went to the emergency room through Waterbury Hospital; explained the situation, ‘Listen, we’re
both addicted to drugs. We’re homeless, have nowhere to go. We need help.’
‘Sorry, we don’t have any services to help you.’ It didn’t make any sense to me. How could you
not have any programs to help me? There has to be at least someone I can talk to about this. So
Waterbury Hospital was a no go.
So then we went to St. Mary’s. They wouldn’t let us past the front desk. Kicked us out of the
hospital. ‘You’re under the influence. You’re obviously high. We can’t do anything for you.’”
Danita

------------------------------------------------
Kayla’s Story . . .
Rocky Hill is a pleasant and affluent community in central Connecticut. It is also home to one of New
England's largest apartment complexes, Century Hills. With over 900 “luxury” units, four pools (one
indoors), acres of well-manicured lawns and walkways, ponds and a clubhouse, Century Hills was the
last place anyone in the town would expect to find a pimp in residence.
Yet, between 2007 and 2008, Kayla, a 19-year-old woman from Connecticut's shoreline, was
held there against her will by Frank Hill. Hill set Kayla's quota at $1000 a day. She was listed on Craigslist,
danced in strip clubs, and “passed around” in a sports bar after being stripped naked, and then “rented
out”: in a back room.
Kayla is blond and attractive with a very soft voice. She first met Frank Hill, the man who would
become her pimp, while she was attending medical assistant’s school in New Haven. She had
occasionally purchased marijuana from him. They went on a few dates to the movies and dinner. He
quickly told Kayla he wanted her to be his girlfriend.
Eventually they became romantically involved and she moved into his Century Hills apartment.
From there, Kayla saw girls coming and going at all hours. She "had an idea what they were doing," but
said nothing. After all, she was his girlfriend and he had promised to take care of her. The couple lived
this way for two or three months.
Then the day came when he told her she was not allowed to leave the apartment without him
or speak to anyone on the phone except for her mother. Frank Hill told her she was going to work as a
prostitute. He beat her and threatened her family with death when she resisted.
She did what Frank told her to do.
Kayla and the other girls at the apartment were told to address him as "Lord Father." They were
to look attractive at all times, perpetually ready for the next “date.” He also placed restraining orders on
all the girls so that if one of them ever complained to police, he calmly explain that she was a spiteful ex-
girlfriend who had been stalking him.
Through her written statement to police, the extent of abuse she suffered is obvious.
"I was with Frank Hill from October 31, 2007 - January 13, 2008. I advertised on Craigslist and
posted my pictures. One of his friends was a photographer. He took naked pictures of me. I used the
names: Candycummalot and Magic. The advertisement was to have a good time with a girl.
I lived in Hill's apartment in Rocky Hill, Connecticut with Courtney Taft who also posted pictures
on Craigslist. Taft and I fought a lot, because I used to sleep in Hill's room. But then he had her train me
on how to dress so I could get more money out of the guys he (made) me have sex with. I had to watch
her have sex with guys to learn about how to have sex with the guys.
At first I only did three dates a day then it was five dates a day and then even more a day. I gave
him all (the) money, which was $1000 a day. I gave him $,000 in four months. The rates for sex were
$300 an hour for an out call, $2 for an hour for an in call. When he took me out he dropped me out at
the house and would sit outside in his car. In order to make sure the guys were not cops they would
have to touch themselves to prove they are not cops. Or strip naked and leave. At the beginning of the
sex act I would let them know it was (of) my own will and make it known that this is an act of
companionship by agreeing to this you are not an enforcer of the law or any type of the law.
Hill would force me to have sex with the guys. He had a group of friends that he charged a lesser
amount to have sex with me, than the guys from Craigslist. When I told him that I didn't want to have
sex, he said you know what would happen. One time he said to me that he would cut my face, he also
choked me.
I did coke a few times. He gave it to me to keep me up. Whenever I did a shift and I was tired so
he gave me coke to keep me up. I also worked at two strip clubs. The purpose of the club(s) were to
have sex. The guy would buy a ticket for $100 to go into a booth and have sex. The name of the clubs
were Electric Blue (in) Springfield and Cheaters was in Rhode Island.
 He has pre-paid credit cards and debit cards that he keeps in his wallet. He said he owns a house
in New York and has an office for an escort service in Hartford. He told me that if I stay with him for
three years I'd be set for life. I knew it was a lie, just to get me to work. He told me I always had to smile
when I worked.
I am scared of Hill. One time he killed Taft's rabbit in front of me. He wanted me to recruit girls.
He told me to call up my friend, Katie, but I didn't want to get her involved. I got away from Hill when I
was at the Econo Lodge in West Haven. I called a friend, Katie. Katie and her cousin came and got me.
Ron came and fed me. Put me in a hotel room and I just slept. He took me to my Mom's house. I told my
Mom what happened. Then I went to the New Haven Police Department."
The intimidation of Kayla did not end after escaping from Frank Hill. Having stolen and kept all
her identification, he knew exactly where her family lived. Shortly after 10:30 p.m. on the night of
Tuesday, January 22, 2008, a rock crashed through the front window of Kayla's mother's home near New
Haven. As soon as the broken glass settled across the living room, the family "then heard a car speed
away." Sitting amongst the shards of glass was the rock; a tight rubber band holding a piece of paper in
place around it. Their hands shaking, the family pulled the paper off the rock. Unfolding it, they
discovered a photocopy of "a naked picture of me in a bathtub," Kayla explained.
According to New Haven police records, the “provocative” photo attached to the rock included a
note that read, "Your daughter Kayla is a N____R LOVING WHORE she is a SPIC LOVING SLUT as well. She
contracted H.I.V. while prostituting in Atlantic New Jersey as Candy Cummalot. She would sometimes
have sex for cocaine and give the money to a BIG BLACK PIMP."
The message on the rock was only one of several duplicate "flyers" of Kayla that "littered" the
front yard and neighborhood surrounding her home. Kayla told New Haven police that, "it must have
been Frank as he was the only one who had this picture." The report that night recorded Kayla telling
police that, "Frank had taken this picture for a Craigslist posting for prostitution purposes," and that
"only Frank knows this name as he gave it to her and was the one who took her to New Jersey."
Kayla thought she was protecting her family. When it was all over she was unable to eat or
sleep. Kayla found it difficult to trust anyone or share what had happened with friends. She told an
intervention worker that she only wanted to, "get my life back together and for people to understand it
wasn't my choice. I just want to help people. That's why I went to Medical Assistants School."
On Monday, January 12, 2009, one year after evading Frank Hill, Kayla was arrested along with
another girl for assaulting a woman outside her apartment in New Haven. She was found guilty five
months later and was given a one year suspended jail sentence with two years of probation.

------------------------------------------------

Kayla was not the first to be exploited and held captive by Frank Hill at his Rocky Hill apartment.
Frank (aka: Lucas, Daddy, Lord Father) had been using his upscale hideaway as an outpost of abuse for
at least two years prior to Jessica's experience with him.
On January 31, 2008, Tanya told a Detective from the Rocky Hill Police Department what Frank
Hill and Brenda had done to her "about two years ago." With explicit detail she recounted the day that
"my best friend Tilly wanted me to go over to her house in New Haven. I told her I was going to take the
bus. My friend told me that she would have her cousin, Lucas Vann, pick me up in his Mercedes Coupe.
Lucas drove me to a gas station off the Interstate 91 and gave me some Tangaray to drink. Lucas then
brought me to his apartment in Rocky Hill. I kept asking when we were going to go to Tilly's house but
he would not answer me. I then found out that (Tilly) had sex with Lucas two nights before at the Econo
Lodge in (West Haven, CT).
As I didn't plan on staying with Lucas at his apartment, I had not brought any clothes with me.
When we got inside the apartment, Lucas locked me inside and (bedroom) and a girl name Chloe
(Brenda) was there to watch me. Chloe wouldn't let me leave and I didn't know where I was anyway if I
did leave. I was a little afraid and he kept me in the room while Chloe watched me. The bedroom door
was locked and Lucas would leave and Chloe would stay to watch me. I found out that Lucas paid Tilly
between $200 and $300 dollars (get) me.
Chloe said she always called Lucas by the name (Daddy). Chloe said he would be abusing her by
striking her and choking her and so on. Chloe would then bring new girls to the apartment at the
direction of Lucas for him to have sex with and for him to have the girls have sex with other men for
money. Usually $300 or more for sex.
While in the bedroom, Lucas eventually came back and pushed me on the bed. As he pinned my
hands down to the bed I yelled, 'Stop. I'm only 15 years old.' Then he said, 'No you not. You are 18 years
old. Tilly told me so.'
'No, I am 15 years old.'
He ripped my belt off and then pulled down my pants and underwear. He left my shirt on. He
(had) sex with me for about five minutes. He then went into the bathroom and washed up. He then
walked out of the bedroom and locked the door behind him, locking me inside. I then heard him yelling
at Chloe, the door slammed and I think he left. Chloe then stood outside my door for a while. I then took
a shower in Lucas's bathroom which was connected to the bedroom. I was then let out of the room by
Chloe. She talked to someone on the phone saying, 'What daddy says goes,' and that 'he is abusive.'
Chloe and I stayed up because we were waiting for Lucas to come home. Chloe told me that she was
afraid to fall asleep because if Lucas came home and she was sleeping he would beat her bad. Lucas
finally came home between 5 and 6.am. Chloe made breakfast for all of us. Chloe then got in the shower
to clean up. Chloe took too long so Lucas yelled, 'Hurry up bitch and get dressed or I will smack the shit
out of you.'
After being locked in Lucas's house for three days, Lucas drove Chloe and I to a club in Rhode
Island, which was a strip club. The club was bright pink. Lucas dropped Chloe off and he then drove me
back to his apartment in Rocky Hill. Chloe then came home hours later and was dropped off by
someone. Lucas then had Chloe and I get back into his Mercedes and drove to the Regal Inn in New
Haven. When the Mercedes pulled up to the curb, Tilly walked up to the passenger side of the care and
opened the door, and ripped me out before Lucas could pull me back in. Lucas drove off and left me
there.
Last year, 2007, I saw Lucas outside a club in New Haven. Lucas saw me and walked right up to
me. He said, 'Why did you tell the police on me?' I told him, 'I didn't say anything to the police.' He told
me that Chloe was on the run because she had jumped a girl in his apartment with two other girls then
brought her to Bridgeport where they sliced her the face and the arms and left her in Seaside Park. I
heard from a girl on the street that this did happen. I heard that the police were called but no one
believed the girl and nothing happened to Chloe.
When I was interviewed by the police in 2006, I was scared and didn't know who was behind the
mirrored window and didn't want to talk because not knowing who was listening to me behind the
mirror. I still hear about Lucas on the street. I am scared of Lucas since I know he has done this to other
girls. I want him arrested so he does not continue to rape young women like he did to me."

------------------------------------------------
 Section Three
The Girl Is The New Drug

At the beginning to the 21st century's second decade, commercial sexual exploitation in the United
States continues to increase due to several distinct factors. Any one of these singular dynamics was
enough to cause a significant increase in CSE. Combined, they presented an unprecedented increase in
human trafficking of this specific nature. Unlike any previous time in America's long history of slavery,
trafficking in souls, and prostitution, the level of this abuse occurring during this period demonstrated
that our nature had not changed since the days of traditional slavery, nor has our propensity to control
and destroy certain human beings at our slightest whim and for profit.
As these factors began to coalesce they brought a new level of motivation to human traffickers,
people more commonly referred to as pimps. Along with this combination of new opportunities, the
modern pimp had the added advantage of hiding within multiple, ingrained misconceptions about
human trafficking, all too easily accepted by American culture and media. These myths created an
environment in which contemporary pimps were able to conduct their business of selling girls with little
fear of impunity.
Previously, this criminal element would have simply chosen the business of illegal drugs by
which to make their fortunes, all at the expense of others, while putting themselves at enormous legal
risk. Unfortunately for those looking to make it in the drug business, America has been conducting a
“war on drugs” for decades. Every criminal justice professional, including local, state, and federal
investigators, prosecutors, and judges, has an extensive experience and knowledge of these crimes.
They have been fighting this “war” for most of their careers. They know what to look for. They know
what evidence they need to make an arrest and have charges stick. And they know how drug cases work
in and out of a courtroom. While victory in the war on drugs remains elusive, law enforcement has
certainly captured many of the enemy's army. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, America's
prison population topped over 2.3 million in 2008 ― four times the amount of incarcerated people since
1980. At the same time, the juvenile prison population was nearly 100,000.
This increase was not due to a rise in violent crime, which had remained steady and, in some
cases, declined for nearly two decades beginning in 1990. "Perhaps the single greatest force behind the
growth of the prison population has been the national ‘war on drugs,’” claims the organization, Human
Rights Watch, which further states, "The number of incarcerated drug offenders has increased
twelvefold since 1980."
The bad guys didn't need statistics. They knew selling drugs was an increasingly risky business
with a very dangerous paradox: the more success you achieved, the more exposed you became to law
enforcement and mandatory jail time. To stay on top in the drug business, it was necessary to employ
high visibility tactics easily recognized by law enforcement, which spent years learning to recognize
them.
As tens of thousands were arrested for drug crimes and jailed in America each year, thousands
were also being released. For the most part they got out vowing never to return, but with an equally
strong desire to make up for the time they lost in prison. Their new freedom was often coupled with an
increased motivation to make as much money as they could as quickly as they could. However, they all
faced the same challenge. If they were arrested for dealing drugs again, their subsequent sentences
would be even longer.
It didn't take long for them to find a new, more profitable, less risky product to sell.
"A federal crackdown on drug dealers has succeeded in taking some of Boston's most dangerous
offenders off the streets," wrote Maria Cramer in the Boston Globe. "But it is also driving some dealers
and gang leaders to pursue another line of criminal work: prostitution."
 Their new product was girls. In fact, by 2008, the girl had "become the new drug," observed
Sergeant Detective Kelley O'Connell who, at the time, ran the Human Trafficking Unit of the Boston
Police Department. Referring to the girls as a “prized commodity,” O'Connell explained how easy it was
to exploit females in the “digital age.”
" Pimps can advertise girls and women online ― a way both to increase demand and avoid street
arrests."
Paul Fitzgerald, Deputy Superintendent of the Boston Police Department's Drug Unit realized the
change in criminal business models was in part due to his department's tougher crackdown on drug-
related crimes. "They know we're looking hard at drug dealing," he explained. "They're taking the path
of least resistance when they go toward the girls."
Boston was not alone in seeing more pimps and more abuse. "I made the decision to become a
Detective and I went straight to our Vice unit," explained Special Deputy U.S. Marshal James "Chappie"
Hunter to fellow officers in San Diego. "Little did I know this decision would change my life forever. I
thought, 'I’ll go to Vice and get some good undercover experience. I’ll be able to chill out, go to a club,
have a drink or two (partially consumed of course) and visit a strip club a couple nights a month. No case
load and write some misdemeanor arrest reports. A good change of pace and fun stepping stone to
eventually transfer to a detective spot in Investigations.' Not! I walked through those doors and
discovered a world I had kept an uneducated and blind eye to for 16 years.” Detective Hunter soon
discovered "a world full of mentally, emotionally, and physically abused young innocent girls being sold
by a worthless gangster pimp to disgusting sex-driven pedophiles in plain view on our local streets,
motels, hotels, and all over the Internet."
Explaining the nationwide trend in greater detail, Hunter asked, "How many of you have
children with (Facebook) accounts? How many of you take your child to hang out with friends at the
local shopping malls? How many of you have children attending middle and high school? These are the
biggest recruiting grounds by pimps to steal your child away from you. I have even put a 15- year-old
boy in Juvenile Hall twice for pimping a 14-year-old girl who he went to school with."
Gretchen Means, Deputy District Attorney for San Diego County, provided more clarity of the
reduced risk for these new pimps, saying, "With drug sales and gun running, it is the gang members
themselves who take the risk of getting caught and punished. With prostitution, the girls take all the risk
with law enforcement and with their bodies.” That is why, Means said, “Pimping is the new crack
cocaine.”
"This is a reality check," concluded Detective Hunter, "Pimping is the fastest growing crime in
San Diego and across our nation."
A continent away, Kelly O'Connell shared his nightmare. "More and more individuals are seeing
the big money they can make. You're going to be seeing more and more of this demand. There is going
to be more need for product and that product is a girl."

------------------------------------------------

The girl has become the new drug in America due to at least seven unique forces at work in the United
States.
The police in Boston and San Diego had already observed the ubiquity of the first of these
forces: Lower risk for criminals due to less significant investigative and prosecutorial knowledge,
experience, and priorities among law enforcement on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation.
Comparing their risk against those they take selling drugs, the choice is clear for enterprising criminals.
Girls are a safer product to sell. Representative Christopher Smith of New Jersey, who was instrumental
in the writing and passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, shared the frustrations of
the Detectives O'Connell and Hunter. "In the end, the perpetrators must be sufficiently punished for
their heinous acts or they will calculate that the money gained from exploiting women, children, and
laborers, is greater than the threat of prison." Then calling for change in the way CSE crimes are handled
by criminal justice, he said, "We must make this an easy calculation for them ― that trafficking is not
worth the risk.” Smith’s colleague in Congress, Jackie Speier, puts it another way. “Today, we live in a
country where a person is more likely to serve time for selling marijuana than a 14 year old girl.”
The lower risk factor is decreased even further because there is far less suspicion related to the
“product” a pimp is selling compared to that of a drug dealer. If police find someone with more than a
small amount of illegal drugs in their car, their home, their locker ― any location where they can prove
possession ― that person is immediately arrested on charges of “intent to sell.” They are taken to jail
and their product is taken away for evidence. If convicted they may be forced to forfeit all their assets to
the police. On the other hand, if the police find someone with one, two, three, or more females ― the
pimp's product ― it amounts to nothing more than a man hanging out with a few girls. Yes, the police
can ask questions, take IDs, and generally give them a few uncomfortable minutes, but the worst
consequence for the trafficker is that he may be late delivering the girls to their next date.
Certainly the greatest motivation for traffickers is the enormous profit. And perhaps there is no
more profitable crime than human trafficking. The financial gain from CSE is unparalleled. Comparing his
business model to someone selling drugs, the pimp knows the drug dealer has to continually spend
more cash, part of his earnings from selling drugs, to purchase new supply. As he makes sales, he must
reinvest in inventory to keep his supply available to customers.
The pimp does not have this problem. “Unlike drugs and guns which can be sold only once, the
human body can be sold over and over again.” Once a young woman is within his stable, he “sells” her
to each john at 100 percent profit for every trick. There is no product inventory to restock because the
pimp doesn't sell women, he rents them.
The extraordinary profit motive behind human trafficking is best explained analogically by
legendary journalist, Edward R. Murrow, whose landmark television documentary, Harvest of Shame,
exposed the slave-like conditions of agricultural workers in the early 1960s. Describing film of workers
laboring in the fields, Murrow said, “This scene is not taking place in the Congo. It has nothing to do with
Johannesburg or Cape Town. It is not Nyasaland or Nigeria. This is Florida. These are citizens of the
United States, 1960." Having shown the footage to a local farmer, Murrow recounts that the man,
"looked at this and said, 'We used to own our slaves; now we just rent them.'”
The US Department of Health and Human Services explains the results of renting human beings
for profit in a fact sheet explaining that, “Human trafficking is increasingly committed by organized,
sophisticated criminal groups, and is the fastest growing source of profits for organized criminal
enterprise worldwide. Profits from the trafficking industry contribute to the expansion of organized
crime in the U.S. and worldwide.”
Making a strong argument for helping all those who are forced into labor without self-
determination, power, or a voice ― including contemporary victims of commercial sexual exploitation
― Murrow concluded his report by saying, “Only an enlightened, aroused and perhaps angered public
opinion can do anything. The people you have seen have the strength to harvest your fruits and
vegetables. They do not have the strength to influence legislation. Maybe we do."
Perhaps one of the most subtle of factors in CSE's increase is the lower motive among law
enforcement to investigate these crimes over others which typically bring them greater reward. In drug-
related crimes, convictions often lead to “asset forfeiture,” in which the guilty party's ill-gotten gains are
forfeited to law enforcement. According to the US Department of the Treasury, "A wide variety of
merchandise is available, including automobiles, aircraft, boats, real estate, jewelry, electronics, wearing
apparel, industrial equipment, and miscellaneous goods." The money generated by the sale of these
items, usually at local police auctions or websites like SeizedPropertyAuctions.com or
PropertyRoom.com, are usually given back to the police department or arresting agency. While the rules
are complex and often require hours of paperwork, the payoff is worth it to those in charge of budgeting
cash-strapped police departments. This may be another reason why so many criminal justice resources
are used in the war on drugs. It can be a very profitable war for the police. Much of the loot forfeited by
drug dealers goes to their departments. The more drug arrests they make, the more opportunity they
have to increase their budgets.
This scenario does not apply to human trafficking cases. US code 18 U.S.C. § 1593 mandates that
all assets forfeited by those convicted of human trafficking crimes be paid as "restitution" in "the full
amount of the victim’s losses." In short, the girls get the money, not the cops.
While certainly not true in all cases, this establishes a type of conflict of interest between the
police and the laws they choose to enforce. With limited resources, limited experience in human
trafficking crimes, and far less public demand for action against commercial sexual exploitation, it is not
difficult to understand why it may take a very long time to affect change within the culture of criminal
justice.
One consequence of this lower motivation among law enforcement to investigate and prosecute
human trafficking crimes over drug-related offenses is reduced legal pressure on pimps. Nearly
unencumbered, they can operate under the radar; a well-oiled, experienced, increasingly effective radar
that is not looking for them.
Outside these four criminally-related factors pertaining to the increase in commercial sexual
exploitation, three remain, which are derived more from American culture than from the inner workings
of police and offenders.

------------------------------------------------

“It is a conceded fact that woman is being reared as a sex commodity. Whether our reformers admit it
or not, the economic and social inferiority of woman is responsible for prostitution.”
Activist Emma Goldman
1911

------------------------------------------------

The first of these cultural factors is the phenomena of prostitution and pimp culture becoming
mainstream. Prostitution is simply not the taboo it once was. With the increased commodification of
women ― especially younger women ― it has become much more acceptable to look at females in
American culture as objects holding only monetary value; a commodity to be bought and sold. Along
with the glorification of “pimpdom,” the aura surrounding prostitution as a lifestyle has been elevated
to a lifestyle choice with riches and fame as its reward. Few realize how easily and often the abuses of
commercial sexual exploitation hide under the cloak of prostitution.
The pimps who are trafficking young women and girls have a great marketing tool: the media.
You can turn on the TV now and see pimps glamorized in TV shows, music videos, and movies. Young
people use "pimp" in everyday conversation: "my ride is pimped out," "your clothes are pimping." They
do not understand the reality behind the term.
Beverly, whose story you read about earlier explains it like this, “Pimps prey on young women and girls
by finding their weaknesses and then exploiting them. After the pimp gets into your mind, it's easy for
him to maintain control, just like a husband who abuses his wife. Then you have to call him "daddy" and
he’ll punish you if he feels like you have stepped out of line. You have to bring him $500-$2,000 every
night. You are not a woman, you are always a "bitch" or a "ho" and tells you that every day. You are part
of his "stable." If you do not want to follow the rules, then he may sell you anytime to another pimp.”
 The list exemplifying contemporary American culture's reduced sensitivity to the old view of
prostitution while embracing a new “glamorous” perception of it and pimpdom is always increasing.
Television shows like Pimp My Ride on MTV resurrected the word as a new definition for “over-the-top
luxury” and “in-your-face bling.” “Pimping” became equated with exhibiting excessive levels of wealth
and success obtained through street smarts, cunning, victory over all obstacles. Being a pimp became
something young men aspired to. “We almost idolize pimps," said Jason King, head of San Diego's Anti-
Human Trafficking Task Force. "He's controlling girls and making all this money. But the women are
victims. These people are being exploited and are doing horrific things for that lifestyle.”
"Prostitution is no longer anything to be ashamed about. This is what women on the streets say.
This is a business. This is money. There is so much money in prostitution," is the way Danita explains it. It
is “an underrepresented population simultaneously shamed and glamorized, ostracized and glorified,
reviled and worshiped,” according to writer and comedian David Henry Sterry who was a “rentboy” as a
teenager. Along with validating the very concept of the word “pimp,” the culture began to look at
prostitution ― and its relationship to pimps ― in a more positive way. Seen as a lifestyle or professional
choice, prostitution gained greater acceptance through all forms of media including the HBO
documentary, Pimps Up, Ho's Down, the Academy Award-winning song, It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp,
from the movie, Hustle & Flow, the British television series, broadcast on CBS owned Showtime in
America, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, based on a blog in which a “high class London call girl" shares her
secrets to success with the world, the HBO reality series, Cathouse, which shows the true-life stories of
women working at a legal brothel in Nevada, the HBO comedy, and, among many others, Hung, in which
the man is the prostitute and his “pimp” is a woman.
Finally, along with a “pimps and ho's” board game, “pimps and ho's” themed parties, costumes,
and the “Beverly Hills Pimps Ho's” online catalog of clothing, there is Grand Theft Auto IV, one of the
bestselling video games of all time in which players are immersed into a virtual life as the character,
“Niko,” who, despite the giddy, positive reviews of the game from virtually all news media, is a human
trafficker. Once the game's player takes on the persona of “Niko,” he scores points by virtually killing
prostitutes and exotic dancers for real entertainment. “Our culture of flagrant self-exaltation, hardwired
in the American character, permits the humiliation of all those who oppose us,” writes journalist Chris
Hedges. “Human beings are used and discarded like Styrofoam boxes that held junk food.”
For those who wanted to enter the sex entertainment industry in the real world, there was a
book available. The Dancer’s Guide, claimed to be the “first of its kind, written exclusively for
professional exotic dancers and adult entertainers, with input from corporate sales trainers, club
owners, veteran and top earning entertainers, banking professionals, and financial planners.” The
guidebook’s promotional text on Amazon.com stated the reader will learn, “how to read people
immediately and more effectively. The Four Personality Types. How to establish credit while working as
an Entertainer. All the tricks of the Trade, and much more... Never Have A Slow Day Again.”
As prostitution was brought into the mainstream by the further commodification of females and
the glorification of pimp culture, human traffickers specializing in commercial sexual exploitation not
only found their business safer from law enforcement, but much easier to conduct because of the sixth
factor in the crime's increase: their “product” was very easy to obtain.
"It's all about manipulation of the person," said Police Officer Tim Thomason of the Columbia,
Missouri Police Department. Speaking about the phenomena affecting thousands of girls in America, he
explained the pimps had become very effective at "getting that person in and coaxing them in. Many of
the victims of human trafficking in Missouri are children or runaways who are looking for handouts and
are easy to persuade. If a trafficker can offer shelter, offer food, and some larger promise of some better
day, people will buy into that."
 The CSE business became irresistible to pimps when they discovered how readily available their
new product had become. The girls they look for ― the product they will be renting ― are everywhere
in America.
"Victims of sex trafficking come from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, geographic
areas, and ethnicities," concluded a report from the New York State Office of Children and Family
Services.
Certainly many younger victims have been through the child welfare system, or runaways, or
both. Many are throwaways, left behind by whatever parents they were unfortunate enough to have.
However, many are recruited from middle class homes with no prior incidences of abandonment. They
are often from the smallest of towns far removed from the city.
The common factor seems to be that each victim recruited or otherwise forced, defrauded, or
coerced into selling themselves for sex ― all for the profit of the man making them do it ― is some
history of early physical and sexual abuse in their lives. This apparently opens up a door of vulnerability,
perhaps because of damaged or negative self-worth, that traffickers look for. Pimps, and the women
who often recruit for them, will look for young women who have a certain look of wanting about them.
They are often reticent about themselves and more willing to talk about or please others. Recruiters
become skilled at finding girls who are in need: physically, nutritionally, relationally, emotionally,
financially . . . it does not matter. If they can identify a desperate need in a girl, even if that need is
overlooked by her family and friends, they will exploit it.
In essence, they continually seek to exploit women who exhibit the slightest signs of a broken
soul, a damaged spirit, or any wound that has not been healed. As Emma Goldman observed in 1911,
“Desperate, needing protection and longing for affection, these girls naturally proved an easy prey for
cadets, themselves the result of the spirit of our commercial age.”
The final factor contributing to the enormous increase in commercial sexual exploitation of women in
America is by far the most significant. Taken by itself this one element of marketing females would be
extremely powerful. However, combined with the previous six factors ― lower risk for traffickers, no
inherent product suspicion, enormous profit margins, lower law enforcement motive, mainstreaming of
prostitution and pimp culture, and easily obtained product ― the widespread use of the Internet by
human traffickers has changed everything. Quite simply, the web has become the new “street” where
girls are being sold. And like the streets of America, with all their former brilliance, beauty, and ugliness,
all manner of humanity roams there.

------------------------------------------------

Previously men could only go “onsite” to find a girl being sold for sex. This meant going out on
the streets, as they still do, and looking for women being sold in the traditional manner. They might
have used word of mouth through their friends, other men at the office, in a bar, etc. Men could also
meet working women dancing in strip clubs or at stag parties. Hidden brothels are not uncommon.
Often disguised as a massage parlor or a plain, easily accessible condominium, there were still
established places men could go and pay for sex.
They could also look through nightlife and entertainment publications that are common in every
American city. These free publication typically feature classified ads for women to work as escorts and
dancers. Applications for these jobs require that candidates provide their measurements, hair and eye
color, “shaving habits,” height, weight, and race. They do not ask the applicant's age.
However, over the past ten years, the trend in shifted away from using print advertising (though
it still remains) to advertising instantly and inexpensively online. No other development has led to more
change and growth in commercial sexual exploitation. Providing a worldwide opportunity to sell women
locally to every community in America, the Internet provides a new and powerful element to the
exploitation of women: total anonymity for the buyer and seller.
“Now you can go online, you can view different girls, and they can come right to your home.
Nobody knows,” observed Jason King. Previously, "you would have to go down to a street where
prostitution was occurring.”
The most powerful element of the internet is that it allows illicit activity to remain largely
anonymous. Email and international message boards keep buyers unnamed and safe from prosecution.
Suppliers, likewise, have an easier time remaining in the shadows.

------------------------------------------------

Backpage.com, with offices in Dallas and Phoenix, is owned and operated by Village Voice Media
Holdings, LLC, whose flagship publication, The Village Voice, was arguably America’s original “alternative
weekly” first published in 1955. The conglomerate owned several “alternatives” across America along
with VoiceMedia, a marketing consulting group which claimed, “If you want to reach fun, active people
who go out and spend money, Voice Media is the smart turnkey alternative.”
The “escort” classified advertisements placed in the back pages of Village Voice print
“alternatives” across the United States are nearly identical to each other. However, those listed on the
aptly named Backpage.com, the online version of these ads, have the advantage of instant, daily
postings along with multiple photos. The “adult” ads, have no rules.
Here is a typical ad actually taken from Backpage.com: “Hi im Erika. Im 18 and very open
minded... Im ready to please and love doing it... Im new to this but very experienced... Please cum spend
time with me Daddy... Ill be waiting.. *GFE* $Incall donations$ $75 for 15 mins $100 for 30 mins $1 for
60 I offer a Discreet, Safe & Clean Executive Suite location for respectable Gentlemen. Please serious
inquiries only”
While new sites are added everyday by enterprising web designers, often hiding outside the
United States or behind a masked trail of discreet business entities, those that are especially aggressive
in selling girls for sex are:
Escorts.com ― A sophisticated listing of “Escort” Services from which users are able to seek “escorts” in
their specific geographic region.
Fling.com ― A nearly mainstream ‘dating’ site; thinly veiled for prostitution.
AshleyMadison.com – Claiming to be a website for people who want to secretly cheat on their spouses ,
they desperately try to go mainstream by boasting it has been “seen on The View, Ellen, Dr. Phil, Larry
King, Good Morning America” and advertised on Howard Stern’s radio show.
AdultFriendFinder.com ― Another “dating/prostitution” site trying to go mainstream with advertising
on thousands of other legitimate sites.
Eros.com ― A prostitution site which makes it very easy to find victims of commercial sexual
exploitation in specific areas near you.
TheEroticReview.com ― A massive paid site which allows members to post reviews and chat about
specific “providers” – those selling sex for sale - and join forums to ask questions and get/give advise on
practicing ‘the hobby,’ which is what men online call their habitual use of prostitutes.
BestGFE.com ― Similar to The Erotic Review in that men are able to review and discuss individual
women, the “quality” of the services they provide, and pointers on how to access them. Here, however,
the free content drew users.
NaughtyReviews.com ― A massive and detailed listing of “escort” services with descriptions of females
for hire that include
SeekingArrangement.com ― "for Mutually Beneficial Relationship," the site offers a "sugar daddy
dating site" where men with money can “sponsor” young “sugar babes.”
InsiderEscortSecrets.com ― A listing and advice site that has hundreds of other links to “adult
entertainment” and “service provider” sites.
LVFever.com ― Based in Las Vegas, this site openly advertises specific service providers with photos,
rates and services provided.
USASexGuide.info ― "The Internet's largest sex travel website," a vast collection of forums and
discussion groups where men can trade information and contact women who are offering sex for
money.
CityVibe ― Disguising itself as a city entertainment guide, this site offers concise listings of prostitutes
and commercial sexual exploitation victims in specific cities.
CandyDoll ― A Japanese based site, "the place where you can enjoy the beauty of little girls. We made
collections of young and petite girls. You will definitely find these excellent photos worth to be called
true masterpieces." Many of the photos were copied and pasted onto photo albums on Facebook.
EstablishedMen ― Advertising nationally on Sirius XM Satellite Radio ― which claimed to have 20
million subscribers ― Established Men began a paid mainstream media blitz soon after Craigslist bowed
out of the game. Their radio commercial, running frequently on channels like CNN and FoxNews, was a
one-man dialogue with an obvious subtext: "The other day I was strolling down the street with my super
hot girlfriend when I spotted my old nemesis from junior high, Andrew bleeping [sic] Sweeney. After 25
bleeping years I can finally rub it in Sweeney's face how I became disgustingly rich and famous and he
turned into a fat, balding stiff. We meet again Sweeney! And what the bleep? His chick was hotter than
mine! I busted my ass making myself famous and swine-face Sweeney over here ends up with this
rockin' babe who was deeevine. So I hired a PI and Sweeney, I found your secret. You met her on
EstablishedMen.com. By far the easiest place to hook up with a chick. Dude, all you need is a decent job
and the ladies on EstablishedMen will be all over you. Check and mate, Sweeney. And here I thought you
had some game." On their website, one young woman ― Lolita ― lists her "Expectations" of the men
she meets with the words, "Generous Gifts, Monthly Allowance." Instead of just contacting women on
the site, men are urged to "stand out from the crowd" by adding a "gift to your message." There is a list
of gifts that can be sent automatically to the women listed including, "White Pearl Earrings," "Gold
Watch Diamonds," or just a simple "Platinum Card."
Others, such as GlobalCourtesans.com, SexSearch.com, SeekBang.com, and
AmateurMatch.com, cover all areas in the United States and offer the same service. For a fee, men can
seek girls being sold in their area and contact them immediately to set up a “date.”
Increasingly, Facebook and other social networking profiles feature links to these and other sites
for more discreet communications. Most of these websites require a subscription fee which would
seemingly put the users at risk of identification. Thanks to the anonymity of “cash cards,” however, this
is not a consideration. (Cash Cards can be purchased at thousands of retail locations around the world
and are used exactly like credit cards – except they offer complete anonymity for the user.) For many
men who take part in “the hobby” these sites offer an efficient means of communicating secretly with
one another and exchanging information, as well as arranging for “dates.”
Another important distinction is that the sites listed here are designed for men who actively
seek sex-for-money. The females listed through online “escort” services wait to be contacted and then
use the language of “the hobby,” communicating with men who already have a knowledge of how it all
works. It is the online version of girls standing on a street corner and waiting for men to approach them.
Men who buy sex from girls often call themselves “hobbyists” online. These men use sophisticated,
members-only review websites to anonymously exchange information about women who are being sold
for sex. The Erotic Review (TER) and BestGFE, the latter of which calls itself “A Gentleman's Guide to
Pursuing Perfection,” are two of the most popular sites and cover all cities and towns in America.
 Men who register on the sites refer to their practice of frequenting working in prostitution as
“the hobby.” They rely heavily on their coded, anonymous postings to, according to The Erotic Review,
“know exactly what to expect before you make the call and spend your hard earned money. The bonus
is that the opinions expressed are real and not sent in by the adult entertainers themselves. It’s about
time!”
The men are not the only ones taking advantage of these sites. Often, the review sites are
referred to in individual listings of girls posted on Backpage and others, with claims like “Check me out
on TER and you’ll see that I offer one of the highest rated services anywhere!”
Social networking websites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter have completely changed this
game. Enormously popular ― and growing every day ― these free sites offer very powerful tools for
men who are buying sex, pimps who are selling it, and pedophiles trading child pornography. In a
brilliantly devious marketing ploy, pimps have used these sites in such a way that men no longer need to
look for girls on the street corner or the internet.. Using social networking, the girls will come to them.
"Facebook faces a security challenge that few, if any, other companies or even governments have faced
— protecting more than 500 million people on a service that is under constant attack," said Simon
Axten, a spokesman for Facebook, concerning security issues with his company’s website.
In the world of online human trafficking, individual females are advertised extensively with
personal pages of information, photos, and updates. It is the perfect forum to begin or continue
conversations with potential johns. This has added a new dimension for pimps and other human
traffickers to aggressively market females working in prostitution: Tugging. Now they can go looking for
men ― pull them in ― instead of waiting for men to contact them.
Some men, curious and perhaps willing to pay someone for sex, but unwilling to actively look for
listings online, are open to having an attractive female “friend” them on Facebook and begin an
innocent conversation. With millions of men sharing their profile on Facebook, it is extremely easy for
those working in the sex industry to scour through profiles, seeking men in their geographic area who
look like they have money to spend. This provides a new level of “sex marketing” efficiency since
Facebook allows almost anyone to see enough information about an individual to determine whether or
not they will make a profitable john.
Once the man receives the “friend” request, and not knowing from whom the request came, he
may be curious enough to look at the sender's profile. With no limitations on who sees her Facebook
page, he will find a wealth of information to beguile him. The female's profile begins with an exhibit of
risqué photos, but still within the guidelines of the website so as not to raise any warning flags with its
administrators. Her “Wall” will have references to her love of parties, men, and sex. Her updates will be
perky, friendly, positive, and alluring.
At this point, the man has two options: “Confirm” or “Deny” the “friend” request from his sexy
new contact. If he takes the bait and presses “Confirm” she will be able to see his entire profile. He will
receive constant updates from her and invitations to “Instant Message” her on Facebook, all in an effort
to draw him in. After a short time, his new female Facebook friend will invite him to follow her on
Twitter as well. Then, she begins inviting him, and other men, to dance where she is dancing, “party”
wherever she is that particular night, or stay wherever she is staying “for the next few days.”
Women being sold are not only waiting on street corners. They are not only sitting by the phone
waiting for men to call from their ads online. They are not waiting for emails and texts to come in. Now
they are cold calling. Through legitimate and accepted websites like Facebook, they are knocking on the
doors of men across America, peering into the windows of their virtual homes, and asking for an
invitation to come inside.
Far more blatant was the use of Facebook by pedophiles to connect with each other across the
world in order to trade sexually explicit photos of young children. Typically, these men find each other
by posting similar interest to their Facebook profile. Using common profile “likes” such as the novel
“Lolita,” the movie “Thirteen,” or any profile name including the words, “young,” “kid,” or “child,”
pedophiles searching for explicit images of children can successfully search for their otherwise hidden
brethren.
In early 2011, one profile on Facebook, “Marcos Tia,” had over 500 “friends” with whom he
shared hundreds of these photographs directly on Facebook’s pages. His Facebook gallery began with a
single photograph of a young girl, perhaps six or seven years old. She was not smiling in the picture.
With her head turned slightly to the right, she looked coyly at the lens. Her hair was coiffed in a highly
stylized arrangement with green and yellow ribbons. Along with other makeup, she was wearing lipstick,
eyeliner and shadow. She was standing outside, a blue sky and unidentified foothills behind her. She was
holding an inflatable Daffy Duck. She was completely naked.
Most of the child's body is exposed in a sexual manner - making this photograph a violation of
Federal Human Trafficking laws. Anyone involved or possessing the photograph could be prosecuted.
The photographer, the men posting it, and the men downloading it and keeping it on their computer are
all guilty according to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act which states that trafficking and commercial
sexual exploitation of children can take many forms including child pornography.
At the time, this was part of a collection that was growing online by the hour. Along with other
photos of naked, costumed, and posed children, the sexually explicit images are simply a collection
called "Model Kids" on “Marcos Teia’s” Facebook page. “Marcos” is clearly an online “avatar,” a falsified
Facebook profile which effectively hides the true identity of the person behind the page.
“Marcos Teia's” profile, which used Spiderman as a profile photo and has a Brazilian email
address, disappeared every so often. One day he was on Facebook with hundreds of friends - whose
profiles also exhibited sexually explicit photographs of children and adults on the social networking site -
and the next day he was gone. A few days later he was back, eager to confirm friend requests from
anyone.
At the time, most of the reported 500 million users of Facebook probably thought it was
generally safe from such content and well patrolled. With some privacy concerns, the vast majority of
Facebook users, from private citizens, to major corporations, NGO's, politicians, and even the President
of the United States, had no idea that it was home to a massive collection of unreported pornography of
all kinds.
“Marcos’s” profile, images, and friends were growing worse every day. He was reported to
Facebook several times - which could explain why he vanished so often. Facebook may have deleted his
account upon each of my reports. Yet he always returned a day or so later with the same name, profile
photo, birthday, email address and, worst of all, sexually explicit photographs of children in his "Model
Kids" collection.
Then, Facebook "groups" began appearing with names like "love little kids," "anything goes,"
"teen sex," and the like. A Facebook visitor must request permission to be "join" these groups, though
once the request is made, acceptance is generally given within minutes. The images here were far worse
than anything I had encountered previously. These photos - on Facebook - were clearly a violation of
several federal laws, including TVPA laws.
The proliferation of illegal photographs was so profound that the private citizens who
discovered them contacted the FBI and filed the following report: "I am in the final stages of
researching curriculum for a course warning against sexual exploitation in the United States. Some of
the curriculum focuses on the internet and how it is used by those involved in human trafficking and
child pornography. As an essential part of my research, I created a Facebook (FB) "avatar" (fake) profile.
On January 27, 2011, at approximately 10:30 a.m. (EST), through the the avatar profile I requested
acceptance into the closed FB group, “sex litllle girls." Moments later, the avatar was accepted into the
group by a profile known as Marcos Robson. At the time of the avatar’s acceptance, there were 30
photographs posted on this particular Facebook group. These photographs were explicit images of girls
appearing to range in ages between 3 and 9 years. The images showed these girls involved in vaginal,
oral, and anal sex acts. Some are bound with duct tape. According to the group’s Facebook “wall,” “sex
litlle girls” was created at approximately 7 PM EST on January 26, 2011 by a Facebook profile named
Lourdes Tromcos. On January 27, 2011, at 11:15 a.m. EST, “sex litlle girls” had 51 members and the
number of photos posted had grown to 37 including one with what appeared to be a female newborn
and the genitals of an adult male."
The intent was to report the crime and make the authorities aware that these images were not
being traded among pedophiles via some hidden, back channel website flying under the radar. This was
Facebook. These people were openly using Facebook's system to display and trade images of children
being sexually attacked.
It was also at this very moment in Facebook’s young life that it had raised $500 million from
Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment firm, in a deal that valued the social
networking site at $50 billion. In January, 2011 this gave the company a value greater than most car
companies, defense contractors, and other online businesses like Ebay, Amazon, and Craigslist.

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 Section Four
Challenges of Helping Underage Victims of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation

There are several important challenges facing everyone interested in helping young victims of CSE in
America. You should be ready to face these challenges as you move ahead into action.

1. Misidentification
Misidentification of the victims to be the primary barrier to the rescue and response to domestic minor
sex trafficking victims. This misidentification occurs at all levels of first responses from law enforcement
arrest on the streets to homeless and runaway youth shelters’ intake process, to court adjudication of
the victim as a delinquent for habitual runaway or drug possession, or other offense occurring as a result
of the prostitution of the child. Misidentification causes a chain reaction of negative outcomes. It is
responsible for the failure to deliver the necessary services to interrupt and treat the trauma they have
endured. It is often the cause of their adjudication as delinquents or criminalization as adult offenders of
prostitution, leading to detention and/or a criminal record with resulting lack of access to victim of
crime funds. Misidentification can be remedied only through awareness and education of first
responders and the community at large to properly identify the indicators of domestic minor sex
trafficking and to respond with the appropriate treatment and approach developed by experts in the
specific trauma caused by trafficking.

2. Criminalization of the Victim through Misidentification

Victims of domestic minor sex trafficking are frequently processed as juvenile delinquents or adult
prostitutes. Prostituted juveniles are trained by their trafficker/pimp to lie to authorities and are
provided with excellent fraudulent identification resulting in their registration in the arrest records as an
adult — an identification that follows them through their years as a minor unless and until it is corrected
by the insight of a law enforcement officer who recognizes the victim is a minor and pursues a correct
identification. Law enforcement cited this problem as a barrier to identifying a child sex trafficking
victim. Those victims who are identified as minors are frequently charged with a delinquent act either
for prostitution-related activities or for a related offense, such as drug possession or habitual runaway.
These children are found in detention facilities across the country, as well as in juvenile justice
rehabilitative programs. Due to the unique trauma bonding that occurs between a victim and her
trafficker, these children often run from juvenile facilities right back to the person that exploited them.

3. Criminalization as a Response to No Options for Placement

Law enforcement officers report they are often compelled to charge a victim of domestic minor sex
trafficking with a delinquency offense in order to detain her in a secured facility to keep her safe from
the trafficker/pimp and the trauma-driven response of flight. The frustration of first responders with
this maneuver was widely expressed; however, in the absence of better options, this stop-gap measure
continues. The results are detrimental for the victim who rarely receives any services in detention, much
less services specific to the trauma endured through sex trafficking. Also, the entry of the juvenile into
the delinquency system can disqualify her from accessing victim of crime funds for services in some
states.
4. Inappropriate or Inaccessible Services for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Trauma
Experts speak of the trauma suffered by child sex trafficking victims as more severe than most sexually-
based trauma given the chronic nature coupled with the reinforced victimization from the community at
large of buyers. Therefore, the services required for a child sex trafficking victim are unique and rarely
available. Many victims cannot access the services due to their detention and resulting label of juvenile
delinquent. In some cases, the victim’s access to services can be contingent on cooperation with law
enforcement in an investigation into the trafficking crime. Sex trafficking is the only sex crime in which
the victim is threatened with incarceration or denial of services to elicit facts about the crime.

5. Burden on the Victim to Build the Case Against the Trafficker/Pimp

Arrest and prosecution of the traffickers is too frequently based solely on the victim’s cooperation and
testimony. This approach places the burden on the victim rather than on the investigators — a burden
that is most often too heavy for these traumatized children who typically require a lengthy amount of
time before they will disclose the facts of their victimization and only if approached with advanced
interview techniques to help them with this disclosure. For these reasons, it is critical in cases of
domestic minor sex trafficking that law enforcement pursue innovative or alternative investigation to
corroborate the victim’s allegations. Currently, law enforcement agencies typically are not trained in
alternative investigative approaches and/or are not provided with adequate resources to develop and
initiate these alternative techniques.

6. Lack of Protective, Therapeutic Shelters for Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Victims
Very few residential facilities specific to this population exist across the country. These include the Girls
Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) Transition to Independent Living (TIL) in New York City,
Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Safe House in San Francisco, Children of the Night in Los
Angeles, Angela’s House in Atlanta, and the Letot Center in Dallas. There are initiative groups striving to
establish these unique shelters for the population of domestic minor sex trafficking victims in their
areas, but the need outpaces the development. The New York State Safe Harbor for Exploited Children
Act passed in 2008 calls for the establishment of such shelters, as will future safe harbor legislation in
states already considering it — establishing these protective shelters is critical for an effective strategy
to combat domestic minor sex trafficking.

7. Insufficient Priority on Combating Demand

Buyers are not being recognized as a critical component in the sex trafficking of children, yet demand is
the primary driver of the commercial sex industry within which children are being exploited for
commercial sex activities and performance. Buyers of sex with children can be preferential (pedophiles),
opportunistic (thrill-seekers), or situational (do not care how old the person being prostituted is) — they
are all committing a crime. Frequently, arrests of buyers are pursued in the traditional investigative
technique of decoys which is limited to targeting “johns” in general and cannot specifically target a
buyer of child sex given the decoy’s age. Innovative investigative techniques that shift the burden of
making the case against a perpetrator away from the juvenile victim and focus instead on arresting all
parties to the crime of the sexual exploitation of a child are required.

8. Lack of Data
Do we have a clear understanding of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America? The following section
explores this important question in great detail.
 Section Five
Do We Really Have a Clear Understanding of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America?

“Statistics are like women; mirrors of purest virtue and truth, or like whores to use as one pleases.”
Dr. Theodor Billroth - 1885

The insensitivity of Dr. Billroth notwithstanding, the issue of commercial sexual exploitation in America
is immensely difficult to define numerically. The only agreed upon statistics are those which have been
repeated so often by so many that they become unquestioned statements of fact. However, simply
stating a thing many times by many people does not make a thing true.
While individuals and organizations working against all forms of human trafficking and those
reporting on it claim with certainty to know the absolute truth about the subject, they seem to have an
extraordinary aversion to the facts.
In 2006 a congressional press release declared that the online child pornography business
generated $20 billion a year in illegal income. The information was widely circulated with help from The
New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, both of which printed the figure and cited the
congressional study.
Unable to verify the information, Carl Bialik of the Wall Street Journal decided to find the
original source of the number. Through a congressional staffer, Bialik discovered the information was
provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Bialik then contacted the
President of NCMEC who told him the fact came from a consulting group, McKinsey & Co. McKinsey’s
representative said they got it from ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of
Children for Sexual Purposes). ECPAT said they retrieved the number from the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
When Bialik contacted FBI spokesman, Paul Bresson, he was told, “The FBI has not stated the
$20-billion figure... . I have asked many people who would know for sure if we have attached the $20-
billion number to this problem. I have scoured our website, too. Nothing!”
The origin of the $20-billion figure has never been determined.
No matter. Four years later, on May 11, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice posted an article
on their “Justice Blog” which states, “It is estimated that more than 200 new images are circulated daily
and the profit derived from these criminal acts could be as high as $20 billion annually.”
In his book, Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism,
author Joseph Campbell refers to this phenomenon as “media driven myths,” which he defines as,
“dubious, fanciful, and apocryphal stories about or by the news media that are often retold and widely
believed . . . tales of doubtful authenticity, false, or improbable claims masquerading as factual. In a
way, they are the junk food of journalism – alluring and delicious, perhaps, but not especially
wholesome or nourishing.”
When the topic of trafficking children or young women and men for sexual purposes is finally
broached, critical thinking is often pushed aside. The strong emotional factor overwhelms the intellect,
and with good reason. It is a horrible crime that damages the soul of all who are touched by it. Yet, this
is no excuse for otherwise rational people to diminish the importance of the issue with false or
misleading information.
Nonetheless, we crave numbers. We clamor for statistics. We believe that if something cannot
be counted, measured, or charted, it cannot be effectively communicated – or worse, exist at all.
Government officials, human rights advocates, and the media have little faith in the public to consume
the complexities of our societal ills. To change minds and hearts, to pass laws and regulations, to raise
awareness and money, they attempt to simplify the worst of our sufferings with figures, statistics, and
percentages. “In pursuing anti-trafficking projects,” explains Kay Warren, professor of international
studies and anthropology at Brown University, “government bureaucracies and NGOs have become avid
producers and appropriators of popular culture – circulating stories and scenarios that represent
victimizers and the traumatic experiences of those who are victimized – in order to publicize their anti-
trafficking efforts and reach wider publics.
The desire for telling numbers as they pertain to CSE is acute, often leading to disagreement
between otherwise closely related organizations and officials. On June 16, 2010, a panel discussion,
“Hidden in Plain Sight: The news media’s role in exposing human trafficking,” was held at the United
Nations in order to discuss “how the news media have helped expose and explain modern slavery – and
how to do better.” During the discussion, the panel of “leading media-makers and policymakers”
justifiably “urged reporters and editors to avoid salacious details and splashy, ‘sexy’ headlines that can
prevent a more nuanced examination of trafficked persons’ lives and experiences.” The participating
journalists also, “lamented the lack of solid data, noting that the available statistics are contradictory,
unreliable, insufficient, and often skewed by ideology.”
Providing an unplanned example of statistical contradictions and the shared frustration of
responsible reporters, Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, head of the U.S. Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons, stated in his remarks: “Almost 50,000 victims liberated last year worldwide: that’s
great,” [sic] citing “the ILO number.” However, just minutes later, Antonio Maria Costa, executive
director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said, “we do not know how big the problem is, the
amount of victims rescued, probably about 20,000 or so, would be about two percent in the sea of
victims."
The new standard for clarification does not require information to be true, factual, or accurate.
The new standard disregards the need for empirical evidence. Rather, it welcomes any bit of information
that simply seems plausible and cannot be proven false. Anyone is now free to quote CdeBaca or Costa
with their respective numbers. By the standards of current media, advocates, and government
reporting, both men are correct – because no one can prove either man wrong.
Local and national media, always searching for a tagline that will bring the most people to their
program in order to boost ratings and subsequent advertising dollars, lap up every salacious quote
nonprofit organizations can bring them.
Of course, in an effort to continually raise more donations, these charitable organizations often
create attention-grabbing, blanket statements out of thin air. Or worse, they will quote other sources
with no reality in their numbers, thereby propagating information which cannot be proven or disproven.
With the NGO jumping into the role of “expert” and the news outlet looking for headlines, everyone
with a stake in the game plays along with the arrangement to bring the ‘important information you
should know about’ to the public. It’s a powerful partnership producing virtually no real knowledge or
understanding.
The information is rarely based on truth, reliable studies, or hard data. Instead, it is fluff; mere
fiction intended to draw in more dollars and more viewers. With the current state of media,
forever on deadline and under constant pressure to produce the most sensational news packages, there
is no pressure to prove the facts or statistics provided by these “go to” anti-human-trafficking
organizations. Anecdotal evidence rules the airwaves and the issue.
“Numbers take on a life of their own,” observes David A. Feingold, director of the Ophidian
Research Institute, “gaining acceptance through repetition, often with little inquiry into their
derivations. Journalists – bowing to the pressures of editors – demand numbers, any numbers.
Organizations feel compelled to supply them, lending false precision and spurious authority to many
reports.”
“The trafficking of girls and women is one of several highly emotive issues which seem to
overwhelm critical faculties,” according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization Trafficking Statistics Project, which was initiated as “a first step toward clarifying what we
know, what we think we know, and what we don’t know about trafficking.”
The most common claim made by the local organizations and their partners in the local media is
that their home turf has a particularly bad human trafficking problem; far worse than other areas in
America. “Houston is home to the largest commercial sex industry per square mile,” reported KSBJ radio
in Texas. Their unquestioned source is Rescue and Restore of Houston, who see themselves as “brokers
of change in the anti-human-trafficking movement.” Their source for the claim is never given, however
for $20 they will take you on a bus tour of Houston to see, from the safety of an air-conditioned coach,
‘red flags’ that human trafficking may be afoot” in Houston.
With great affection for the word “hub,” there is a constant flow of stories touting the vicious
local problem of human trafficking.
“Atlanta a hub for child prostitution even after more than a decade of efforts to stamp it out.
Advocates contend at least 400 minors prostitute themselves in Georgia,” reports the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution. “Toledo is a hub in the country for the recruitment of our kids into the sex trade,” says Dr.
Celia Williamson, founder of Second Chance, an “organization designed to help victims of prostitution
and human trafficking.” She claims, “the FBI ranks it fourth in the nation for investigations, arrests, and
rescues of children; children forced into prostitution.” “Florida: A Modern Slavery Hub,” is the title of an
article by the Florida Chapter of the National Organization for Women which goes on to say that,
“Florida is commonly known among law enforcement personnel to have one of the highest incidences of
human trafficking in the country.” “Phoenix is a hub for sex-trafficking, a place where young girls are in
high demand,” proclaims The Colombian Newspaper. “Portland has the highest per capita number of
porn shops of any U.S. city. Now, Portland has been called a major hub for child sex trafficking,” charged
the Portland Tribune, which concluded, “While Las Vegas, Hawaii, California, and Washington are hit
hard by the epidemic as well, Portland is a particular hot spot because it’s situated along the Interstate 5
corridor, a perfect place for pimps in their 30s to recruit girls as young as 12 to disconnect from their
friends and families and start selling their bodies for sex.”
Local media sometimes put aside the basic principles of journalism in order to gain the bragging
rights of having the worst human trafficking problems in their area. On October 7, 2010, Seattle
television station, KCPQ – “Q13Fox” – ran a report titled, “Human Trafficking: The Laws And Challenges
For The State.” The longer than usual story ran three minutes and thirteen seconds (most local news
stories are 90 seconds or less) and focused entirely on the fact that “the numbers of children being
prostituted every year,” in Seattle, Washington, “is growing at an alarming rate.” The story included
interviews with Linda Smith, an unidentified Federal official, and Assistant United States Attorney Ye-
Ting Woo, who speaks accurately to the dynamic of where victims are found: “There are trafficking
victims who were found in quiet, residential, east side neighborhoods. There are trafficking victims who
are found in Southwest Washington, in rural areas, in busy businesses. There’s not one particular area
where you can go and say this is where it’s happening.”
The report and interviews describe the problem of underage prostitution exclusively in Seattle,
Washington. There is no other geographic area covered in the news piece.
To create visual impact during a television news story, the reporter or anchor will often speak
over “B-roll,” which is background video related directly to a particular event. A typical use of B-roll is a
television news anchor, sitting at their desk “in studio” explaining the story of an overnight house fire
while the viewer is shown video of the fire scene. This is a “voice-over” using B-roll to create a news
“package.”
During the KCPQ package on Seattle, Washington, commercial sexual exploitation of “young
girls” the reporter begins the story from inside the television studio explaining how human trafficking
works within the city. However, the B-roll seen by the viewer is clearly from an unnamed Asian city. The
young girls lining the street corners are all Asian. The signs on the buildings are in Asian writing. The
license plates on the automobiles are not the type and size used by any state in America. Quickly, the
scene switches to shots of suburban areas around Seattle, inside the Seattle legislature, and Washington
State’s Capitol building. Then, we’re taken back to Asian girls walking the street – with palm trees in the
background. Next, the view is showing video of young girls, disheveled and filthy, coming out of a
stuffed and hidden cupboard, along with two girls walking through what looks like an attic. No
explanation is given for the footage, its location, or its relevancy to the story.
The reporter was subsequently asked about her source of the footage used in the news story
about CSE in Washington. Her reply: “We used lots of YouTube video for that piece. Most of it was from
overseas as they seem much more aware of the problem there.” With no consideration for the truth or
what they were implying by showing the video, the “journalists” had done what any high-school student
working on a video essay would do: they simply downloaded the worst video they could find from
YouTube and passed it off as factual.
The confusion didn’t end there. The television station posted the entire interview with Linda
Smith on its website, during which the reporter asks Smith, “from talking to members of ICE, the FBI,
Seattle PD . . . they’re telling me that Seattle is coming up number one,” with regards to human
trafficking. Without disagreeing with the interviewer’s assessment of Seattle being “number one,” Smith
replied, saying, “The numbers here are soft. They’re not going to be quantified. I actually don’t know
how many girls and boys that we help. It’s thousands. Whether it’s one or thousands, this area is very
key in setting a tone for the nation.”
Then, without checking the source of the information or the statistics behind the reporter’s
question to Smith, Washington State University’s newspaper, The Evergreen, ran a story titled, “Seattle
ranks first in child prostitution,” on October 15, 2010. The story cited WCPQ verbatim, reporting the TV
station, “aired a special on child prostitution in the Pacific Northwest,” and that “Seattle is first in the
nation in child prostitution.”
That was all the Internet needed. Within 24 hours, hundreds of news stories, blogs, twitter
alerts, and Facebook accounts were lighting up with the news. The “global human trafficking roundup,”
published by Examiner.com, ran the headline, “Seattle ranks the first in nation for child prostitution,” on
the very same day.
True or not, Seattle’s status as the center of child prostitution in America had become “fact.”
“Slavery has been abolished under international law for more than 150 years,” explains
University Law Professor Brian Lepard. “But the fact is slavery persists and contemporary forms of
slavery are actually increasing in many parts of the world. It occurs right here in America and right here
in Nebraska.”
Locals not only enjoy claiming that their particular town is one of the main hubs of trafficking,
but providing melodramatic examples of it happening “right here in the America.” Hopefully, the media
will soon end its perfunctorily feigned shock at the news that human trafficking occurs in the United
States. A quick review of current trafficking stories reported at the local, regional, and national level
shows the vast majority of these reports have a remarkably similar angle: “Think Human Trafficking does
not happen? Think again!” Or, “Human trafficking is a crime more readily associated with less developed
countries than our own safe communities. The sad truth, however, is that the sordid crime has become
a growing problem right here in North Carolina.” Or, “Most Louisvillians would have a hard time
imagining that anything like that could be happening here, but the unfortunate truth is that human
trafficking happens everywhere, especially places like Louisville.” Or, “Farm workers held as slaves?
Where? In the United States.” Or, “Human trafficking isn’t just overseas: It’s alive in D.C. and its
suburbs.” Or, “It’s hard to believe but the sex trafficking of children is happening right here in
Connecticut.”
A typical introduction to this kind of story reads like this: “Housing lacked enough heat in
freezing winters and air conditioning in scorching summers. They repeatedly went hungry and even
trapped wild birds to subsist. That did not occur in Sudan, Burma, or some other infamous Third World
slavery abyss. It happened in Utah . . .”
Occasionally, the story uses the “in our little town” angle. Reporting on “a region better known
for its affluence and desirable coastal lifestyle,” San Diego’s North County Times Newspaper called
human trafficking, “A Blemish on Region’s Sunny Reputation,” further explaining that “two dozen people
were arrested in a prostitution sting involving several health spas. This bust didn’t occur in San Francisco
or New York City. It happened in Vista.”
Stories beginning like this eventually get to the particular case they are reporting. Soon, it leaves
the news cycle. The victims are forgotten and the issue itself goes away. That is until another
exploitation story comes to light. Then the entire cycle starts over again. “Human trafficking in our
town? That’s what police are claiming.” “Yes, human trafficking happens here. And it happens more
than you think.”
Commenting on the way her colleagues report stories of human trafficking and CSE, Lynn Sherr,
a former ABC News Correspondent and writer for The Daily Beast observed that “they are headline
stories, they are sexy headline stories and then nobody follows through on them.”
All too often, the stories of the victims get lost in the high-pitched tenor of the attention-
grabbing headlines. Meaningful information is pushed aside in this habitually circuitous reporting. While
Feingold observes that, “Trafficking is clearly the flavor of the month, forcing its way up the public
agenda,” its coverage in the traditional and new media is repetitive to the point of numbing their
audience. Reporting CSE as rare, unusual, or exotic is just one in a long list of inaccuracies. It is a
monstrous crime, a horrible sin against humanity, a deadly, dirty business. But, it is also commonplace
and has been for a very long time.
“This is a U.S. problem. This is a Florida problem. It’s an Alachua County problem. This isn’t just
one case we have that we stumbled across. This is a local issue,” states Alachua County Florida Detective
Tyson Elliott. Venting his frustration with the perception that human trafficking doesn’t happen very
often and the media’s lackluster reporting of it, Elliott asks, “Drugs are the number one crime in the
world. Guns are the number three crime worldwide. So, if we have those two, why wouldn’t we have
the number two crime in the world, which is human trafficking?” he asked.
“I think we have an easier time looking at these girls when they are in India or Thailand and
being thoughtful or supportive of those girls,” explains Sadaa Saar, executive director of the Rebecca
Project. “But when those girls come from Southeast D.C., or Toledo, Ohio, or Atlanta, Georgia, we are
challenged at being able to see them as victims. It’s much easier to call them bad girls or girls acting out,
as opposed to recognizing these are girls who are vulnerable, who are being raped and exploited.”
CSE in the United States should not be a continuous, repetitive loop in the public discourse.
Slaves were brought and made here when Europeans settled North America centuries ago and there
have been slaves here ever since. Yes, that is news. But it is old news. It is time to move on and dig
deeper into the issue. Otherwise, we are doing a profound disservice to the needs of the victims, the
complexities of the crime, and the methods by which it can be fought.
Perhaps the most dangerous myth is that simply discussing or communicating the issue is
somehow enough. Victims deserve nothing less than a response of courage, sacrifice, and action. Luis
CdeBaca implores the news media as “an independent voice – hopefully the voice of the victim –
hopefully with enough responsible standards that it is not an extra form of exploitation . . . to
strengthen the movement against this crime.”
While excellent, life-saving work is being performed every day by only a handful of American
nonprofit organizations, the majority of self-proclaimed, “modern-day abolitionists” spend their time
writing blogs, blasting e-mails, planning events with every conceivable theme, and creating clever
methods of attracting an all-too-willing media.
 The problems discrediting the anti-human-trafficking movement are exacerbated by the
profusion of sensationalists eager to get their version of the issue in the news. Their quest for money
and the spotlight has them spreading statements and statistics without the slightest consideration given
to the original sources or veracity of the information they are quoting.
Melissa Farley, founder of Prostitution Research & Education, an organization that claims to
conduct “research on prostitution, pornography and trafficking,” told The New York Times that “98
percent of sex workers who advertised on Craigslist, were victims – of abuse, drugs, poverty or
circumstance – who desperately wanted out of the profession.” Knowing she had absolutely no proof,
research, or real data to validate her claim, the Times simply printed the quote without challenging or
checking the number, thereby giving validation where none was warranted.
In an 11-page “research report” entitled, “Renting an Organ for Ten Minutes: What Tricks Tell Us
about Prostitution, Pornography, and Trafficking,” Farley offers virtually no cogent statistical analysis,
just hundreds of quotes from johns meant to shock and infuriate readers. The only set of numbers
offered in the 2007 narrative appears in a short list of percentages of men who have ever bought or
“rented a woman in prostitution” in 12 different countries. While presenting the list as valid, Farley
offers the disclaimer: “It is impossible to accurately estimate how many men in the world have bought
women for sex. Representative samples of customers of prostitutes do not exist.” After nullification of
the very information presented, the validity of the “report” is further compromised by the fact that the
figures offered are from other studies, the latest of which was conducted in 2000, while the oldest
figures are from research conducted in 1964 and 1948.
Yet few, if any, challenge the results of such reports. They are either too eager to use the
numbers for their own gains or are apprehensive about questioning a “known authority.”
Like fundamentalist religious and political idealists who demand that constituents strictly adhere
to their particular tenants of faith and governmental philosophies, NGOs often establish strict rules of
obedience pertaining to their organization’s agenda, philosophical perspective, statistical gospel, and
financial goals. Those who do not obey the established order are merely cast aside as heretics. There is
very little tolerance for those whose opinions might interrupt the status quo or put potential donations
at risk.
While the topic of CSE is complex of its own merits, the eager acceptance of false and
misleading information surrounding the issue has led to even greater confusion in the media and the
public. Yet, the chaos and drama caused by activists so often compelled by masked agendas is not
limited to the carnage done by the misinformation they propagate. The real damage is that victims are
being used, once again, by those who claim to be helping them.
Without victims, there would be no reason for these organizations to exist; there would be no
story to report. Solving the problem of human trafficking would bring an end to their stated missions
along with the jobs of those who are employed by them, and the income and attention they enjoy. In
order to “boost awareness” they use victims and numbers with reckless abandon.
This is not to say CSE is not increasing. It most certainly is. The point here is that there is simply
no précis to demonstrate the truth one way or another. The only truth we know with absolute certainty
is that victims suffer – however many there are and wherever they may be. As anti-trafficking groups
become more entrenched and focused on their own existence and, as the media works in tandem with
them to entice the public, victims of trafficking – and the truth – become casualties of twisted priorities.
The real work to save victims and prevent more from being exploited is sacrificed on the altar of self-
promotion and financial gain.
Once again, the pain and suffering of victims are used for the money they can provide to others.

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“Don’t take assumptions for granted. Begin by taking a skeptical attitude toward anything that is
conventional wisdom. Make it justify itself. It usually can’t. Be willing to ask questions about what is
taken for granted. Try to think things through for yourself. There is plenty of information. You have got
to learn how to judge, evaluate, and compare it with other things. You have to take some things on trust
or you can’t survive. But if there is something significant and important don’t take it on trust. As soon as
you read anything that is anonymous you should immediately distrust it.”
Noam Chomsky

------------------------------------------------

Finding the numbers too good to pass up, one reporter swallowed whole the statements of The Renewal
Forum, which undertakes “programs of policy research and advocacy to promote respect for human
dignity.” The organization, based “on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.,” boasts “the principals of the
Forum include several leading national experts on human trafficking.” In her Huffington Post blog,
Conchita Sarnoff stated, “According to The Renewal Forum, each year in America 2,300 children [sic] fall
victim to commercial sexual exploitation in Kansas, and 4,700 are victimized in Missouri, with nearly a
quarter of this total (16) being victimized in the Kansas City Metropolitan area.” No backup is given from
the blogger or the organization for these numbers. None is provided because none exists. However, the
data has been repeated in several other forums with unquestioned validity.
On a much larger scale, many are given to quote Professor Kevin Bales, president of the
organization Free The Slaves, whose landmark book, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global
Economy, first introduced the topic of human trafficking to thousands of readers in 1999. Ten years
later, the numbers from his book are regularly and freely repeated by many looking to inform – and
shock – their audiences with figures they claim to be accurate by mere faith. “Kevin Bales estimates that
there are at least 27 million slaves in the world today,” stated one researcher. “The world has a
population of over 6 billion, yet out of that 6 billion, according to Kevin Bales, 20 million are slaves,”
states another.
Eleven years after Bales’ book was published, Dr. Mick Wilkinson, lecturer on race and social
justice, stated proudly in a British television interview that, “Professor Kevin Bales, who is a colleague
with me at the Wilberforce Institute at the University of Hull, has estimated that there are now 26
million people globally who are actually victims of the slave trade.”
What each Bales commentator fails to mention is that the first person to warn against this use
of information as the last word on the topic is Bales himself. In his book they so often quote he states
emphatically, “No one should assume that I have made a definitive statement about slavery in any of
these countries, about these specific economic enterprises, or about the social relationships that tie
them together. And by no means is this research exhaustive.” Those citing Professor Bales, while
confidently giving life to phantom facts, might be surprised to learn that he firmly believes his research
had to be exploratory because, “contemporary slavery is almost completely neglected in the social
sciences. It is an area wide open for research, but also one in which earlier studies offer little guidance.”
More recently, in his book, The Slave Next Door, Bales admits, “The fact is, the precise number
of slaves in the United States, whether trafficked in from other countries or enslaved from our own
population, is simply not known. Given the hidden nature of the crime, the best numbers on offer are
rough estimates.”
This phenomenon of unapologetically using unsubstantiated data and incorrect facts is
illustrated clearly in one statement from The Slave Next Door in which Bales quotes an FBI official who
was testifying before Congress. “‘The average age range of a child first used in prostitution is 11 to 14,’
FBI assistant director Chris Swecker says, ‘with some as young as 9 years of age.’ It’s another
unsupported statistic,” Bales writes, “but regardless, it is clear that children are being prostituted.”
 Though the motive is certainly of good intent, it does not justify citing erroneous numbers.
Stating this data – while hijacking validity from the fact that they were spoken by the FBI – then
immediately declaring there is no evidence or proof to back it up forces the acceptability of unsound
data on the consumer of information. An “unsupported statistic” is nothing more than fiction. Treating it
as anything greater or more valuable is simply dangerous to the issue’s discourse and to finding long-
term solutions. Further publishing and broadcasting “statistics” that are unsupported places the entire
discussion of commercial sexual exploitation on a weak intellectual foundation. The more a statistic,
number, or “fact” is used by “credible sources,” the more false validity clings to it. Credible sources
regurgitating data lacking in credibility do not make the data more dependable. It only makes the person
or persons citing it less credible. In the end, whatever justification is given for using and repeating
mythical data, the victims deserve far better.
Another “go to” human-trafficking commentator is The New York Times Columnist Nicholas
Kristof who has brought unprecedented awareness to the topic of human trafficking. Often called upon
to speak at anti-trafficking conferences and on panel discussions, Kristof has written extensively on the
topic and is perhaps the most well-known anti-trafficking pundit in the media. After quoting the writer
on the topic of human trafficking during a speech in New York City, United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon validated his statement by saying, “This is the phrase, the language which I have been
using around the world many hundred times, quoting Nicholas Kristof.”
Not immune to putting sensationalism before verifiable facts, Kristof ’s November 27, 2010,
column told the story of “Yumi” who he describes as “a college graduate who says she spent three years
terrorized by pimps in a brothel in Midtown Manhattan.” After relating the horrifying details of “Yumi”
being forced into prostitution on 36th Street in New York City, Kristof states emphatically, “I can’t be
sure of elements of Yumi’s story, but it mostly rings true to me.” Again, rather than offer evidence or
verifiable facts, otherwise reputable journalists provide stories that simply “ring true.” In the same
article, Kristof makes another important qualification pertaining to his – and every – human-trafficking
story in the media, “No one has a clear idea of the scale of the problem, and estimates vary hugely.”
However, this does not downplay the dynamic that, “the victim identity imposed on so many in the
name of helping them makes helpers themselves disturbingly important figures,” according to Laura
María Agustín, human rights advocate, author, and staunch critic of what she refers to as the human
trafficking “Rescue Industry.”
------------------------------------------------
“The number of cases for which we have this data are few, too few on which to base any conclusion.”
Commercialized Prostitution in New York City
1913
------------------------------------------------
The increasingly incestuous discussion going on between all those involved in the “anti-trafficking
community” has been successful mostly at closing off the discourse to all those not within their limited
circle. They use the same sources of information, quote the same data, seek funds from the same
donors, attend the same meetings and conferences, read and write the same information online, clamor
to be near the same celebrities, and take advantage of the same superficial media outlets and publicity.
The repetition of their gospel gives what Stephen Colbert calls a “truthiness” to what they are saying. It
may be true. It may not be. But if we all “feel” like it’s true, then it must be.
The result is an aging merry-go-round filled with riders who call themselves “experts in human
trafficking” whose main purpose is to keep the ride going.
Having worked on the issue of human trafficking for more than 20 years, Matthew Friedman,
regional project manager for the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking observe
that, "the real experts in human trafficking are not people like me, they are the people who have been
trafficked.”
 Author and former “rentboy” (male prostitute) David Henry Sterry explains, “When I first came
out as an ex-sex worker, I started getting invited to prostitute and sex worker conferences. There are
two distinct groups who inhabit this world: decriminalizationists and abolitionists. Decriminalizationist
conferences are populated by academics, policy wonks and activists, plus a few current and former hos,
hookers, call girls and rent boys. Abolitionist conferences are populated by much the same, plus
politicians and law enforcement. Both groups are evangelical, rhetorical and theoretical. Statistics are
bandied about, dogma is flung and resolutions are passed. The decriminalizationists keep screaming
“Decriminalize sex work!” The abolitionists keep screaming “Sex work is slavery!” and want human
traffickers to be hunted down like dogs.”
------------------------------------------------
“To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be
most useful, I should answer, ‘by restraining it to true facts & sound principles only.’ Yet I fear such a
paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not
more completely deprive the nation of it’s benefits, than is done by it’s abandoned prostitution to
falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious
by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to
those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day. I really look
with commiseration over the great body of my fellow citizens, who, reading newspapers, live & die in
the belief, that they have known something of what has been passing in the world in their time; whereas
the accounts they have read in newspapers are just as true a history of any other period of the world as
of the present, except that the real names of the day are affixed to their fables. General facts may
indeed be collected from them, such as that Europe is now at war, that Bonaparte has been a successful
warrior, that he has subjected a great portion of Europe to his will, etc., etc.; but no details can be relied
on. I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads
them inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods
& errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.”
Thomas Jefferson
Letter to John Norvell, newspaper editor and U.S. Senator from Michigan
June 14, 1807
------------------------------------------------
In the United States, the depiction of commercial sexual exploitation becomes increasingly fuzzy with
each new report. After exposing the fictitious $20-billion child-pornography figure, the Washington Post
exhibited its frustration with the lack of data by stating, “Statistics documenting the problem are vague
and vary widely. The government estimates that 14,500 to 17,500 victims of trafficking are brought to
the United States each year. A study funded by the Justice Department found that almost 2,000 children
fall into a category of trafficking victims because they are at risk of sexual exploitation.”
By far, the most widely recognized source of trafficking information and statistics is the annual
Trafficking In Persons Report compiled under federal mandate by the U.S. Department of State. In 2010
the report made the unprecedented move of rating the United States among the worlds’ nations in their
efforts to battle human trafficking. Statistics in the TIP report, released on June 14, 2010, were widely
circulated with incredible speed by advocates and the media – all hungry for numbers of any kind.
Read carefully, however, TIP does not offer much help to anyone looking to clarify the picture of
trafficking of all forms in the United States. For instance, the report admits, “It is unknown how many
U.S. citizen victims were referred to law enforcement or received services.”
With only apparent accuracy, the 2010 report confidently concludes that, “Eighty-two percent of
foreign adult victims were labor trafficking victims, of which 58 percent were men and 42 percent were
women; 15 percent were adult sex trafficking victims, all of whom were women; and three percent were
victims of both forms. Fifty-six percent of foreign child victims were labor trafficking victims, of which
half were boys and half were girls; 38 percent were sex trafficking victims, of which 16 percent were
boys; and six percent were victims of both forms.” While these statistics were repeated around the
world as inarguable fact, many of the repeaters overlooked or chose to ignore an important disclaimer
on the very same page: “Despite the mandates of 2005 and 2008 amendments to the TVPA, uniform
data collection for trafficking crimes or numbers of victims among federal, state, and local law
enforcement agencies did not occur during the reporting period.” How, then, was the data obtained?
Imitating so many others who quote figures with no foundation, the writers of the U.S.
government’s report do not explain how or from where they collected the information they are
providing. This leaves the validity of the TIP 2010 statistics, as they relate to the United States, in serious
question.
Yet, while some cling to its claims with cult-like devotion, others use the report for their own
devices. Politically, the TIP report is used each year as a point of criticism by the opponents of the sitting
Presidential administration. While their motivations are political gain (another immeasurable quantity)
rather than victim salvation, they nonetheless have valid points to make.
Immediately following the release of the 2010 report, the first to cover a full year of the Obama
Presidency and a State Department headed by Hillary Clinton, Janice Shaw, a former speechwriter for
George H. W. Bush, wrote that the report was, “deeply flawed,” stating, “the Department of Justice did
not comply with the mandate to study and tabulate the extent of the trafficking problem in the United
States.”
Much to the dismay of fundamentalist advocates against human trafficking who stand firmly by
any and all published statistics from the noted disciples of their cause, Shaw is absolutely correct in
observing that, “the 2010 TIP report does not address the provisions of the 2008 Wilberforce Act which
required the TIP office to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts across the Federal agencies, thus ensuring
compliance with the legislation’s provisions, including a new model law for states that would make all
acts of pandering and pimping per se crimes regardless of whether or not there is proof of fraud, force,
or coercion, and whether or not the victim is a minor.” She concludes that the TIP’s office at the State
Department and its report’s failure to rate the United States accurately, “effectively gives free reign to
exploiters from Craigslist advertisers, escort services, massage parlors, brothel operators to the street
pimps.”
Here we are reminded of Feingold’s reality check: “It is crystal clear, however, that in the case of
human trafficking, no one really knows the true value of the trade. Trafficking numbers provide the false
precision of quantification, while lacking any of the supports of statistical rigor.”
In an attempt to justify the massive funding it receives from the U.S. Federal Government,537
Polaris Project, an organization “committed to combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery,”
released a “Dirty Dozen” listing of American States “that have failed to enact basic human trafficking
provisions or have provisions that fail to adequately address the growing crime.”538 The list of 12 states
included: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The press release also stated that
“Human trafficking is a $32 billion a year industry worldwide,” and that “an estimated 100,000
American children are exploited in the commercial sex industry annually.” The release – and
accompanying map – never mentions why these states were selected or the criteria used in targeting
them. Further, absolutely no sources are given for the statistics or the methodology used in arriving at
them. Polaris is often used by the media and anti-human-trafficking advocates as the best source for
trafficking information because of its close alignment with the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS), from which it gets the bulk of its funding. As such, the list of “dirty” states and the
statistics provided in the press release were quickly picked up by organizations and activists who used
the new information to argue that they need more money to “end modern-day slavery.” It was no more
than a tool for more fundraising. While the fine print of its “Dirty Dozen” press release clearly states that
it was paid for by HHS but does not reflect its views, Polaris used the information it created to bolster its
position as a leader in the anti-trafficking movement, thereby assuring its federal funding in coming
years.
“Data is a huge problem,” says Mike McGraw, a Kansas City Star reporter who won a Pulitzer
prize for his series of articles, “Human Trafficking in America.” “There are no good numbers. And the
numbers that we have had have been questioned over and over again by the GAO [Government
Accountability Office] and others.”
Noy Thrupkew, author of The Nation magazine series, “The Crusade Against Sex Trafficking”
agrees. While pointing out unknown agendas behind all the numbers, “A significant issue (is) the
profound lack of data or prevalence of very ideological skewed data or data with questionable
methodology behind the procurement of said data.”
One of the most widely circulated of these questionable “facts” is that “600,000 – 800,000 men,
women, and children are trafficked across international borders” each year. Thousands of websites,
articles, fundraisers, and “experts” continue to quote this spurious figure first cited in the 2004 TIP
Report.
After researching the veracity of the number in 2006, the Government Accounting Office (GAO)
determined that “the U.S. government’s estimate was developed by one person who did not document
all his work,” and that “the accuracy of the estimates is in doubt because of methodological weaknesses,
gaps in data, and numerical discrepancies.” Noting that “The U.S. Government agency that prepares the
trafficking estimate is part of the intelligence community, which makes its estimation methodology
opaque and inaccessible,” the GAO report concluded that the government “has not yet established an
effective mechanism for estimating the number of victims or for conducting ongoing analysis of
trafficking related data.” Citing the government’s methodology for determining trafficking figures, The
Washington Post discovered “an unscientific estimate by a CIA analyst who relied mainly on clippings
from foreign newspapers.”
Despite the serious lack of validity discrediting the “600,000 – 800,000” figure since 2006, it
remained in wide circulation. For instance, the Connecticut General Assembly Interagency Task Force on
Trafficking in Persons submitted a “Final Report” in January 2007, citing the number in its introduction
under the heading, “What is Human Trafficking?” Neither did the GAO’s sharp criticism of the number
stop Ambassador Mark Lagon, then the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in
Persons, from stating in June 2008 that, “according to the U.S. intelligence community, approximately
800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year.” Nor does the lack of evidence
prevent anti-trafficking fundraising organizations from erroneously proclaiming the apocryphal number
as fact on their donation websites years later.
Realizing the number needed a healthy dose of solid research, the Library of Congress and CIA
contracted Mercyhurst College graduate students to start surfing the Internet, looking for more stories
about trafficking. “The numbers were totally unreliable,” observed David Osborne, who led the Library
of Congress’s Federal research division at the time. “If it was reported that 15 women were trafficked
from Romania into France, French media might pick it up and say 32 women and someone else would
say 45.” Once their anecdotal evidence had been gathered, “a CIA analyst ran the research through a
computer simulation program,” reported The Washington Post in 2007. Finally, the number everyone
was looking for appeared on the computer screen: 14,500 -17,500 victims in America every year.
Since that moment the number has been cited as absolute fact by an ever-increasing club of
giddy usual suspects, few of whom realize they are quoting a machine.
Journalism critic Trevor Butterworth exposes some of the motivations and agendas buried
beneath the surface by explaining, “in the vacuum created by this disconnect and distrust, fear and rage
are ministered to by a mix of aggressive and well-funded activist campaigns and a virtual network of
publications and bloggers lacking in any apparent scientific training or skepticism.”
 Another glaring example of questionable data made valid through the mere fact that it was
stated publicly came during the September 15, 2010, hearing before a Congressional Subcommittee on
Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. The hearing focused on “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking” and
was the forum to which Craigslist representatives had been asked to testify.
The statements from those testifying during just this one event demonstrate that whenever
otherwise reasonable and intelligent people are under pressure to cite statistics they often fall back to a
certain set of apocryphal numbers that must certainly annoy their intellect at some level. Addressing
these whispers of the mind, there is a pattern among those in the anti-human-trafficking community in
which they provide qualification prior to citing statistics. “Although it is difficult to quantify the scope of
this problem with accuracy,” stated Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC when he testified that day,
“the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimates that at least 100,000 American children
each year are the victims of commercial child prostitution and child trafficking.”
During her statement, former Congresswoman Linda Smith, appearing as the founder and
director of Shared Hope International, stated, “A study done in Georgia used Craigslist advertising to
determine that 12,400 men buy sex with young women in a given month in Georgia, of whom 7,200 end
up exploiting a minor. These 7,200 men account for 8,700 paid sex acts with minors each month in
Georgia, with an average of 300 acts per day.” At the same hearing the report was also referred to as
“the first of its kind to quantify, describe, and understand demand for paid sex with underage girls” by
Deborah Richardson, who was testifying for the Women’s Funding Network.
The report they quoted, “Men Who Buy Sex with Adolescent Girls: A Scientific Study,” was
conducted by The Schapiro Group, a private research firm referring to itself as “a strategic partner for
corporate, nonprofit, public sector and political clients,” that is “pleased to be known” for “flexibility and
imagination.”
After objectively analyzing the entire report, Amanda Flaim, a statistics consultant for David
Feingold at Cornell University, who specializes in demography and research methods, found the report
“extremely problematic on a number of levels,” citing “its various shortcomings in terms of its near
complete disregard for substantiation of research in a body of literature, its insufficient elaboration of
the methodology, its full lack of attention to ethics, and the various extrapolations/ conclusions they
draw out of the ‘statistics.’” Flaim captured the frustration with the ongoing use of data claiming to be
“scientific” by concluding, “It’s truly disappointing that most research on sex trafficking is so poorly
executed. Poor research will not inform strong policy to effectively deal with such a horrific practice.”
An introduction to the United Nations Trafficking Statistics Project brought some clarity to the
cause behind the growing confusion. “When it comes to statistics, trafficking of girls and women is one
of several highly emotive issues which seem to overwhelm critical faculties. Numbers take on a life of
their own, gaining acceptance through repetition, often with little inquiry into their derivations.
Journalists, bowing to the pressures of editors, demand numbers, any number. Organizations feel
compelled to supply them, lending false precisions and spurious authority to many reports.”
Certainly, this lack of accuracy and the compulsive habit of circulating squishy numbers in order
to advance an agenda are not new to the fight against commercial sexual exploitation. “Anything
resembling an exact figure is obviously impossible to get, but estimates on the total of full-time
professional prostitutes in the United States run as high as 500,000,” reported Time magazine in 1971
with no substantiation. However, the tactic goes back even further, having been used in the United
States for nearly 200 years.
“Few statistics were as inexact and divergent as those pertaining to the population of
prostitutes,” writes Timothy Gilfoyle in his historical study of prostitution in New York City between
1790-1920. Indeed, in 1833 the Journal of Public Morals agreed that the number of 10,000 prostitutes
working in New York was certainly exaggerated, “but it nonetheless continued to employ that figure.”
 In 1834, the New York Moral Reform Society began to address the rising problem of male
“licentiousness and its destructive effect on women.” Cities in America were growing rapidly. Young
men and women were leaving their families in rural areas to find work and homes in new urban centers.
“The Moral Reformers were alarmed,” writes Patricia Cline Cohen in her book, A Calculating People: The
Spread of Numeracy in Early America. “One way they chose to communicate that alarm was through
statistics.” In a publication distributed widely by them in the mid-1830s, the Reformers stated
emphatically that in America “there were as many as 12,000 brothels, 75,000 to 120,000 ‘harlots,’
500,000 licentious wicked men, and 500 shops selling ‘evil books, pictures, and the paraphernalia of
destruction.’” They also claimed that 20,000 women died each year “as a result of prostitution.”
Obviously, as Cohen concludes, “their figures were estimates, and there was no way the reader
could evaluate them. But that was less important than the shock value of such large numbers.”
So important were the relevance of numbers to an increasingly educated American public that
Hinton Rowan Helper, a contemporary of Harriet Beecher Stowe and southern anti-slave writer, placed
his 1857 book of “slavery statistics,” The Impending Crisis of The South next to Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s
Cabin in importance and influence, saying, “it is all well enough for women to give the fictions of slavery;
men should give the facts.” Helper’s book rarely mentioned the plight of slaves or Blacks, but rather it
gave an economical and statistical argument that slavery was ultimately bad for White people.
That was enough for the South, where the book was banned and burned.
“Most of the writing and activism on this issue does not seem to be based on empirical evidence
even when produced by academics,” writes Laura María Agustín. “Many authors lean heavily on media
reports and statistics published with little explanation of methodology or clarity about definitions. The
‘evidence’ is often circular, as officials cite news reports which cite officials.”
Political, financial, and egotistical agendas continually overshadow the true priorities of fighting
commercial sexual exploitation in America: saving current and potential victims. Those recognized as
authorities are promulgating ambiguous statistics, data, and facts for their own gain while consequently
sinking the healing and restoration of victims beneath their personal agendas. Advancing their ideals,
whatever they may be, has become their singular priority. This conspiracy of arrogance is inexorably
destructive to the process of creating best practices and discovering solid answers to extraordinarily
complex questions facing all facets of human trafficking.
It is ironic that we cannot openly and freely discuss ideas with these idealists. By their nature,
they only have but one idea; a singular, confined frame of reference from which they approach all forces
facing the world around them. Unless you are a tried-and-true member of their exclusive tribe of
thought, you, your opinions, your research, your experience, and especially your ideas are invalid to
them, not because of the weight of the evidence you bring, but simply because you are not of like mind.
They draw you into their discourse only to demonstrate their disdain for those who will not loyally recite
the dogma to which they have devoted the whole of their being.
While the idealist sacrifices truth for the sake of his resolute intellectual stance, he also disposes
of rational unity, critical thinking, and the cooperative creation of lasting solutions. The idealist, no
matter where he stands, does so on one leg. He is an intolerant fool.
In November 2009, one word brought into question the entire theory of global warming and the
scientists who study it. In e-mails hacked from computers at Britain’s University of East Anglia’s Climatic
Research Unit, it was revealed that a well-known, well-respected climatologist had used a statistical
“trick” in a chart illustrating recent, dramatic warming trends. The international media, pundits,
politicians, business leaders, and other academicians immediately denounced the validity of all scientists
studying climate change. The incident irreparably tarnished their reputation as a community. Suddenly,
no one was seeking the truth about the issue at hand. The only matter discussed was the apparent
fallacy of the data and the motives behind those who seemed to be manipulating the numbers. Even if
real answers were to be found, who would believe the scientists who found them? The damage had
been done. The important issue of global warming – true or not – was pushed aside in favor of satisfying
the appetites so inherent in our culture of conflict.
------------------------------------------------
“Fighting human trafficking is not a static exercise. A trafficking law passed last year must be
implemented and improved this year. The lessons learned from last year’s prosecutions should inform
and improve this year’s law enforcement response. Wide disparities between numbers of trafficking
victims identified and trafficking offenders prosecuted should be reviewed with the goal of improving
the capacity of law enforcement responders to deliver justice for victims. Although numbers of
trafficking prosecutions and convictions are important indicators of progress, the quality and impact of
counter-trafficking law enforcement efforts are more significant.”
Hillary Clinton
US Secretary of State
------------------------------------------------
The issue of human trafficking will not be spared from the hunger of world politics. Always seeking a
new issue with which to castigate those who do not agree with their worldview, an issue of this
magnitude will certainly be scrutinized and employed by strategists in America and around the world. To
believe otherwise is to deny basic human nature.
In July, 2010, Nicholas Kristof wrote in The New York Times that trafficking “seems to be
growing,” and that, “various reports and studies, none of them particularly reliable, suggest that
between 100,000 and 600,000 children may be involved in prostitution in the United States, with the
numbers increasing.” At once invalidating the very statistics he is citing, Kristof provides yet another
example of bad numbers repeated in otherwise legitimate journalism.
It is difficult to conceive of a similar statement being made by a respected climate change
advocate: “Global warming seems to be growing. Various reports and studies, none of them particularly
reliable, suggest that temperatures are rising between 10 and 60 degrees, with the numbers increasing.”
The argument for necessary change would collapse on such a weak intellectual foundation.
The pervasive level of puerile reporting on the topic may explain why trafficking is not given the
serious consideration it is due. As such, how long will indeterminate numbers, so often used by
“experts,” stand up to the strict analysis certain to come in the future? Will the issue be pushed aside
yet again? Will life-saving solutions be lost in the din of endless arguing? Most importantly, will its
victims be forgotten once more?
If verifiable facts are not available from those who appreciate true discernment; if the
conversation is filled with fiction while being reported without question as authentic, the consequences
for future victims will be dire.
With the intention of beginning a national moral housecleaning – and selling magazines
– Samuel McClure began a massive public campaign against prostitution and trafficking in 1907 when his
magazine declared, “The gross revenues from this business in Chicago, in 1906, were $20,000,000 – and
probably more. There are at least 10,000 professional prostitutes. Average annual receipts of dollars
each are brought in by these women.” Though no data, research, or evidence for these numbers were
offered, none were needed. The American populace was shocked and demanded action. Within three
years the federal government enacted The Mann Act, a law so massively flawed that over 100 years
later the crime of human trafficking continues to grow unabated.

------------------------------------------------
You cannot take a statistic by the hand. And even if you could, where would you find its heart and soul?
What can be stated as proven fact in the realm of commercial sexual exploitation, human
trafficking, and prostitution is limited to the human suffering of its individual victims. Each of them
began their lives with promise. And each of them had that promise broken and torn away. Though our
urge to quantify the problem often compromises our rational and critical judgment, we must not also let
it diminish the humanity of the individual who is fighting to escape and survive. While many claim to be
experts on the subject of human trafficking, only its victims and survivors have legitimacy in that claim.
Most others are mere observers.
Why is the “world’s oldest profession” reported as something new every time the media reports
it? Why is one of the world’s oldest crimes, slavery, reported with shock every time journalists discover
it? Yes, they are here. They have always been here. There is nothing new about either one. They are as
old as human nature. They are a part of the human condition. But, they don’t have to be. While we
continue the struggle to accurately measure, communicate, and effectively address the issue, thereby
providing it with much needed – and deserved – clarity, the priority must be those who are trapped in
the grip of trafficking without regard to how many there are, but rather to who they are. Their salvation
rests in the public’s realization that whatever their number, these are human beings, equal to us, and
each worthy of a life filled with hope, freedom, and joy.

------------------------------------------------

“Everything that artifice, violence, intimidation, popular countenance, and official connivance can do is
done to conceal the extent of the traffic.”
John Quincy Adams - January 24, 1841
Arguing the L’Amistad Case before the U.S. Supreme Court

------------------------------------------------
 Section Six
Getting Involved in the Fight Against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation

The Internet has created a world in which girls have become the new, addictive drug; a new commodity
to be bought and sold providing an irresistible profit margin. While street walking, strip joints,
newspaper ads, and motels are still going strong – the demand for young women and men is now hyper-
fueled by the Internet and the continually growing number of online listings.
The danger for victims has never gone away. It’s merely hiding and far more efficient. And those
who choose to drive by each day in blissful ignorance are complicit in creating the shadows in which it
lurks.
People seeking its illicit offerings no longer need to drive to the street corners or cruise the strip
to find women for sale. The street corner now comes to them and extends even beyond the front door
of every home in the United States. This Virtual street corner makes its way into the living rooms,
basements, bedrooms, hotel rooms, classrooms, and offices of anyone with a connected computer.
Yes, much of the obvious lewdness of traditional street-corner prostitution has gone away, often
leading us to believe that the continued abuse of these women has disappeared altogether or as
somehow become safe and sterile for those involved. In fact, it has become much larger, more
prevalent, and dangerous than ever before.
You don't have to drive to a theatre to see an X-rated movie. Simply download one at home.
You don't have to go to the store to buy a pornographic magazine. Millions of images are
available for free while you sit on your sofa.
You don't have to go to a “sex-booth” to watch a young female perform for you behind glass.
You can watch her live on your computer.
And while all this virtual content, previously available only in areas known for their proliferation,
are readily available online ― fooling the general public into thinking it no longer exists, making them
complacent or simply content in their ignorance ― the real danger to victims is that the virtual world
has now entered the real world. “Before the internet those who wanted to purchase sex with underage
children had to venture outside of their homes- subjecting themselves to potential arrest and public
stigma,” says Jakie Speier. “Today, perpetrators hide behind their personal computers and have a child
at their doorstep with a click of button.”
No longer does a man need to drive to those areas of town where the women offer themselves
on street corners. No longer does he need to go to strip clubs and find women there who are willing to
do more than dance. No longer does he need to find a newspaper and go to a cheap motel. Now, from
the safety of his home or hotel room, he can simply make a call and have a girl delivered to him like a
pizza.
There is some good news, however.
It is embodied by those who work directly with those who have been abused by commercial
sexual exploitation and stay with them long enough for the victims to become survivors. For years, in
some cases decades, this small group of colleagues has been coping and suffering with few funds and
almost no understanding. In some instances, they have given up hope.
To the detriment of victims, the brave people who are doing the real work to find them and
restore their lives ― by making and keeping life-long, sacrificial, hard commitments ― are being pushed
aside by those who have little experience and even less understanding of the courage, devotion, effort,
and work it takes to save a life damaged by human trafficking.
Articles, conferences, blogs, classrooms, and churches are filled with people and “experts”
talking about doing something, but very few take authentic, life-altering action. The constant call for
“outrage” has created an impotent din with little impact. If real change is to happen it must take place
on a deeply personal level.
“Sex trafficking is too big of a problem to be left to the government alone,” New Jersey
Congressman Chris Smith told his colleagues. While some change can take place at the federal, state,
and local government levels with better legislation and law enforcement, this will not solve the problem
on its own. “Suppression has never worked well,” observed Time Magazine back in 1971. “Even though
punishments for prostitution have at times included mutilation and beheading.” Even if all pimps were
arrested and prosecuted for human trafficking instead of simply “promoting prostitution,” the crime
would continue unabated. US prisons are filled with drug dealers who knew long prison sentences
awaited them. While more victims will be certainly be identified and saved, higher penalties for pimps
only treats the growing symptoms, not the cause.
The cause is men; men who buy and sell girls.
Ultimately, the best way to protect victims is to never allow them to become so in the first
place. And the only way to do this, and prevent the crime from spreading, is by decreasing demand. The
demand for young women who can be bought and sold will only be reduced when pimps and johns
determine that the crime is too risky – or more optimistically, morally reprehensible - to commit. If
demand is reduced in any "product" on the market then the market itself will wither and die. Remove
the demand for girls being sold and fewer will be recruited into exploitation.
This calls for a deep, fundamental change not just in our society, but perhaps in our very nature.
It is not an easy answer. It is a long, complicated answer that will take generations to accomplish.
To begin, legislation can enact better prosecutorial resources and tools that will protect
potential victims of all ages through prevention by reducing demand. This volume, detailing just one
case of human trafficking, adumbrates the exceeding difficulty faced by criminal justice in successfully
prosecuting these crimes. Law enforcement professionals are perhaps most keenly aware of the need
for victims to be healed through healthy, safe relationships. They have a uniquely close perspective from
which they have gained a valuable understanding of a very simple dynamic: victims need to realize their
own personal value and humanity by someone other than their pimps. “This minimally demands a
custodial environment that gives hope of the restoration of a fundamental human need to be cared for
and loved, to have basic survival and safety needs intact, and a diminished sense of hopelessness and
elevated sense of human value,” says Nicholas Sensley, Truckee, California’s Chief of Police. “Without
such circumstances and environments, victims of sex trafficking are readily poised to carry out the
strategic coaching of their traffickers, believe in the false hope they have been given, and flee and return
to their own demise at first opportunity.”
Certainly, the problem of commercial sexual exploitation will not be solved with more rallies,
documentaries, concerts, and charity events that “raise awareness.” These enervated functions gives
those involved the feeling they are doing something, but it does little to pull victims from the dangers of
trafficking or prevent more victims from falling into the pit. Yes, being “aware” of trafficking issues is
important, but often that itself is the implied solution. It is not. In the summer of 2010, everyone in
America was aware of BP's gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, but their awareness did not stop the
leak.
So how do we come to terms with wrong side of the human heart? For whatever reason, it
continues to beat from generation to generation; forever pumping bad blood through the back alley
veins of our world. Telling these hidden demons to simply go away will not rid us of them. Communal
naiveté is no excuse. Denying the existence of these darker angels is as dangerous to the future of
mankind as turning away from our better ones.
They must be confronted up-close, individually, and with utter bravery. Exhilarated shouts
extolled among those who mutually agree only deceive us into believing progress is being made. From
the perspective of the pimps and johns, it is all just silly, useless posturing; a scam made legitimate by its
growing acceptance; a con game equal to their own.
If real change is to happen it will take courageous people – pioneers who are not afraid of
sacrifice, humiliation, and personal loss.
It takes one-to-one, hard, dirty, self-sacrificing work. It takes a willingness to be humiliated,
embarrassed, shamed, poor, rejected, and broken. In other words, it takes a profound determination to
walk in the shoes of the victims; to follow them down into the pit and guide them on their way up and
out.
There are few who have the character and stomach for the hard fight against human trafficking.
And they do so not in the light of publicity and notoriety, but shrouded in the darkness of the dingy
alleyways where they live. Anonymity is their ally – and they would be horrified to have their names
listed here. They are not part of the “anti-trafficking community” so filled with personal agendas,
politics, religion, or professional ambitions. They don’t have time for those who spend their days at
computers, in comfortable offices, or endless meetings. They know their work is a matter of life and
death. They realize the war against human trafficking will not be won through getting their faces on the
news, planning creative fundraising events, or writing another blog posting. They just don’t have time.
The people who are saving the lives of human trafficking victims are not the type to call the fire
department when they see a burning house. They are the people who immediately run inside and look
for those who cannot escape on their own. They put themselves at risk every day. And often, the
burning flames of human trafficking’s fire cause them great pain. This work changes them. It hurts their
relationships with family and friends. They go broke. They lose it all. But they go on because there are
lives at risk; lives worthy of being saved.
The real heroes of human trafficking are hidden. They are quiet and local. They only work a few
streets at a time. They know the players – the good guys and the bad. They stay in the muck of it all for
years. That is why so few people are willing to do what they do. Because real impact takes real sacrifice.
As one survivor of trafficking sees it, "I was once a criminal, once a victim, now I'm a human
rights advocate. I want to make sure that what happened to me happens to no one else. I want those
girls to have options. I want them to have something I never had. A way out! I want people who are on
their side and willing to work hard for their freedom. I only want ride or die people working for victims."
The future is bound to avenge every moment of history we abuse. And ignoring the lessons of
our past is certainly the most damaging abuse we can inflict. Having done so, we will pay a terrible price
in the days to come.
In 1912, the New York State Training School understood the importance of lifelong care. “The
households are practically independent of each other, thereby offering, as far as possible, the conditions
and spirit of a real home. A personal and individual interest in each girl is manifest from the time of
commitment through the school life and for years after the school is left. By careful study each one is
placed in the cottage and environment where she will receive the most help and the best training.
Changes to insure development are made, as necessary. A girls grading depends on her conduct and
proficiency. Discipline is varied, with the principle always in mind that the individual and not the offense
is to be treated. Humiliation and loss of self-respect are avoided.”
Commercialized Prostitution in New York City - 1913

------------------------------------------------

It is not easy, convenient, or sometimes even safe to become friends with a victim of human trafficking,
a prostitute, a drug addict. But, it is the only hope they really have. This war, the war against an old kind
of slavery, will not be fought on battle fields with muskets and cannons. It will be fought by caring
individuals, who accept the hard fact that they must work and strive to save one life at a time.
 There can be no mass production when making survivors out of victims. That is why the only
truly effective way for anyone to individually and effectively fight human trafficking is on their local
level; in their backyard.
If you choose to do this work, you have to go to the worst locations in your area and look for the
one crazy, dedicated person who is already knocking on the doors of dingy motel rooms in the middle of
the night. Find the woman who barges in and makes friends with people who scare you. You may not be
able to do what she does, but you can certainly help her do it. And they certainly need as much help as
you can give them.
But understand they don’t want to be found. They won’t trust you at first. You are going to have
to earn the right to help them. They have been on the streets a long time. That’s why they are so
effective. They will trust addicts, prostitutes, and pimps faster than they will trust you. These are their
people. That is where their heart belongs and that is why they are trying to save them. You are not part
of their world and your motives will be suspect.
They will test you. They will not make it easy for you to help them because they have seen “do-
gooders” come and go. Too many people with good intentions have made promises, broken them, given
up, and moved on to easier tasks or other issues that are safer to deal with.
Do not go in with an agenda, whether it is to hand out food, Bibles, or condoms. Do not enter
the situation with any assumptions ― or arrogance ― about what victims need or what those who are
trying to save them need to do their work. In fact, don't say anything; at the very least say as little as
possible. Enter listening. Listen for as long as it takes to really understand – and accept – what the
problems are and the kind of specific help they need. It might not be help you can, or are willing to, give
them. But, if you hear them out ― if you genuinely seek to understand their challenges ― there will be
something you can do.
Remember, if you are male, the challenge will be even greater simply because they see you ―
everything about you ― as the problem. This also gives you the added burden and opportunity to
demonstrate the innate heroism of men. You can show them, perhaps for the first time in their lives,
what a champion is.
If you are devoted enough, if you stay long enough to find out what their needs are, then you
have a real decision to make. How long will you stay in someone else's darkness? How close to the fire
are you willing to get? How much dirt are you willing to get on your hands?
One thing is most important over all: if you make a promise – any promise, large or small – do
whatever it takes to keep it. Human trafficking victims and advocates alike have suffered through a
thousand broken promises. They expect them, but they don’t need more. The problem for the victims is
they don’t think they have enough personal worth for anyone to keep a promise to them. For their
advocates, they think no one truly cares or understands the real issues. That’s why it is so important for
you to keep every promise you make to anyone and everyone. It is part of the healing process for the
victims and part of the trusting process for advocates. They have a very tight relationship and they will
be watching and waiting to see if you fail them. Don’t.

------------------------------------------------

"People don’t realize what you go through, what you come in contact with, what you experience.
There’s so much that people don’t know – like just the raw, nasty putrid shit of it. Your living conditions,
the lack of food, clothing, everything. The way you’re spoken to, the way you’re treated. You’re beaten .
. . You don’t do that to a dog. It’s more than just overcoming a drug addiction. There’s how it affects
your mental health, your physical health, your finances – everything. You literally have to pick yourself
up and pick up little tiny slivers of what’s left of your life. And you have to do it gracefully. And you have
to do it with pride and you have to keep your head up. You have to just ignore all the crap you hear
people saying about you. And to do that by yourself is not an easy thing. You just can’t stop caring. You
just can’t stop because it’s a hard thing to do. There’s only a select few people that seem to be on our
side and want to fight the same battle we do."
Danita
Human Trafficking Survivor

"When I look back to when I was innocent, I was happy. I know my life will never be the same. I just
want my kids to know what a beautiful woman is."
Simone
Human Trafficking Survivor

"You know sometimes I sit here and think, 'maybe I was a victim of my own devices.' Had my life
become just that unimaginable that I really was looking for someone to take control and tell me what to
do and how to do it, who to be? Is there a day when judgment will come for me and condemn me once
again? Have I sinned? Was it all my fault? Then I talk to someone on the streets or think back to
conversations in jail with other girls who are streetwise, and even they tell me that there is a reason for
me to tell my story. They say what happened to me isn't right and that they’re sad to hear me speak of
such things. They cry and can't get over my story and want me to tell more of it to them and others, like
little kids waiting for the reader to turn the page. I think, well then there is a reason why I am so open
about it and why I think people should listen. Though it feels like so often like I am screaming at the top
of my lungs and no one hears me and no one cares to listen. If they are interested in my raw and
unedited details of this whole ordeal then maybe there is a reason for me to pursue this and keep on
truckin'. Otherwise there are so many days that go by and I think that this is going to get me nowhere
and that my story is useless."
Marie
Human Trafficking Survivor

------------------------------------------------
 Section Seven
Other Forms of Human Trafficking

Commercial Sexual Exploitation is one of several crimes often placed within the realm of human
trafficking. Other major forms of trafficking include:

Forced Labor
Considered to be the largest sector of human trafficking in the world, forced labor is defined in various
ways, but certain factors are common among its practice. Victims are induced into slave-like exploitation
through fraud, force, or coercion; they receive little or no pay; they are subject to physical, sexual, and
psychological intimidation and abuse; and they are not free to leave their situation.
Forced labor is found in almost every sector of agriculture, manufacturing, domestics, and
nearly every business activity in which unskilled labor is needed to generate a profit. “Human trafficking
is a heinous international crime,” stated the US Department of Homeland Security. “It is unfortunately
flourishing due to the current global financial crisis. With global demand for labor decreasing,
impoverished workers find themselves taking greater risks than before in order to survive. The result: ‘a
recipe for greater forced labor of migrant workers and commercial sexual exploitation of women in
prostitution.’”
Certainly, the similarities between this modern form of slave labor and traditional slavery are
many. However, the differences are equally striking, often placing 21st century victims in greater
danger. For instance, legal ownership of one person over another is no longer legal anywhere in the
world. Consequently, a person being held in forced labor by another is no longer considered their
property under the law, and therefore is not protected by any legal means. As such, an underground
temporary possession is established by individuals conspiring to acquire as much free labor as possible
by any means necessary. Unlike the colonial era, which provided a legally protected, lifelong ownership
of human beings ― the way individuals purchase homes and have a deed to prove ongoing ownership,
even after death ― people can be purchased and sold in the modern era for very little cash, compared
to the small fortune slave buyers paid during legal slavery. This has created a situation where those
purchased are “disposable.” With such a large supply of potential victims, individuals can be replaced at
virtually no cost. The value put on them is far lower than during traditional, legal slavery since supply
and demand levels are more equal today. In large part, the greater supply exists because slavery no
longer seeks to enslave one particular culture or race. Forced labor in the 21st century crushes its way
across nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, age, class, education level, and all other socioeconomic lines.
Modern human trafficking necessarily involves transnational crime, gangs, warlords, and other criminal
elements along with corrupt criminal justice and government officials.

Domestic Servitude
Within international Forced Labor, Domestic Servitude is an enormous sector of human trafficking. Its
victims ― of both sexes and all ages ― are often forced into grueling service as house servants,
housekeepers, as well as care givers for children, the elderly, and the ill. Not limited to just one activity,
they are frequently called upon to perform any duty the family keeping them insists upon. They are
rarely allowed to leave the particular premises in which they are imprisoned or seen by those from the
outside. With the “masters of the house” controlling every aspect of their lives, they often experience
ongoing sexual abuse.
Child Soldiering
Armed conflicts pervade human history. Boys and girls used forcibly used as soldiers has been as
common as war itself ― both historically and contemporarily. Susceptible because of their age, poverty,
and lack of education, children are recruited by manipulation, force, or threats. Often abducted at
school, on the streets, or at home, they are inadequately trained, treated harshly, and rapidly pushed
into combat. Once forced into service, they are used in battle, for sexual purposes, as spies, or to clear
landmines.

Forced Marriage
In many parts of the world, it is common for a young girl to be promised ― sold ― into marriage with a
much older man. Money changes hands and the family is pleased to have one less mouth to feed,
especially in cultures which do not value female lives as highly as males. No matter how old she is, her
childhood is over. Forced into constant domestic service, she will no longer be educated, allowed to
develop freely, or even have access to basic healthcare. She is expected to become pregnant almost
immediately, even at an early age. She is now the property of her husband. With her freedom gone, the
course of her life has been hijacked.

Organ Harvesting
Increasingly, medical science advances our ability to save and improve lives by using body parts from
other humans. Since the early 1970s, when drugs were developed to control the body’s rejection of
foreign objects, organ transplantation has developed from being an experimental procedure performed
in a few advanced medical centers, to a fairly common operation performed in hospitals and clinics
throughout the world. This rapid spread of transplant capabilities has created a global scarcity of
transplantable human organs. Looking at the market for human body parts from a completely inhuman
perspective, is there really a shortage? In 2011, the global population was estimated to reach seven
billion people. From organized crime's perspective that equates to seven billion human factories
potentially producing body parts for those who need them and are willing to pay for them. In their view,
there is no supply problem. This only presents the problems of acquisition and distribution, which like all
forms of human trafficking is solved in large part by the Internet where the trade in human flesh is
carried out with little risk of exposure.

------------------------------------------------
 Section Eight
EASTERN Level 1 Lesson Plans
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
One 90 Minute Classroom

Presentation Summary
The Level 1 presentation introduces the subject of human trafficking, especially as it pertains to the
Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) of young people. The presentation includes:
 The definition and dynamics of human trafficking
 How drugs play an inseparable role in human trafficking
 Misconceptions surrounding human trafficking and the dangers of not recognizing the reality
 How and why human trafficking is increasing in every community
 How and why more young people are vulnerable to being victimized
 Signs to look for
 Methods of education and prevention

Learning Objectives
 Hidden in plain sight, the trafficking of young people in America for Commercial Sexual
Exploitation occurs in virtually every community. Recruitment methods vary widely and
occur in diverse locations – often in schools. In almost every case, drugs are used to recruit
or control victims. The internet is used openly to list commercial sexual services – allowing
buyer and seller to operate with total anonymity. Often, these are promoted as legal.
However, under Federal Law (TVPA), it is human trafficking. The presentation demonstrates
that with the combination of the massive availability of commercial sexual services online,
the sexualization and commodification of younger people within our culture, the
mainstreaming of pimp culture and prostitution, and drug use, the Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of young people is increasing at a deadly pace.
 Much of what is seen as prostitution, is actually human trafficking – as defined by Federal
Law and by the dynamics of how it abuses and exploits young people. This creates many
dangerous misconceptions pertaining to human trafficking. (Examples: It only occurs in
other countries: False. Victims in America are mostly from other countries: False. Victims are
mostly urban or from lower economic backgrounds: False. Victims usually are kidnapped
into human trafficking: False.) The presentation clearly defines the difference between
prostitution and human trafficking along with how to recognize trafficking victims and those
who are vulnerable to it.
 The trafficking of young people is inseparable with Drug trafficking/drug usage. The two
crimes are intertwined. (According to Sergeant Detective Kelley O’Connell of the Boston
Police Department, “The girl has become the new drug.” – Boston Globe, October 26, 2008.)
The presentation exposes the evidence of this deadly combination and how it is becoming
more prevalent in schools.
 Young people must be made aware of their vulnerability and educated as to what measures
they can take to protect themselves and their friends from being recruited into CSE. The
presentation brings awareness to the warning signs and equips students to remain vigilant
against recruiters/traffickers, as well as the growing relationship between drug trafficking
and human trafficking.
 EASTERN Level 1 Lesson Plans
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
One 90 Minute Classroom

Intended Audience:
 Students
 Parents
 Law enforcement administrators/officers
 School resource officers
 School staff administrators
 Emergency room personnel
 Classroom educators
 Juvenile probation officers and defense attorneys
 Social service workers
 School safety personnel
 EASTERN Curriculum LEVEL 1
One 90 Minute Classroom
Lesson Plan

I. What is Commercial Sexual Exploitation? (2 minutes)

Suggested Script: We're here to learn about commercial sexual exploitation. I know you might not be
used to talking about things like sex, trafficking or prostitution in school, but we are going to explore
some of those topics so that by knowing more about it, you and your friends will be safer from it. I know
that some of the things we are going to discuss might make you uncomfortable, but your attention and
respect are required for these conversations.
For the purpose of what we will be discussing during our time together, I am going to provide a
definition of Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Commercial Sexual Exploitation exists when a person or
groups of people buy, arrange, or facilitate the exchange of anything of value for the sexual services of
another. Any questions?

II. Interactive Learning Exercise (10 minutes)

The instructor will write on the board or on a piece of large paper the following words: stripping,
pornography, prostitution, mail-order brides, sexting, and sex trafficking. The instructor will then ask
students to identify what they know about each subject and to discuss if they believe each subject is an
example commercial sexual exploitation, and why or why not. Provide suggestions about why each
might be a form of commercial sexual exploitation. If there is time, the instructor can also ask students
to identify accepted cultural beliefs about each form of commercial sexual exploitation such as women
choose to enter prostitution or that stripping is a good way to earn money.

III. Introduction to Video Presentation (1 minute)

Suggested Script: Though exact numbers are very hard to determine, each year thousands of young
people are victims of commercial sexual exploitation throughout the United States. Traffickers are often
violent individuals who use force, dishonesty or coercion to enslave their victims. The grooming process
for victims often includes rape, physical abuse, starvation, confinement, beatings, forced drug use, and
threats to both the victim and the victim’s family. Sex trafficking is often referred to as a form of slavery.

IV. Video Presentation (30 minutes)

The instructor introduces and explains the Power Point presentation: Commercial Sexual Exploitation in
America: The Girl is the New Drug. The students will write down their reactions and any new information
for discussion during and after the clip.
Show: Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America: The Girl is the New Drug
V. Sings to Look For (5 minutes)
The instructor will review the list of "Red Flags" listed in Section Nine and in the Students Level 1
Guidebook. These are presented as guidelines and cues to pay attention to, not as judgments on the
worth of the other person.

VI. Facilitated Discussion (20 minutes)

 Share with the class your thoughts about human trafficking prior to the presentation.
 What are some of the things that you wrote about?
 Did any of the information about human trafficking surprise you? If yes, what was it?
 Did you learn anything new?
 What do you know about human trafficking?
 What circumstances might make someone vulnerable to traffickers?
 Where does trafficking happen in the United States?
 Why is it important for us to be concerned about human trafficking?
 What questions do you still have about human trafficking?

VII. Commercial Sexual Exploitation Level 1 Quiz (7 minutes)

In an individual test setting, have test the students with the following questions:
1. What is the name of the law that defines Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
2. What are the three determining factors that define the crime of human trafficking
3. What is the one age-related exception to these three factors?
4. Name five "Red flags" that are warning signs that someone is a victim of CSE.
5. What are the first three things you should do if you suspect someone you know is a victim?
6. True or False:
 Slavery Ended at the end of the Civil War. (F)
 A 17-year-old girl dancing voluntarily in a strip club is not human trafficking victim. (F)
 Only children can be victims of human trafficking. (F)
 Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in American are mostly American girls. (T)
 Very few victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America are from other countries. (T)
 People in the suburbs and rural areas of America don't have to worry about Commercial
Sexual Exploitation. (F)
 Trafficking means that people are moved around so that traffickers can make more money.
(F)
 Human trafficking happens when people from other countries are brought here through
smuggling and then forced to work for no pay. (T)
 When victims are “liberated” through raids by law enforcement, they are usually grateful
and cooperative. (F)
 If a woman agrees to be a prostitute, she can never be a victim of human trafficking. (F)
 If I never get kidnapped, I'll never be a victim of Commercial Sexual Exploitation. (F)
 Human Trafficking is sometimes called 'Modern Day Slavery' because it started in modern
times. (F)

VII. What Can We Do? (15 minutes)

This will be an rapid-fire "Brain-Blender" open discussion of ideas based on the final slides of the Level 1
Power Point presentation, Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America: The Girl is the New Drug. This
discussion is determine the best methods of addressing CSE crimes specifically within the US student
population and to motivate students to enroll for EASTERN Curriculum Level 2.
 Section Nine
Red Flags for Commercial Sexual Exploitation

You didn’t ask for this, but it’s yours.

If a car crashed in front of you and no one else was around, you wouldn’t just walk away. You
would call 911 and try to help the people involved. Trouble is, car crashes are obvious. You don’t have to
wonder if you’ve seen one or not.
If a friend or someone you know is being exploited for sex, it’s not so easy to spot. It’s a car
crash that’s trying to hide, but it’s just as dangerous . So you have to know what to look for. Once you
know what it looks like, you might just be able to save someone’s life.
The following is a list of warning signs for Commercial Sexual Exploitation or potentially abusive
relationships. They are presented as guidelines and cues to pay attention to, not as judgments on the
worth of the other person.
No one determining factor can be made if a young woman (or man) is a victim of commercial
sexual exploitation. In determining the potential victim’s status, it is essential to ask questions in a non-
judgmental manner. Let the person know it is safe to tell you the truth. Keep in mind this is a victim, not
a criminal suspect. To begin, there may be trouble if:
 She has visible signs of abuse, including unexplained bruises, black eyes, cuts, or marks.
 She has behaviors consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, such as fear, anxiety, or
hyper-vigilance.
 There is a change in her physical appearance, including but not limited to:
o New, expensive clothes
o Sexually suggestive clothes, either being worn or found hidden
o Always has at least one change of clothes.
o Frequent changes of the color or style of her hair.
o Suggestive make up.
o New piercings.
 She has a tattoo which she is reluctant to explain.
o She may have been tattooed (or branded) by a pimp. Girls are often tattooed on the
neck, chest or arms with their pimp’s name.
 She appears exhausted.
 She wants to sleep during the day and is awake at night.
 She has unexplainable absences from her home or residential program; for example:
 The victim goes on the run on Friday and returns on Sunday night.
 She is gone for a length of time and reports that she was in New York City or some other major
city.
 She runs away with relative frequency and will not disclose where she has been.
 She has one or more multiple cell phones which she hides and which ring at all hours of the day
and night.
 She uses language from ‘the life,’ such as referring to her boyfriend as ‘daddy’ or using her own
street name.
 She is involved with a male who has one or more the following characteristics:
o He is older than her.
o He goes by a street name, and she does not know his real name.
o He always lots of cash on him, but she does not know how he makes a living.
o He is controlling or even violent toward her.
o He buys her a cell phone, clothes, jewelry, etc.
Red Flags Continued
 She has a history of multiple Sexually Transmitted Infections and/or pregnancies.
 She has or is knowledgeable about contraceptives of all kinds.
 She is frequently truant from school.
 She has an interest in pornography, ‘exotic dancing,’ or other parts of the commercial sex
industry.
 She has new friends, not from her traditional circle, but who are often much older than her.
 She becomes disconnected from:
o Previous friends.
o Previous interests, hobbies, sports, etc.
o Family and caregivers.
 She loses interest in all ‘age appropriate’ activities.
 If online exploitation is occurring, there may be signs of the following:
o She becomes interested in computers and online communications, such as adding a
video camera to her computer.
o She spends large amounts of time online, especially behind closed doors and late at
night.
o Pornography or links to pornographic sites are found on her computer.
o She reacts quickly to turn off the computer or monitor when someone walks in the
room.
o She becomes emotionally and socially detached and withdrawn.
o She has multiple online accounts or uses someone else’s to several social networking or
‘dating’ sites.
o She has a sexually explicit online profile on multiple social networking or ‘dating’
websites.
o She frequents or monitors internet chat rooms or classified ads, such as Backpage.com.

How Do I Identify a Victim of Human Trafficking?

 Has unexplained absences from school for a period of time, and is therefore a truant
 Demonstrates an inability to attend school on a regular basis
 Chronically runs away from home
 Makes references to frequent travel to other cities
 Exhibits bruises or other physical trauma, withdrawn behavior, depression, or fear
 Lacks control over her or his schedule or identification documents
 Is hungry-malnourished or inappropriately dressed (based on weather conditions or
surroundings)
 Shows signs of drug addiction
 Demonstrates a sudden change in attire, behavior, or material possessions (e.g., has expensive
items)
 Makes references to sexual situations that are beyond age-specific norms
 Has a “boyfriend” who is noticeably older (10+ years)
 Makes references to terminology of the commercial sex industry that are beyond age specific
norms; engages in promiscuous behavior and may be labeled “fast” by peers.
You may be seeing signs of Commercial Sexual Exploitation if you know someone who is involved with
someone who:
 Abuses alcohol or drugs.
 Has a history of trouble with the law, get into fights, or break and destroy property.
 Doesn't go work or go to school.
 Blames your friend for how they treat them, or for anything bad that happens.
 Abuses siblings, other family members, children or pets.
 Puts people down, including family and friends, or calls them names.
 Is always angry at someone or something.
 Tries to isolate the person you know and controls who they see or where they go.
 Nags them or forces them to be sexual when you don’t want to be.
 Cheats on them or have lots of partners.
 Is physically rough with your friend (push, shove, pull, yank, squeeze, restrain).
 Takes their money or takes advantage of them in other ways.
 Accuses them of flirting or “coming on” to others or accuses them of cheating.
 Doesn't listen to the person you know or shows no interest in their opinions or feelings. . .things
always have to be done their way.
 Ignores them, gives them the silent treatment, or hang up on them.
 Abandons them places.
 Makes them call or contact them frequently or at specific times.
 Lies to them, doesn't show up when promise, maybe even disappears for days.
 Makes vulgar comments about others in your presence
 Blames all arguments and problems on them.
 Tells them how to dress or act.
 Threatens your friend if they ever leave or break 'the rules.'
 Experiences extreme mood swings. . .tells them they are the greatest one minute and rips them
apart the next minute.
 Tells them to shut up or tells them they're dumb, slut, ho, stupid, fat, etc. (directly or indirectly).
 Compares your friend to others.

Some other Signs might include:

 Your friend is afraid to leave the person.
 They feel tied down, like they always have to check-in.
 They are afraid to make decisions or bring up certain subjects so that the other person won’t get
mad.
 Your friend tells herself that if she just tries harder and 'loves him' enough that everything will
be just fine.
 The person you know is crying a lot, being depressed or unhappy.
 She is worrying and obsessing about how to please 'please him' and keep him happy.
Signs of physical or emotional abuse getting worse over time. These can include evidence or talk of:
 Pinch / Squeeze
 Push / Shove
 Shake / Jerk
 Slap
 Bite
 Push / Shake / Slap that bruises
 Punch / Hit
 Kick
 Choke
 Throwing objects
 Targeted physical blows to specific parts of the body
 Use of household objects as weapons
 Throwing person
 Restraining and physical blows
 Abuse that requires medical treatment
 Abuse that results in lacerations, broken bones, internal injuries, or miscarriage
 Use of conventional weapons
 Abuse that leads to disfigurement or disability
 Murder

Signs of emotional and psychological abuse can include:

 Making insults
 Joking constantly/awkwardly about habits
 Ignoring partner’s feelings
 Withholding approval as punishment
 Yelling
 Name-calling
 Calling partner a “sell-out”
 Repeated insults / labeling
 Threatening to “out” partner
 Humiliation in private
 Ridiculing partner’s gender identity
 Humiliation in public
 Blaming partner for all faults
 Threats of violence / retaliation
 Putting down partner’s abilities to act on own behalf
 Hiding/destroying partner’s adaptive equipment
 Demanding all of partner’s attention / restricting contact with others
 Unpredictable consequences of actions
 Attacking sense of reality
 Murder
Signs of Sexual Abuse can include:
 Sexist jokes
 Sexual objectification
 Jealousy
 Minimizing partner’s feelings and needs regarding sex
 Criticizing partner sexually
 Unwanted touch
 Withholding sex and affection
 Sexual labels like “whore” or “frigid”
 Always demanding sex
 Forcing partner to commit humiliating sexual acts
 Cheating
 Forcing partner to watch sexual acts with others
 Demanding sex with threats
 Forcing sex
 Forcing sex with others
 Forcing uncomfortable sex
 Forcing sex after beatings
 Sadism
 Murder

Are you being abused?

 Are you frightened by your partner’s temper?
 Are you afraid to disagree?
 Are you constantly apologizing for your partner’s behavior, especially when he or she has
treated you badly?
 Do you have to justify everything you do, everywhere you go, and everyone you see just to
avoid your partner’s anger?
 Does your partner put you down, but then tell you that he or she loves you?
 Have you ever been hit, kicked, shoved or had things thrown at you?
 Do you not see friends or family because of your partner’s jealousy?
 Have you ever been forced to have sex?
 Are you afraid to break up because your partner has threatened to hurt you or himself or
herself?
 Has your partner ever threatened your life or the life of someone close to you?
HELPING A FRIEND WHO IS BEING ABUSED
Many students are victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation each year. If you are concerned about a
friend, perhaps you feel the problem will work itself out. This is very unlikely. This crime against young
people usually continues and often gets worse over time if no action is taken to stop it. You can help
your friend by being honest about your concerns. Say something.

Things that might be keeping you from saying something:

 It can’t really be that serious. Acts of commercial sexual exploitation are rarely a one-time
occurrence and usually escalate in frequency and severity. It can seriously affect the victim’s
health and well-being. This is something you must take seriously.
 My friend must be doing something to cause this. A victim of commercial sexual exploitation is
never to blame for another person’s choice to use violence against her. Selling someone or
forcing them to do something they don't want to do is never acceptable.
 If it’s so bad, why doesn’t she just leave? For most of us, a decision to end a relationship is not
easy. Your friend’s emotional ties to her trafficker - or lets' be honest, her pimp - may be strong,
supporting the hope that the violence will end. Perhaps your friend doesn’t know about
available resources, or maybe social and justice systems may have been unhelpful in the past.
Perhaps when your friend has tried to end the relationship in the past, her partner may have
used violence to stop her/him. These are just some of the many compelling reasons that may
keep someone in an abusive relationship.
 I shouldn’t get involved in a private matter. This is not a “personal problem”. It is a crime with
serious repercussions for your friend, your friend’s partner, and your entire community.
 I've met him. I really don’t think he could hurt anyone. Men who are guilty of Commercial
Sexual Exploitation are not violent in other relationships and can be charming in social
situations, yet be extremely abusive and violent in private.
 The abusive person must be sick. Using violence and abuse is a learned behavior, not a mental
illness. People who use violence and abuse to control their partners choose such behavior;
viewing them as “sick” wrongly excuses them from taking responsibility for it.
 I think the abusive person has a drinking problem. Could that be the cause of
violence? Alcohol or drug use may intensify violent behavior, but it does not cause violence or
abuse. People who engage in abusive behavior typically make excuses for their violence,
claiming a loss of control due to alcohol/drug use or extreme stress. Acting abusively, however,
does not represent a loss of control, but a way of achieving it.
 How can my friend still care for someone who abuses her? Chances are, pimp is not always
abusive. She may show remorse for the violence after it happens and promise to change. Your
friend may understandably hope for such changes. Their relationship probably involves good
times, bad times, and in-between times.
 If my friend wanted my help, she would ask for it. Your friend may not feel comfortable
confiding in you, feeling you may not understand her situation. Talk to her about the abusive
behaviors you have noticed, tell your friend no one deserves to be treated in that way, and ask
her how you can help.
What You Can Do to Help:
 Say something. Lend a listening ear. Tell your friend that you care and are willing to listen.
Don’t force the issue, but allow your friend to confide in you at her own pace. Never blame your
friend for what is happening or underestimate her fear of potential danger. Focus on supporting
your friend’s right to make her own decisions.
 Become informed. Find out all the facts you can about commercial sexual exploitation. Contact
the police or call the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888.
 Guide your friend to community services. Gather information about trafficking victims’ services
and programs in your area. These programs offer safety, advocacy, support, legal information,
and other needed services. If your friend asks for advice on what she should do, share the
information you’ve gathered. Let your friend know she is not alone and people are available to
help. Encourage her to seek the assistance of trafficking victim advocates. Assure her that they
will keep information confidential.
 If your friend decides to get out. Help her make a plan to be safe. She may want to call a local
victim services to help create a “safety plan.” Human trafficking assistance programs can help
her look at her options and make a plan to be as safe as possible. Victims of commercial sexual
exploitation may face the greater risk when they try to end the abusive relationship. If the
abusive person has lost control, he may become very dangerous.
 Focus on her strengths. Your friend has probably continually been told by the abusive person
that she is a bad person, a bad student, or a bad friend. Your friend may believe she can’t do
anything right and that there really is something wrong with her. Give her emotional support.
Help her examine her strengths and skills. Emphasize that she deserves a life that is free from
abuse, exploitation, and violence.
 Section Ten
Explaining Commercial Exploitation to Younger Children and Families

This section provides suggested language for explaining Commercial Sexual Exploitation of young people
to children, families and students.

Suggested language
Suggested Script. Commercial Exploitation of Young People is a scary topic. We are talking about
prostitution and young people. That’s not easy for us to discuss, but understanding this problem is the
first step towards ending it. These are some of the main words we use when we talk about the
commercial sexual exploitation of children.

What is Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children?

Suggested Script. Some people think it is OK to do things that most people know is wrong. They do
things that hurt others. This includes sexually abusing and exploiting children: touching them, hurting
them, or even taking photographs of them in ways that are dangerous to the child. They also think they
may not get into trouble because they believe the law is weak or no one will find out. Often, these
people think they can even have sex with a child and not be punished because no one has caught them
yet. None of that is true. What they are doing is wrong. They can be caught. And because we are talking
about this today, you are safe from these people.

Exploitation of Children
Suggested Script. Commercial sexual exploitation is different from sexual abuse of a child because it
involves some kind of payment. Some people call this kind of abuse “Prostitution of Children.” This
means someone is giving money, gifts or favors for sex. Sometimes, children may be sexually abused in
exchange for food, clothes, shelter, protection, drugs or even good grades at school. These things might
be given to the child or to someone who has control over the child. This kind of exploitation of children
happens in many different places:
 On the streets
 In clubs and bars
 In hotels
 In someone’s house or apartment
 In schools or other big buildings

When anyone treats a child like this it is illegal. It is not the child’s fault – EVER. The important thing to
remember is that children do not CHOOSE to be commercially sexually exploited or hurt in this way.
Adults trick, pressure, threaten or force them into it. It happens because the child is:
 Deceived or tricked by an adult
 Threatened with violence or force
 Kidnapped
 Drugged
 Bribed with money or gifts
 Taken by someone or given by someone they trust because the child does not
understand or realize that they will be exploited
Child Pornography
Suggested Script. Child pornography includes images, sound recordings or written words of children
being sexually abused. The images, sound recordings and words are used by adults for sexual purposes.
Most child pornography is in the form of photographs or films of children’s private parts, adults doing
sexual things to a child, or children doing sexual things to each other. Child pornography is often shared,
traded or sold among adults. The trading of these pictures may happen in the community of a child
victim, on the internet, or even in a child’s school.
Sometimes the child does not know that the picture is being made and he or she usually does
not know how it will be used. Images of child sexual abuse can be sent all over the world via the
Internet.
Child pornography is found in many places including:
 On the Internet, on websites, in chat rooms, news groups, emails
 On mobile phones in SMS texts and images
 In films, DVDs, videos and photographs
 In print, magazines, books, cartoons, posters
If there are many of these pictures available, people might also start to think that child pornography is
not a serious crime. But having sex with a child is not OK – it is illegal and it hurts children.

What Children Should Do

Suggested Script. If anything like this happens to you or someone you know, you are going to feel like
you should keep it a secret. You probably won’t feel like telling anyone or an adult may tell you not to
tell anyone. No matter who tells you not to saying anything, it is okay to tell someone. You can tell a
teacher you like, a policeman, an older lady you know, or even a mother you see with her children. It is
important that you tell someone right away.
 Section Eleven
EASTERN LEVEL 2 Lesson Plans
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
8 One-Hour Classroom Sessions

Presentation Summary
The Level 2 presentation explores the issue Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) of young people in the
United States in far greater detail than Level 1. The eight, one-hour sessions provide a more in-depth
course for students covering all forms of human trafficking and CSE, its relation to drugs, runaways,
recruitment methods and ongoing tactics for coercion and control. It provides activities, discussions and
assignments that will enable students to become highly aware of CSE in America and what they can do
to protect themselves, their friends and community. The presentation includes:
 Reviews of information from Level 1
 Determining students individual knowledge and opinions on Commercial Sexual Exploitation
 How CSE operates within American communities
 Trafficker recruitment and control methods
 Trauma and consequences suffered by victims
 The history of CSE in America and the long-standing fight against it
 How our culture affects the widespread acceptance of CSE
 Methods for responding to "Red Flags"

Learning Objectives
1. Students will learn how to recognize the possible "Red Flags" indicating someone may be a
victim or potential victim of CSE.
2. Students will learn the best possible way to respond and report possible victimization.
3. Activities and action plans will be discussed in order to bring the dangers of CSE crimes to
greater awareness in their community.
4. Mistakes from the past fight against CSE will avoid mistakes being made in future attempts at
fighting the crime.
5. Research methods will be explored and practiced in order for students to become further
educated on their own and to become educators themselves.
6. The vulnerabilities of some young people over others will be determined as well as the
possibility of potential victim 'profiles.'
7. Motivating factors and perceived benefits of entering the world of CSE will be dispelled.

Intended Audience
Recommended for Students in Grades 10 - 12
 Lesson Plan One
Introduction and Overview

I. Commercial Sexual Exploitation (5 minutes)

Suggested Script: I want to thank you for committing to this time. Commercial Sexual Exploitation in
America is a very sensitive topic, as you already know from going through Level One of this program. I'm
proud of you. Not many adults want to go anywhere near this topic and you are showing me that you
have real courage and compassion just by being hear.
We're going to be learning a lot more from the time we spend together. We'll be here for eight,
one-hour sessions. By the end, you're going to know more about this topic than just about anyone. But, I
just hope you use what you learn here. I want you to be able to put all this into action. What you're
going to take away from this will allow you to protect yourselves, your friends and maybe people you've
never met before. It's going to be an interesting journey. Any questions before we get started?

II. Introduction to and Explanation of the Remaining Course (10 minutes)

Suggested Script: The rest of our lessons address several different forms of commercial sexual
exploitation, including international sex trafficking, domestic sex trafficking and prostitution, the
commercial sexual exploitation of children, and the role that demand for paid sex plays in each of these.
These may not be issues that we talk about often, but they are important to discuss because hundreds
of thousands of people are victims of commercial sexual exploitation every day. Many of us are not even
aware that this harm is occurring in our neighborhoods and communities. Together, we can protect you
and the people around you. Questions?

IV. Flash Writing and Discussion (20 minutes)

Have each student write about their personal reactions to discussing these issues. Ask them to identify
knowledge they already have about commercial sexual exploitation, where this knowledge comes from
(movies, books, newspapers, etc.). Give the only the time allotted - 10 minutes - and then spend the
remainder of the time sharing what the students wrote and discussing their ideas on the issue.

V. Response to Local Stories (10 minutes)

Prior to the class, Google as many local stories about human trafficking, sex trafficking, prostitution, and
sex-crime related arrests in your area. Share these with the class for discussion. The articles are meant
to exhibit the geographic relevance these crimes have to their lives.

VI. Students' Goals and Objectives (15 minutes)

Have the students discuss openly what they hope to learn from the course. Write these goals down on a
board in the front of the classroom. Transfer the entire list to your own list for review by the class at the
end of the course. This will assist you in determining the personality of the class and where their
priorities and levels of subject knowledge are.
 Lesson Plan Two
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America: The Girl is the New Drug

I. Introduction to Video Presentation (5 minutes)

Suggested Script: Though exact numbers are very hard to determine, each year thousands of young
people are victims of commercial sexual exploitation throughout the United States. Traffickers are often
violent individuals who use force, dishonesty or coercion to enslave their victims. The grooming process
for victims often includes rape, physical abuse, starvation, confinement, beatings, forced drug use, and
threats to both the victim and the victim’s family. Sex trafficking is often referred to as a form of slavery.
Questions?

II. Video Presentation (30 minutes)

The instructor introduces and explains the Powerpoint presentation: Commercial Sexual Exploitation in
America: The Girl is the New Drug. The students will write down their reactions and any new information
for discussion during and after the clip.
Show: Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America: The Girl is the New Drug

III. Facilitated Discussion (25 minutes)

1. What are some of the things that you wrote about?
2. Did you learn anything new?
3. What do you know about human trafficking?
4. What circumstances might make someone vulnerable to traffickers?
5. Where does trafficking happen in the United States?
6. Why is it important for us to be concerned about human trafficking?

IV. Writing Assignment for Next Session

People often refer to commercial sexual exploitation as “modern day slavery.” What aspects of this
crime are like slavery? List and discuss at least three things that can protect you and your friends from
these crimes.
 Lesson Plan Three
Commercial Sexual Exploitation - How Do We See It?

I. Personal Views of Commercial Sexual Exploitation (5 minutes)

Suggested Script: Last class we discussed why Commercial Sexual Exploitation has increased in the
United States. Today, we are going to discuss what you learned about it and find out where you stand on
this issue. Questions?

II. Review of Writing Assignment (15 minutes)

Discuss the students answers to their Writing Assignment from Session Two. "People often refer to
commercial sexual exploitation as 'modern day slavery.' What aspects of this crime are like slavery? List
and discuss at least three things that can protect you and your friends from these crimes."

III. Four Corners Exercise (10 minutes)

The instructor will place the four signs ("strongly agree," "agree," "disagree," "strongly disagree") in the
four corners of the room. The instructor will then make a series of statements (below) and ask the
participants to move to the corner of the room that most accurately reflects their position for each
statement (whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree). The instructor will take
time to ask the participants standing in each corner why they chose this answer.

Possible Statements:
• People choose to enter prostitution.
• Prostitution is an easy way to make money.
• Prostitution is just another form of work.
• Prostitution is a victimless crime.
• Pimps offer women protection from the harms associated with the sex trade.

IV. Addressing Misconceptions of Four Corners (25 minutes)

Suggested Script: Thank you for participating and sharing your honest opinions. Now let's discuss some
of the realities faced by most people in prostitution. We often don't consider individuals in prostitution
as victims of commercial sexual exploitation; however, most women in domestic prostitution are
trafficking victims. In cities and towns around the United States, almost all women in prostitution face
similar types of harms as those who have been internationally trafficked.

Print and cut out responses to each of the statements used in the Four Corners Exercise on separate
pieces of paper. Read each statement aloud. Choose a student volunteer to read the "Reality" challenge
to the misconception. Discuss the realities after each are revealed.

Statement: People choose to enter prostitution.

Reality: Choice revolves around the idea that a person has been presented with a wide variety of viable
options and has selected the best one. Unfortunately, a wide variety of viable options is not available for
those who end up in the sex trade. Studies have shown that most individuals engage in prostitution to
meet their basic survival needs, such as shelter and food. Prostitution is never anyone’s first choice.
Most often, a person enters prostitution due to circumstances beyond their control. If it really were
about choice, 92% of individuals in the sex trade would not be desperate to escape it immediately.
Statement: Prostitution is an easy way to make money.
Reality: Research has found that regardless of the type of prostitution (indoor: brothel, escort service,
strip club; outdoor: street), large percentages of women are forced to give the money they make to a
pimp or face violent punishment. Research has also shown that many women in prostitution do not
have enough money to obtain secure housing, thereby rendering them homeless.

Statement: Prostitution is just another form of work.

Reality: Prostitution differs from normal work in the amount and type of danger involved. Individuals in
prostitution face a “workplace” homicide rate 51 times higher than the next most dangerous job for
women, working in a liquor store. There is no other job in the country where rape, sexual assault,
torture, and homicide are considered acceptable “occupational hazards.” The Australian occupational
safety guidelines for women in prostitution recommend that women entering prostitution take classes
in hostage negotiation skills. Prostitution is not just another form of work.

Statement: Prostitution is a victimless crime.

Reality: Individuals in the sex trade face a wide array of abuse from pimps and “johns,“ the men who
purchase sex. One study of found that 82% of the prostituted individuals surveyed had been physically
assaulted and 83% had been threatened with a deadly weapon. Another study found that 78% of the
women in prostitution interviewed were raped an average of 16 times a year by their pimps and another
33 times a year by johns. Imagine what it would be like to be raped 49 times per year. Furthermore,
people in the sex trade are extremely vulnerable to serial killers who feel that they may prey on them
with no consequences. Lastly, the FBI estimates that the average life expectancy of an individual in
prostitution drops to just seven more years after the date of entry.

Statement: Pimps offer women protection from the harms associated with the sex trade.
Reality: Pimps are disproportionately a source of rather than a shield from violence in the sex trade.
Since pimps do not typically accompany the individuals they exploit while they are selling sex, they are
not able to protect against rape, beatings, or murders by the buyers of sex. Not only do pimps make
money by forcing women into dangerous situations, but they are also often a direct source of physical,
psychological, and sexual violence. Any value of protection a pimp may provide is cancelled out by the
violence that the pimp inflicts or causes.

Writing Assignment (choose one) (5 minutes)

Suggested Script. So we have learned about the physical, sexual, and psychological harms in
prostitution. Yet, our culture glamorizes prostitution and the role of pimps; our society tolerates the
exploitation of women and girls in prostitution daily.
 Print out the lyrics to “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” by Three 6 Mafia, “PIMP” by 50 Cent, or
"The Human Traffic King (White Slavery Pt. 2)" by Necro and respond to how the lyrics normalize
violence against women in the sex trade.
 Write about ways the sex trade is normalized and glamorized in popular culture (songs, films,
clothes, events like “Pimp N’ Ho” parties, female Halloween costumes) and how this hides the
reality faced by many in prostitution.
 We often view international victims of human trafficking as real “victims” while we tend to
blame women in prostitution for their life circumstances and “choices.” Why is this? How can
we increase our society’s empathy for domestic victims of prostitution?
 Lesson Plan Four
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

I. What is Commercial sexual exploitation of Children? (10 minute)

Suggested Script: Each year countless thousands of children (anyone under 18 years-old) are at risk for
commercial sexual exploitation in the United States. These children face violence, sexual harm, and
emotional trauma on a daily basis. Children who run away from home or who are homeless are at a
greater risk of recruitment into prostitution. In fact, studies have found that runaway youth will most
likely be approached to sell sex within 48 hours of being on the street, as many often have nowhere to
go.
The majority of individuals in the sex trade enter as children. The consequences of the sex trade,
especially at a young age, are devastating to the child’s mental and physical health. Recent research
found that the average age of entry into the sex trade in the United States is twelve years old.
Questions?

II. “The Making of a Girl” (6-10 minutes)

The instructor will notify the students that they will be watching a short film clip about youth in
prostitution. The students will write down their reactions and any new information while watching the
film for discussion after the clip.

Show 6-minute Video: Commercial sexual exploitation of Children located at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvnRYte3PAk

III. Facilitated Discussion (30 minutes)

Questions:
1. Did anything in the film surprise you?
2. What are some differences and/or similarities between this film clip and what we’ve learned
about adult women in the sex trade?
3. What are the differences between the story in this film and what is portrayed in movies, music,
and television?
4. Did this film make you feel differently about youth in the sex trade? How so?

IV. Writing Assignment (choose one) (10 minutes)

Suggested Script. From what you have learned in this lesson, write a response to one of the options
below.
 Although many people do not think that the sex trade impacts children, youth are actually
disproportionately impacted by prostitution. In the United States, the average age of entry into
the sex trade is twelve years old. Why might children be vulnerable to involvement in
prostitution? Why is there a growing demand for purchasing sex with children and young girls?
What can we do to protect children?
 Words have immense power in shaping opinions. People come to different conclusions
depending on the specific usage of words. In describing issues such as the commercial sexual
exploitation of children, how do labels such as “juvenile prostitute,” “sex worker,” “pimp and
ho,” “promiscuous girl,” “crack whore,” or “child prostitute” detract from the reality of sexually
exploited youth?
 Lesson Plan Five
Demand for Commercial Sexual Exploitation

I. What is Demand? (5 minutes)

Suggested Script. The sex trade would not exist without the demand for paid sex. This demand is
predominantly from men who support and fund the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of
women and girl when buying sex. The sex trade is a multi-billion dollar industry that continues to expand
at an alarming rate precisely because this demand exists. Questions?

II. Brainstorming Exercise and Discussion (15 minutes)

The instructor will ask the students to write down some of the reasons they think there is a demand for
paid sex. The students will share their thoughts. If the students do not have ideas, the instructor can
provide the topics for discussion below regarding various aspects of culture, media, and politics in the
United States.
Possible Topics:
• Culture: representations of sex and sexuality in society
• Celebrities: famous people who purchase sex or sexually exploit without legal consequences
(ex: Governor Elliot Spitzer, Lawrence Taylor, Charlie Sheen, etc.)
• Norms: pressures to conform to a certain type of masculinity
• Misconceptions- myths and realities of the sex trade
o Prostitution is the oldest profession in the world
o Men buy sex because they have a strong sex drive that needs to be fulfilled
o Men buy sex because it makes them feel like real men
o Purchasing sex is a natural action for men
o Purchasing sex makes men feel happy and satisfied
• Reinforcements: aspects of normalization of the sex trade
o Video games (ex: Grand Theft Auto)
o “Pimp ‘n Ho” theme parties
o Cultural attitudes to women’s worth

III. What Can We Do? (30 minutes)

The instructor will ask each student to write down as many ideas as they can in the allotted time (10
minutes) that can help protect themselves and their friends from commercial sexual exploitation. The
students will then share their ideas with the class.
Possible ideas:
 Not using language such as “pimp” or “ho”
 Not watching pornography or going to a strip club
 Organizing awareness events
 Telling people about the harms of prostitution
 Writing to companies that glorify images of prostitution
 Learning the correct ways to spot "Red Flags" and how to respond
 Become aware of what situations often lead to CSEC crimes.
 Identify victims or likely scenarios for victims.
 Equip others how to recognize the signs of commercial sexual abuse.
IV. Writing assignment (choose two) (5 minutes)
Suggested Script. From what you have learned in this lesson, reflect and write responses to two of the
options below.
 Why and how is buying sex harmful?
 Why is it still problematic for a man to purchase sex even if he is not violent?
 Where do we get our messages about the sex trade? What are these messages telling us?
 What would motivate you to work towards ending sexual harm? What can you personally do to
make a difference?
 Lesson Plan Six
In-depth Video Presentation and Discussion

I. Introduction to Video Presentation (5 minutes)

Suggested Script: The first presentation we participated in, "The Girl Is The New Drug," gave us a quick
overview of the topic of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America. That presentation is shown to
students and sometimes their parents who want to get a quick one-session overview of the dangers
facing students in the United States. I'm proud of you for wanting to look much deeper into the topic.
So, we now we're going to see another presentation, called "Sex Trafficking in America." While you'll see
some of the same information, and it won't hurt to review it, we'll be finding out much more.

II. Video Presentation (30 minutes)

The instructor introduces and explains the Powerpoint presentation: Sex Trafficking in America. The
students will write down their reactions and any new information for discussion during and after the
clip. Show: Sex Trafficking in America

III. Facilitated Discussion (25 minutes)

The instructor will lead a discussion from the "Brain Blender" questions at the end of the presentation.

IV. Writing Assignment for Next Session

Ask students to write five things they can do to make their friends and peers aware of Sex Trafficking or
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America.
 Lesson Plan Seven
Commercial Sexual Exploitation Statistics

Suggested Script. Now that we have learned about the issue of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in
America, what can you tell me about statistics?

Research Assignment: (IMPORTANT: Instruct students NOT TO READ the "Statistics" Article in their
Level 2 Guidebook until directed to do so later in this lesson.) Have students investigate statistics for
human trafficking. Typically, they will return with the following:
 Human trafficking is the world’s third largest criminal enterprise, after drugs and weapons,
and it is the fastest growing. It also funds drugs and weapons trafficking. Sex trafficking
alone produces an estimated $7 billion annually.
 The International Labor Organization (ILO) of the United Nations estimates that there are
12.3 million adults and children at any given time in forced labor or commercial sexual
servitude worldwide.iii The ILO also estimates that 1.39 million victims are trafficked into
the sex trade each year.
 The U.S. Department of State estimates that between 14,500 and 17,500 international
victims are trafficked into the U.S. each year. This estimate includes women, men and
children.
 Approximately 80 percent of sex trafficking victims, both internationally and domestically,
are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors.
 The U.S. Department of Justice states that the average age of entry into prostitution is 12-
14 years old.vii Underage girls are the bulk of victims in the commercial sex markets.

Reading Assignment: Upon the students claims, have them read "Section Five - Do We Really Have a
Clear Understanding of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America?" from their Level 2 Guidebook.
Discussion will Follow.

At the end of their reading and consideration, ask the students: "What do we really know about
commercial sexual exploitation in America?"
 Lesson Plan Eight
Review and Discussion

What Can We Do? (15 minutes)

The instructor should allow space for students to express any concerns or questions that have arisen
during the entire course. A brief review of materials, information and conclusions will be provided, along
with a listing of ideas garnered from the discussions and the goals from Section VI of Lesson Plan One.
Students will have a final opportunity to ask questions of the instructor or make comments.

Addressing the Problem Among Students (15 minutes)

This will be an rapid-fire "Brain-Blender" open discussion of ideas to determine the best methods of
addressing CSE crimes specifically within the US student population. Areas of discussion will include, but
are not limited to the following questions:
 What makes some young people vulnerable to recruitment by traffickers?
 What are the temptations or perceived benefits?
 What is the typical role of victims’ families?
 What are the harmful results suffered by CSEC victims?
 How can healthy relationships be used as a weapon against recruitment?
 What skills would a student need to make right decisions and guard themselves against
recruitment by traffickers?

Administer Final Test for Completion of Level 2 (30 minutes)

Suggested Questions (Answers in italics)

What makes some young people vulnerable to recruitment by traffickers?

Runaways. Throwaways. Child abuse. Drug abuse. Low self-esteem. Low educational levels. Low healthy
family involvement. Few or no healthy relationships with family or friends.

What are the temptations or perceived benefits of being a 'sex worker?'

Money. Travel. Excitement. Jewelry. Status. Clothes. Partying. etc.

What is the typical role of victims’ families?

Ignorance or abuse that leads to eventual victimization. Direct victimization (relative as trafficker). Lack
of awareness or concern.

What are the harmful results suffered by CSE victims?

Disease. Violence. Emotional, mental, developmental damage. Drug addiction. Criminal records and Jail
time. Destroyed relationships with friends and family. Educational limitations. Permanent physical
damage. Death.

How can healthy relationships be used as a weapon against recruitment?

Healthy relationships establish healthy self-esteem and self-worth. They create connections with other
people that protect individuals from the isolation, drug abuse, and ignorance that lead to victimization.
 What skills would a student need to make right decisions and guard themselves against
recruitment by traffickers?
Most of all, knowing they are worth more than any amount of money. Knowledge and information about
the crimes of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

Why Does Trafficking Exist?

Trafficking would not exist if there were no buyers. Those who illegally buy sex create a demand for
women and children. Where there is demand, traffickers can make a profit by supplying illegally
trafficked women and children for exploitation. If there were no buyers, there would be no profits to be
made.

What did you learn?

How does it affect you?

Were you surprised? Why? Why Not?

What can you add to the information?

 Section Twelve
EASTERN LEVEL 3 Lesson Plans
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
Suggested Student Activities

To combat trafficking, all sectors of society must become aware of the issue and take action. The most
significant group is comprised of ‘First Responders,’ such as the police, medical professionals, educators,
juvenile justice and social workers, and certain employers. As a young member of your community, you
have a particularly important role to play. While there is nothing new about the crimes of Human
Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America, the human rights aspect of the fight against
them is just getting started. Right now, you can have a exceptional opportunity to bring significant
influence to the issue and the lives of the victims.
Having completed Levels 1 and 2 of the EASTERN Curriculum it is very likely that you know more
about the topic and the dynamics of how the crime takes place in the United States than most of the
First Responders in your area. You are to be commended for your accomplishment in coming this far,
but your achievement also comes with great responsibility.
So now you have a decision to make.
Are you going to simply move on from here and file what you’ve learned away somewhere in
your brain? Or are you going to take what you’ve learned and do the hard work it takes to make a real
difference . . . and perhaps even change the world a little?
The truth is that there is so much you can do that it’s hard to list all your options. That’s why we
have compiled the very best and most effective ideas and activities for you. With this information, you
will be able to go even deeper into your study of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America. But more
than that, you will be able to actively work to bring a greater awareness of the crime to those who are in
positions to be able to stop it and save victims. Even better, you may be able to prevent further crimes
against potential victims from taking place.
In short, you could be a life-saver.

Overall Objectives for EASTERN Curriculum Level 3

 Protect American students from the dangers of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
 Increase students’ interest in and understanding of Commercial Sexual Exploitation as it affects life
in the United States and their local community.
 Increase students’ ability to analyze and form opinions on the relevance and reality of Commercial
Sexual Exploitation.
 Encourage, motivate and empower students to be agents of change and improvement.
 Students will better understand the Commercial Sexual Exploitation industry and the many different
ways in which sexual servitude takes place.
 To provide students the opportunity to share their opinions – and fears - about Commercial Sexual
Exploitation and in turn to gain further understanding of the problem.
 To provide students the opportunity to share their opinions about the challenges, laws and
protocols to prevent Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Are You Ready?
In order to begin Level 3 of the EASTERN Curriculum, You should be able to successfully answer these
questions without researching the answers:
 Define Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation in your own words.
 What are the goals of Human Traffickers?
 How many people are trafficked in the United States?
 What are some of the ways victims trafficking are recruited?
 Where does Commercial Sexual Exploitation take place? ?
 Name the key players in a Commercial Sexual Exploitation scenario.
 How are victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation introduced to the trafficker?
 How much money does the human trafficking industry make each year?

As You Begin
It is important that you begin Level 3 with an open mind and a genuine interest in the issue of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America; helping its victims; and preventing more victims from being
taken in. Here are some questions to consider as you prepare to begin your work:
 How can you spread awareness using effective and rational strategies?
 How can you build partnerships with others in order to:
o Increase your community's knowledge on the dangers of CSE
o Assist curretn victims
o Prevent more victims from falling into 'the life'
 How can you get access to law enforcement agencies and government officials?
 How can you leverage your skills and relationships to make a difference and help put an end to
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in your city or community?

Requirements
In order to participate in Level 3 of the EASTERN Curriculum, you must meet the following requirements:
 Complete Levels 1 and 2 of the EASTERN Curriculum
 Read the book, The Berlin Turnpike: A True Story of Human Trafficking in America
 Read two other books in the "Resources" section of this guide
 Inform yourself about the situation in your community.
 Compile information, statistics and publications that will be useful to monitor the situation and
media coverage of CSE in your area.
 Present "The Girl is the New Drug" to at least one group in your area - preferably to parents and
students. You can do this on your own or as a group.
Suggested Activities
Moving forward, it is imperative that you consult with your student advisor, Law Enforcement instructor
AND your parents or guardians prior AND during your work. This is important because of the nature of
the issue and because it is essential to have guidance and supervision whenever you embark on projects
that have potentially life-altering consequences. In this case, it is the lives of the victims you are trying
save and restore. Of course, along the way yours will be changed as well. That is why you must involve
responsible adults in authority prior to beginning any long-term project listed here.
Now it's time to begin reviewing your options for Level 3 Activities. You are about discover a
large variety of projects, tasks, and activities each of which has extraordinarily powerful potential.
Please take you r time in reviewing these options. Carefully consider which direction you will take. You
may find that it is best to delve into several activities that interest you prior to committing to your final
choice. That's perfectly fine. It is far better to take extra time to select the correct project for you rather
than rush into something you may regret later.
Remember, these victims deserve your very best. And if you have come this far in your desire to
help them, then you have what it takes to be someone's hero.

Option 1 - Ongoing Discovery

Google phrases dealing with the issues of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation in your
area. (e.g. “child sex trafficking” “human trafficking” “child trafficking” “modern day slavery”
“commercial sexual exploitation” and any other phrase that relates to the topic.) This will be a good
litmus test to see how aware your local media is and how well – or badly – they report it. You will also
see who is already working to actively stop trafficking in your area. It is also just good practice to keep
tabs on your area. Then, set Google alerts with the same search settings. Google alerts will send you an
email anytime Google comes across a new web posting with certain search words. These extensive
searches will ultimately lead you to a greater understanding of how these crimes exist in your area, how
they are being reported, who is working or commenting on them, where trouble spots are and where
there the greatest needs exist. If you monitor this situation closely enough, and with enough detail, you
may become the most well-informed person in your area on the subject of trafficking and exploitation.

Option 2 - Law Enforcement

Now that you have been trained by a Law Enforcement professional, maybe it's time to reverse the
process. Contact your local police and ask them what training they have had in recognizing and working
with victims of human trafficking and CSE. Find out what the police have been instructed to do when
dealing with trafficking issues, crimes and victims. Remember, they probably don’t know as much as you
do right now.
There is no reason that you cannot establish or even present what you have learned to through
your own Law Enforcement Training Seminars. This means you will be bringing an educational program
that brings the realities of CSE to the first-line of defense, local law enforcement. It will take time to plan
a live seminar, with further experts in all fields and disciplines related to trafficking, to facilitate the
seminars. But it will be worth it when they have the knowledge they need to recognize and help victims.
You can begin by meeting with you local Chief of Police and asking him if his department is familiar with
using the "Investigative Checklist for First Responders" checklist developed by the National Center for
Missing and Abducted Children (NCMEC). It is meant to "provide a framework of actions, considerations,
and activities that may assist in performing competent, productive, and thorough missing/abducted
children investigations." You can also inquire if they have adapted its use for potential victims of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation. If not, you can offer to develop the adaptation for them.
Option 3 - Legislation
Find out what laws exist pertaining to Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking in Your
State. To affect positive change it is important to understand the existing laws and protocols
surrounding human trafficking. Specifically, you must understand the laws in the US that have been
implemented, both within your state and on the federal level. Explore laws that have been drafted, as
well as those that are in place.
Then, set up meetings with your State and Federal Representatives. Again, unless they have
taken an interest in the issue, you probably know more about the realities of trafficking in America than
they do. They might also have several preconceived notions about it, believe the same myths that many
people adhere to, or think that trafficking is only an immigration issue. They will meet with you,
eventually, because you are students. Your goal is to provide education to legislators in order to
implement more effective laws, thereby protecting others in your age range. However, it may take some
time for them to understand that you have come to educate them. In time you may have the chance to
ask the politicians that represent you what they are doing to prevent human trafficking and truly help
the victims. Again, before you meet with them, you have to know exactly what laws exist better than
they do. Find out if there are laws protecting victims of trafficking, especially laws that are effective at
preventing them being treated as criminals. While you meet with them, you will want to understand
what their priorities are surrounding the topic of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation
- if they have any at all.
It will be hard work to find out how well those laws are working and what can be done to make
them work better or put better laws in place. But it will be worth it. You may be able to help your
government create better legislation to prevent and fight human trafficking. Remember, this is your
right as a citizen. It goes to waste if you don't use it.

Option 4 - Corporate Zero Tolerance Initiatives

In an effort to enlist as many change agents as possible, you can begin building partnerships and
collaborations with corporations of influence by providing training, protocol design and implementation,
and zero tolerance criteria.
You begin by lobbying local businesses, especially hotels, taxi companies and gaming facilities.
They will know very little about the realities of what is taking place around them or even on their
property. The best approach is to tell them you are students and you want to make a presentation to
their staff of “The Girl is the New Drug.” Your goal is to have the company and their entire staff acutely
aware of these crimes and the Red Flags often exhibited by victims. They should be made aware of what
to do to report possible victims if they encounter them. You can also assist them in creating and
instituting policies for their company in order to deal with trafficking and exploitation.
You can also do all you can to lobby internet providers, search engines companies, and social
networking sites to prevent their websites from being used for prostitution, human trafficking,
commercial sexual exploitation, child pornography and other exploitive crimes.
Your goal is to have their employees recognize and report the crime; to be vigilant, speak up and
report any activities relating to trafficking to the police
Option 5 - Intervention Efforts
To be very clear, EASTERN Curriculum is not advocating nor is it recommending that you, as a student
become involved with direct intervention with human trafficking victims. But there are safe and
appropriate ways for you to help those who do this kind of work every day.

Direct Street Intervention

Intervention Specialists from many anti-trafficking organizations regularly journey to the streets looking
for trafficking victims, speaking with victims, offering immediate rescue and care, or providing any help
they need. You can help these brave people by getting them the resources they need to safely and
effectively conduct their work. To get started:
 Do all you can to find the people in your area doing this kind of work.
 Meet with them and listen to them.
 Find out what their priorities are (don't put yours on them).
 Find out what they need to do their brave work better.
 Don't promise anything you can't deliver.
 Do consider what you can do and then keep your promises.
 Always be open and honest with them

CyberVention
Trafficking is not just moving off the streets to online, it is exploding there. Cybervention is an aggressive
outreach program focusing on trafficking victims listed on various websites, and offering any and all
immediate assistance including safety, shelter, freedom, protection, healthcare, education, and a future
with hope. It allows trained volunteers to reach out to CSE victims who are being sold by pimps online.
Go to Cybervention.org to find out how you can make more people aware of this program and how you
can help those who are helping others. (Again, High School age volunteers are NOT permitted to
conduct direct Cybervention.)

Safe Houses
Local, State and Federal law enforcement agencies, along with criminal justice officials, need to provide
immediate care and shelter for at-risk trafficking victims they have located or assisted. Emergency
housing programs usually work in partnership with law enforcement officials by providing urgently
needed secure shelter and comprehensive care for victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and
trafficking. However, while safe houses make it possible for the provision of rescue, shelter and care for
victims, they are very rare in the United States, especially those for younger victims. Yet, there is some
good news. Several organization in America are urgently trying to establish more safe houses.
Do all you can to find out what agencies or people in your area are working on trafficking issues.
Sometimes these organizations are very public and easily found. However, many of the best are very
discreet and not so easy to locate. These are usually the folks doing the best and most effective work
with victims. They have given their lives to their work and to the restoration of victims. They don’t have
time to seek publicity or fund raising. They need your help the most. Find them. Ask them what they
need. Then do all you can.
Like providing assistance to people conducting Direct Street Intervention, you can help the
dedicated people who are opening or operating safe houses for trafficking victims. Again, it will take
some work to find them, meet with them and determine what they need most. But once you do, every
moment of your time working for/with them will be valuable to the victims they are trying to save.
Rescue Kits
When young victims (usually between ages 12 and 16) are rescued or taken into custody, they often
have no possessions. Rescue kits contain everything for their immediate needs, including new clothes,
hygiene products, shoes, etc. This is a very powerful way to engage your larger class or group in
providing direct help to victims. With donated backpacks and the items to go inside, you can give several
kits to your local Police Department to keep at their facilities in anticipation of victim intake. This will
also provide you with the opportunity to open a discussion with more officers from local law
enforcement about CSE in your community. Here are some suggestions for what Rescue Kits can
contain:
 Backpacks or Duffel bags
 Tennis shoes and Hiking boots
 Slippers
 Socks
 Pant
 Skirts
 Sweat pants and sweat shirts
 Underwear
 Winter jackets, mittens, gloves scarves, hats, snow boots
 Thermal underwear
 Towels
 Blankets, sheets, pillows
 Sleeping bags
 Back packs
 Shampoo and conditioner
 Personal hygiene products
 Toothbrushes, dental floss, toothpaste
 Hairbrushes, combs
 First Aid kits
 Hand sanitizer
 Chapstick
 Cold medicine
 Notebooks and pens
Butterflies in the Stall
The butterfly is hope. You can use the symbol of the Butterfly to illustrate the life-changing power of
people helping each other. The butterfly demonstrates that anyone can change their life for the better
and that they are truly worthy of having a meaningful and happy life.
Victims of human trafficking and prostitution are everywhere, even in your community. Yet,
their presence goes unnoticed. They are hidden in plain sight. The secret lives they lead are filled with
fear, abuse, violence and exploitation. Those who control their lives – the trafficker, the pimp – watch
their every move. They are rarely left alone or given any time to themselves. They have almost no
moments of privacy.
Except for one.
The one place victims of human trafficking and prostitution can be by themselves is often a
public bathroom stall. This is virtually the only place where the criminals who control their lives must
allow them to be alone. The Ladies rooms in places like fast food restaurants, gas stations, casinos, hotel
lobbies, and convenience stores offer a unique and rare moment of refuge for these young people. So
why not strategically place a message on the inside of the bathroom stall door that will speak directly to
them and offer them the help they need?
Butterflies In The Stall stickers contain a clear offer of hope, a 24-hour Toll-Free phone number,
and a simple email address for more information and access to help. The stickers are about half the size
of a bumper sticker and adhere to metal surfaces in the same way.
This is where you can get directly involved. You can safely and effectively reach out to these
young people – offering them a way out. These victims need you to place Butterflies in the Stall stickers
on the inside of public bathroom stall doors wherever you can obtain permission to do so. Suddenly,
those who need this information will find it staring them in the face.
Can you imagine how many people would be saved if we were to place these stickers on the
inside of bathroom stall doors all over America? Thousands would have access to this life-saving
information - all because you took action and placed Butterflies In The Stall.
If you would like to get started putting Butterflies In The Stall, just go to
ButterFliesInTheStall.com. Tell us about yourself and let us know where you would like to get started.
There is a small fee for the printing and shipping of the stickers. Other than that, it is entirely up to you.
Option - 6 Research: Improve Academic Studies and Research pertaining to trafficking and CSE
As you have discovered through the EASTERN Curriculum, useful and reliable data pertaining to human
trafficking is almost non-existent. If you are someone who enjoys research, you can begin to change
that. Here are some of the areas where you can conduct research or help those who already are.
Academics at universities and research institutions around the world play a very important role in
supplying policymakers and service providers with useful research on the various aspects of human
trafficking. You can contact them an assist them in their work. This is something you can easily do
remotely. Remember, there are real weaknesses in the academic research on human trafficking:
 Few comparative studies of trafficking based on extensive fieldwork
 Tendency to focus on trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation, neglecting other
forms of trafficking
 Relatively little independent evaluation of counter-trafficking policies and programs to assess
impact and effectiveness
 Tendency to focus more on international trafficking and less on internal trafficking, and the
connection between internal and international trafficking
 Lack of agreement on definitions of terms, and what should be studied
Real academic research about human trafficking is difficult to conduct because of:
 Difficulty interviewing victims of trafficking
 Limited resources and time
The pitfalls faced by academic researchers are:
 Repeating statistics of how many people are trafficked without providing a disclaimer that these
statistics are only estimates
 Not checking accuracy of claims
 Holding fast to organizational agendas rather than seeking reliable facts and data
Option 7 - Awareness
 Continue to make ongoing presentations of "The Girl is the New Drug" to at civic, faith-
based, educational, social service and law enforcement groups in your area.
 Conduct activities to inform students, the local community, law enforcement, politicians etc.
in order to raise awareness AND sensitivity to the issue of Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
 Produce and place Public Service Announcements (PSA's) on television and radio in your
area.
 Start an action oriented Blog or Newsletter.
 Continue to seek related websites and online information. Build a list of Anti-Trafficking
Resources. Then list them your own website for others to find. (Hint: Don't just list news
stories. Find actual resources people can use to help victims and prevent more from being
abused.)
 Start a network of Caring Companies that want to do all they can to address human
trafficking, CSE and 'Fair Trade' issues. Ask them: Would your company like to join us?
 Memorize the Red Flags of CSE. (Remember, there are always new ones.)
 Memorize what questions to ask potential victims.
 Connect with those clubs that have human rights and relief as their goal (eg: Amnesty
International, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, etc.) If your school doesn’t have a chapter,
start one. And if your school doesn’t have some sort of Students to Combat Human
Trafficking club, again, start one.
 Do whatever you can to get other people to care about the issue of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation. Be creative. Don't follow the crowd. Don't be afraid to break the rules an push
people into action. Remember, lives are truly at stake. You are no longer 'just a student.'
You have the ability to teach others what you know, change the world and save lives.
 Section Thirteen
EASTERN LEVEL 3 Lesson Plans
Commercial Sexual Exploitation in America
Resources for Extended Study

To continue exploring and researching the topic of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in the United States,
please refer to these extensive list of resources.

The Berlin Turnpike

The Berlin Turnpike: A True Story of Human Trafficking in America is a “living book.” It’s ongoing story is
told not only in the epic book, but online as an exploration of the truth behind human trafficking in
America. This website serves as an essential part of The Berlin Turnpike experience. Here we are
constantly collecting and updating materials related to the book, human trafficking, and commercial
sexual exploitation in the United States.

Rescue and Restore Partnerships

As a partner in the campaign to Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking you are asked to:
 Authorize the listing of your organization as a Rescue & Restore partner and the sharing of your
information with Rescue & Restore coalitions.
 Receive and disseminate to your staff, members and supporters information about human
trafficking and the resources available to help victims;
 Utilize your existing web-based and email information distribution networks to inform your
friends and supporters about this pressing problem and steps every person can take to detect
and deter human trafficking; and
 Cooperate with other local members of the Rescue & Restore campaign to publicize key actions
in the fight against human trafficking.
To become a Rescue & Restore partner, please complete the Request to Become a Partner in the
Campaign to Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking form and email it to
trafficking@acf.hhs.gov or fax it to 202-401-5487. As a partner of Rescue & Restore, you will receive
information and updates on human trafficking issues, as well as training and funding opportunities.

Addressing the Needs of Victims of Human Trafficking: Challenges, Barriers, and Promising Practices
This Issue Brief focuses on the needs of victims of human trafficking and the services available to meet
those needs. Additionally, it discusses challenges and barriers to providing services to victims,
international and domestic, adults and minors, and highlights innovative solutions to these challenges
and promising practices to overcome barriers. Throughout the brief we make distinctions, where
appropriate, between international adult victims, international minor victims, and domestic minor
victims.
Department of Homeland Security
DHS offers an enormous amount of information for the study of Human Trafficking and those offering
assistance to victims:
 Immigration Remedies for Trafficking Victims
 Continued Presence
 Victim Assistance Program
 Victim Notification Program
 Victim Assistance Card
 Victim Assistance Shoe Card
 Find a local Rescue and Restore Coalition
 Find a local Office for Victims of Crime funded grantee program to help victims of
trafficking

Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force Strategy and Operations E-Guide

Developed in partnership by the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and the
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), this e-Guide is a resource for both established and new Task Forces.
Established Task Forces can use it to enhance existing operations or as a tool to assist in the
revitalization of Task Force efforts and operations. This Guide does not provide OVC or BJA
programmatic or grant-specific information as it is intended to be a tool for all anti-trafficking Task
Forces, regardless of funding source. This Guide is not offered as the definitive solution to Task Force
development strategy and operations but rather as a useful tool that has been carefully screened and
evaluated by anti-human trafficking victim service providers and law enforcement officials throughout
the United States at all levels. It is anticipated that new practices and resources will become available
that may further enhance the value of this e-Guide.

United States Trafficking In Person Report 2010

The 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report marks the 10th anniversary of key milestones in the fight
against modern slavery. In 2000, the United States enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA),
and the United Nations adopted the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons,
Especially Women and Children, also known as the Palermo Protocol. Since then, the world has made
great strides in combating this ultimate exploitation – both in terms of what we know about this crime
and how we respond.

Project Safe Childhood is a unified and comprehensive strategy to combat child exploitation. Initiated in
May, 2006, Project Safe Childhood combines law enforcement efforts, community action, and public
awareness. The goal of Project Safe Childhood is to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of
children. There are five essential components to Project Safe Childhood: (1) building partnerships;
(2) coordinating law enforcement; (3) training PSC partners; (4) public awareness; and (5) accountability.

Case Management and the Victim of Human Trafficking: A Critical Service For Client Success
This Issue Brief focuses on the importance of case management in working with international victims of
human trafficking from the point of identification until a victim reaches self-sufficiency. This brief looks
at the characteristics of an effective case manager along with the benefits not only to victims, but also
other key stakeholders, including law enforcement and service providers. This brief also examines the
challenges to effective case management and the implications for victim recovery.
Treating the Hidden Wounds: Trauma Treatment and Mental Health Recovery for Victims of Human
Trafficking
This Issue Brief focuses on the trauma experienced by most trafficking victims, its impact on health and
well-being, some of the challenges to meeting trauma-related needs of trafficking victims, and
promising approaches to treatment and recovery. While this issue brief touches on trauma across
human trafficking populations, it has a special emphasis on trauma resulting from sex trafficking of
women and girls.

Identifying Victims of Human Trafficking: Inherent Challenges and Promising Strategies from the Field
This issue brief focuses on the identification of international and domestic victims of human trafficking
in the United States. Critical to identifying someone as a victim is knowing first who meets the legal
definition of a trafficking victim. This brief presents the inherent challenges to identifying victims based
on the legal definition, as well as promising strategies undertaken by law enforcement, service
providers, and other organizations to identify and reach victims.

“Minimum Standards of Care and Support for the Victims of Trafficking and Other Forms of Violence in
South Asia.” SARI (South Asia Regional Initiative/Equity Support Program), New Delhi, India

“Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Georgia: Service Delivery and Legislative

Recommendations for State and Local Policy Makers.” January 2008. Darlene Lynch, JD and Kirsten
Widner, JD. The Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic, Emory University Law School, Atlanta, GA.

“Prevention and Psycho-social Rehabilitation of Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation.” NGO
Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Comprehensive Scheme for Prevention of Trafficking and Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration of
Victims of Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.”
International Resources for Human Trafficking

Inter-Governmental Organizations
 International Labour Organization (ILO): Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
 International Organization for Migration (IOM)
 JIT Nepal
 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) - Trafficking in Human Beings
 UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT)
 UNESCO Trafficking Statistics Projects
 UNICRI "Action Programme against Trafficking in Minors for Sexual Purposes"
 United Nations

International Campaigns
 Coalition of Organ-Failure Solutions
 Cross Border Anti Trafficking Network
 MTV EXIT Campaign
 National MultiCultural Institute (NMCI)
 Not For Sale
 The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions Trafficking - Focal Point
Network
 The Communication Initiative
 UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (UNIAP)

International Networks and Transnational Coalitions

 Angel Coalition
 ASEAN
 Asia ACTs: Southeast Asia Campaign on Anti-Child Trafficking
 Child Rights Information Network
 Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
 December 18th
 ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children
for Sexual Purposes)
 Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
 South Asia Regional Initiative – Equity
 Terre des Hommes (Monitoring Child Rights in Southeast Asia)
 The Global Commission on International Migration
International Nongovernmental Organizations
 American Center for International Labor (ACILS)/ Solidarity Center
 Amnesty International
 Anti-Slavery International
 Coalition Against Trafficking in Women- Asia Pacific
 Human Rights Watch Campaign Against the Trafficking Of Women and Girls
 Peace Women
 Terre des Hommes Germany: Southeast Asia
 The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions
 UNICEF UK: The End Child Exploitation Campaign
 Vital Voices Trafficking Alert
 WITNESS
 Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

Internet Resource
 ChildTrafficking.com
 CITIZENSHIFT, Trafficking in Humanity
 Sexual Violence Research Initiative
 Stop Human Slavery Blog
 Stop Slavery in Albania

National Organizations
 Protection Project
 Aasara
 Action to End Exploitation
 Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking
 Backtohome.org
 Captive Daughters
 CATW Australia
 Center for the Advancement of Human Rights - Florida State University
 Child Wise
 Coalition Against Human Trafficking – Houston, Texas
 Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST)
 Collier County Coalition Against Human Trafficking
 ECPAT France
 ECPAT Japan
 Girlfest Hawaii's Trafficking Board
 Global Rights: Partners for Justice - Initiative Against Trafficking in Persons
 Hagar
 Human Rights Commission of New Zealand
 Human Security Centre
 Human Trafficking in Canada
 Institute for Policy Studies Campaign for Migrant Domestic Worker Rights
 International Labor Organization
 JIT Nepal
 La Strada Ukraine
 Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services
 Maria Center
 MiraMed Institute - Ending the Sexual Trafficking of Girls from Russia
 National Criminal Justice Reference Service
 National Mediation Center for World Peace
 Project Respect
 Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking
 Scelles Foundation
 Solidarity Center
 STOPVAW
 Tenanagita
 Texas Association Against Sexual Assault
 The Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking
 The Poppy Project
 The University of Hong Kong
 UNICEF UK: The End Child Exploitation Campaign
 Village Focus International
 Visayan Forum Foundation
 Women's Human Rights Resources (University of Toronto)
 www.Eyeonculture.org
 www.stoptrafiking.or.id
 Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva
Non-fiction books pertaining to Commercial Sexual Exploitation

 HUMAN TRAFFICKING: INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES [September, 2011], Jones & Bartlett

Publishers

 HUMAN SEX TRAFFICKING by Frances P. Bernat (Editor) [September, 2010] Taylor Francis;
originally published as a special issue of Women & Criminal Justice

 HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE by Louise Shelley. [2010] Cambridge University

Press

 HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN EUROPE: CHARACTER, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES by Gillian Wylie

and Penny McRedmond (Editors). [August, 2010] Palgrave Macmillan

 SEX TRAFFICKING HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, Tiantian Zheng (Editor). [July, 2010]
Taylor and Francis

 SEX SLAVES AND DISCOURSE MASTERS: THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAFFICKING by Jo Doezema.

[July, 2010] from Zed Book, Limited

 SEX TRAFFICKING - INSIDE THE BUSINESS OF MODERN SLAVERY by Siddharth Kara. [May, 2010]
Columbia University Press. The author, the first Fellow on Human Trafficking with the Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University, donates a portion of the proceeds of this book to
the anti-slavery organization, Free the Slaves.

 SEX TRAFFICKING: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE by Kimberly McCabe and and Sabita Manian, editors.
[May, 2010] Lexington Books

 SEX, DRUGS, AND BODY COUNTS: THE POLITICS OF NUMBERS IN GLOBAL CRIME AND CONFLICT
by Peter Andreas and Kelly M. Greenhill, Editors. [May, 2010] Cornell Press

 BLOOD RANSOM [fiction] by Lisa Harris. [April, 2010] Zondervan

 FREE AT LAST: HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND SEXUAL ABUSE by Dawn E. Worswick. [2010] Create
Space. A portion of the proceeds from this book will go to honor the SAGE Project of San
Francisco in honor of Norma Hotaling.

 THE POLITICS OF TRAFFICKING: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT TO COMBAT THE

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN by Stephanie A. Limoncelli. [201] Stanford University Press

 SEX TRAFFICKING IN SOUTH ASIA: TELLING MAYA'S STORY by Mary Crawford. [2010] Taylor &
Francis,

 THE HIJACKING OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION DURING ITS CREATION by Nicole Footen
Bromfield. [2010] See Amazon. About the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA).
 THE SLAVE ACROSS THE STREET: THE TRUE STORY OF AN AMERICAN TEEN CAUGHT IN HUMAN
TRAFFICKING [2010] Ampelon Publishing, LLC

 A CRIME SO MONSTROUS : FACE-TO-FACE WITH MODERN-DAY SLAVERY by E. Benjamin Skinner.

[2009] New York : Free Press

 HALF THE SKY : TURNING OPPRESSION INTO OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN WORLDWIDE by
Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. [2009] Alfred A. Knopf

 SEX TRAFFICKING : INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT AND RESPONSE by Marie Segrave, Sanja

Milivojevic and Sharon Pickering. [2009] Willan Publishing

 SEXUAL ENSLAVEMENT OF GIRLS AND WOMEN WORLDWIDE by Andrea Parrot and Nina
Cummings. [2008] Praeger

 THE SNAKEHEAD : AN EPIC TALE OF THE CHINATOWN UNDERWORLD AND THE AMERICAN
DREAM by Patrick Radden Keefe. [2009] New York : Doubleday
Fiction books pertaining to Commercial Sexual Exploitation

 AMERICAN OUTRAGE by Tim Green. [2007] Warner Books

 COLD IN HAND by John Harvey. [2008] Harcourt Press

 DIE FOR ME; SCREAM FOR ME (2008) and KILL FOR ME trilogy of murder mysteries by Karen
Rose; third book plot is about human trafficking

 FATAL SECRETS : A NOVEL OF SUSPENSE by Allison Brennan (Book 2 of her FBI trilogy). [2009]
Ballantine

 THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson [2009] New York : Alfred A. Knopf

 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Trilogy by Stieg Larsson [2008]

 HELL GATE by Linda Fairstein [2010) New York : Dutton,

 THE HUNTED by Lee, Rachel [2008] Mira Books

 LOST GIRLS : A Sherry Moore novel by George D. Shuman. [2008] Simon & Schuster, 2008.

 ROUNDING THE MARK by Andrea Camilleri [2006] Penguin Books

 WHISPER NO LIES by Cindy Gerard. Black Ops, Book 3 [2009] Pocket Star Books

 WISER THAN SERPENTS by Susan May Warren [2008] . Steeple Hill Books
Articles and Research pertaining to Commercial Sexual Exploitation

 Brantley, N. (June 2009). Presentation on victims of commercial sexual exploitation on behalf of

Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting & Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY). MISSSEY is a
project based out of Alameda County, California, created to respond to the epidemic of
commercial sexual exploitation of children, especially in the form of child/teen prostitution.
MISSSEY works specifically with minor victims of domestic sex trafficking by providing
counseling, shelter, and many other rehabilitation services. This data, gathered by MISSSEY,
represents a group of commercially sexually exploited youth that were served through West
Coast Children’s Clinic’s Screening, Stabilization and Transition program. See also Schetky, D.H.
(1988). Child pornography and prostitution. In D.H. Schetky and A.H. Green (Eds.), Child sexual
abuse: A handbook for health care and legal professionals. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
 Fang, B. (2005, October 16). Young lives for sale: Why more kids are getting into the sex trade--
and how the feds are fighting back [Electronic version]. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved on
July 15, 2009, at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051024/24sextraffickers.htm
 U.S. Department of State (November 2004). The link between prostitution and sex trafficking.
Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/38901.pdf
 Miller, J.L. (1991). Prostitution in contemporary American society. In E. Grauerholz and M.A.
Koalewski (Eds.)
 The European Journal of Criminology January 2010 issue (vol. 7, issue 1), was a themed
 issue on Human Trafficking: Issues and Perspectives.
 Sexual coercion: A sourcebook on its nature, causes, and prevention (pp. 45-57). New York:
Lexington Books. xvi Raphael, J. & Shapiro, D.L. (2002). Sister speak out: The lives and needs of
prostituted women in Chicago. Center for Impact Research.
 Brewer, D.D., Potterat, J.J., Muth, S.Q. & Roberts, J.M. Jr. (2006). Clients of prostitute women:
Deterrence, prevalence, characteristics, and violence [Electronic version]. Paper for the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Articles on Working with Men and Boys on the topic of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

 Berkowitz, A. D. (2002). Fostering men’s responsibility for preventing sexual assault. Preventing
Violence in Relationships, 163-196.
 Berkowitz, A. D. (2004). Working with men to prevent violence against women: An overview.
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.
 Berkowitz, A. D. (2004). Working with men to prevent violence against women: Program
modalities and formulas. National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.
 Buchwalk, E., Fletcher, P., and Roth, M. (Eds.) (2005). Transforming a Rape Culture: Revised
Edition. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.
 Fabiano, P. et al. (2003). Engaging men as social justice allies in ending violence against women:
Evidence for a social norms approach. Journal of American College Health, Vol. 52.
 Flood, M. (2005). Changing men: Best practice in sexual violence education. Women Against
Violence, Issue 18.
 Flood, M. (2002). Engaging men: Strategies and dilemmas in violence prevention education
among men. Women Against Violence, Issue 13.
 Funk, R. E. (2006). Reaching men: strategies for preventing sexist attitudes, behaviors, and
violence. Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
 Katz, J. (2006). The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and
 How All Men Can Help. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc. Kimmel, M. (2008). Guyland: The
Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. New York, NY: Haper-Collins Publisher.
 Pascoe, C. J. (2007). Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity & Sexuality in High School. Los Angeles, CA:
University of California Press.
 Powell, K. (2008). The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life. New York, NY: Astria Books,
Simon & Schuster, Inc.
 Tarrant, S. Men Speak Out: Views on Gender, Sex, & Power. New York, NY: Routledge.
 The Men’s Nonviolence Project of the Texas Council on Family Violence. A guide to engaging
men and boys in preventing violence against women.
 Young Women’s Action Team. (2007). Engaging young men as allies: A summary report of survey
research.
 Section Fourteen
EASTERN LEVEL 3
Dynamics of the Pimp and Victim

Generally, pimping involves a complex relationship between a male pimp and one or more women
and/or girls. In this relationship, the pimp wields complete control and domination and induces
commercial sex acts in order to make money. The pimp attains authoritative levels of control and
obedience through a combination of intense manipulation and feigned affection, brutal violence, and
verbal, psychological, and/or emotional abuse. In the pimp relationship, the pimp is motivated primarily
by the pursuit of money. He keeps all the money from the commercial sex acts of the women and girls
he controls and prides himself on achieving higher and higher levels of blind obedience.

Rules and techniques of the pimp

 Pimps enforce “rules” for the women and minors under their control. A sampling of the
formal “rules” of pimping is included below:
 The Term “Daddy”: Women and girls under a pimp’s control must never know his real name
or identity and refer to him exclusively as “daddy.”
 Eye Contact: A woman or girl may not ever make eye contact with another pimp. If this rule
is broken, the woman or girl suffers serious physical violence.
 Sidewalks and Streets: As indicated by the term “Pimps Up, Ho’s Down,” women and girls
must always exist in “lower” ways than the pimp, including by standing only on the street
during street prostitution. A woman or girl who ventures onto the sidewalk is severely
reprimanded or forced into what is known as a “pimp circle.”
 Quotas: Pimps set nightly monetary quotas that the women or girls must reach through
providing commercial sex or theft.

Language and terminology of the pimp

The following is a sample glossary of terms that are heavily used throughout the pimp culture in street
prostitution.
 “Daddy” – a term used to describe one’s own pimp, evoking images of fatherhood.
 “Bottom” or “Bottom Bitch” – the woman who’s been with the pimp the longest and often
takes on a mid-level controlling role to keep other victims in line.
 “Dates,” “Johns,” and “Tricks” – terms used to describe buyers of commercial sex.
 “Square” – a term used that describes trying to go straight and get out of the life, or that
describes law enforcement and those that don’t understand “the game.”
 The “Stroll” or “Track” – the common area or cross-streets where street prostitution is
known to occur on a nightly basis.
 “Pimp circle” – the process of multiple pimps swarming and surrounding one woman or girl
and hissing insults at her, for the purposes of humiliation and intimidation.
 “Wife in Law” – each individual in a group of women or girls that are with the same pimp.
 “Family” and “folks” also are synonyms.
 “Stable” – refers to the group of women and girls under a pimp’s control (i.e., a pimp’s
stable).
 “Out of Pocket” – a term used to describe when a woman or girl breaks “the rules” by
making eye contact with another pimp.
Other illegal activity common to pimps
 Drug offenses
 Sexual assault offenses
 Violent crimes
 Tax evasion
 False and fraudulent identities
 Fraudulent checks
 Racketeering
 Child pornography
 Pandering
 Falsifying business records

Initial Recruiting Behavior

 Erecting the Front of False Love and Selling the Dream pimps manipulate their victims
beginning with an initial period of false love and feigned affection. This initial period is
critical to attaining long-term mind-control. This period often includes:
o Warmth, gifts, compliments, and sexual and physical intimacy
o Elaborate promises of a better life, fast money, and future luxuries
o Purposeful and pre-meditated targeting of vulnerability (e.g., runaways,
throwaways)
o Purposeful targeting of minors due to naivete, virginity, and youthful appearance
 With an Ongoing Search for Victims and the Relentless Pursuit of Wealth and Power, pimps
are known to engage in constant recruiting to attempt to entice women and children into
their web of control.
 Common recruiting locations include:
o Junior high and high schools
o Group homes
o Rehab programs and facilities
o Courtrooms
o Homeless shelters
o Hallways of court buildings
o Halfway houses
o Foster homes
o Restaurants and bars
o Bus stations
o Parks and playgrounds
Preparing Women and Girls for Commercial Sexual Exploitation
The process of “breaking-down” a girl from healthy adolescent sexual boundaries to commercial sex
with strangers is often referred to as “grooming” or “seasoning.” It is a systematic process that has been
documented and replicated by pimps nationwide. In essence, this process aims to achieve complete
control over someone’s identity or individuality using a combination of physical, mental, and emotional
means. In the trafficking paradigm, this process involves force, fraud, and coercion, as elaborated below.
Seasoning often involves:
 Beating/Slapping/Whipping – With hands, fists, and kicking, as well as with objects such as
bats, tools, chains, belts, hangers, canes, and cords
 Burning – Of personal items and items of meaning to foster hopelessness and
demoralization or directly burning women and girls using cigarette/cigar butts
 Sexual assault – Rape or gang rape
 Confinement – Using torture practices such as confinement to lock women and girls in
closets, trunks of cars, or rooms for indeterminate amounts of time.
 Other torture techniques – Such as deprivation of food or water or various forms of
bondage such as chaining individuals to items or tying them up.
 Emotional abuse – Direct verbal insults, name-calling, threats, mind control, brainwashing,
cognitive re-programming
 Re-naming – Offering “nicknames” both for endearment and to erase former identity
 Creating dependencies – By instructing how to walk, how to talk, what to wear, when to eat,
when to
 Sleep, and where to sleep.
 Removal from familiarity and support structures – By transporting a woman or minor to a
new location where she knows no one
 Document confiscation – Of identification documents (ID, birth certificate, SS number)
 Forced sexual education – Inducement of viewing pornography to learn to have sex

Role of money and debt in the pimp relationship

Money is often the primary motivating factor driving pimp behavior. It is widely-known and well-
documented that pimps establish nightly monetary quotas that the women and girls under their control
must make in order to end each night of commercial sex. Currently, these quotas typically fall in the
range of $500 - $1,000 each night. Through whatever means necessary (including forced theft), the
woman or girl must reach these quotas each night to be allowed to eat or sleep. If she does not make
enough money, the woman or girl will be forced back out into her venue of commercial sex until she
reaches her quota. Quotas are strictly enforced, and the punishment for failing to meet a quota is severe
physical retaliation from the pimp or other torture methods. It is also essential to note that in pimp-
controlled situations, the women and girls keep zero of this money and turn over 100 percent of the
profits to the pimp.
Why victims don’t seek help
Women and girls under a pimp’s control often do not self-identify as victims of human trafficking or
Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Consequently, they will not seek help on their own. This is a list of
common reasons why victims of CSE cannot or will not leave their exploitative situations:
 Captivity/Confinement – locked indoors, locked in rooms, locked in closets
 Frequent accompaniment/guarded – interactions are monitored or controlled by the pimp
 Use and threat of violence – severe physical retaliation (beatings, rapes, sexual assault)
 Fear – of physical retaliation, of death, or of arrest
 Use and threat of reprisals against loved ones – against children or family members
 Shame – about the activities they have been forced to perform
 Self-blame – brainwashed by the pimp to blame themselves
 Dependency – on the pimp after years of control
 Debt bondage – may have a debt to the pimp that they feel they need to pay off
 Loyalty to the pimp – Stolkholm syndrome, similarities to Battered Women’s Syndrome
 Social barriers and unfamiliarity with surroundings – due to frequent movement
 No personal ID or documentation – which is often confiscated by the pimp
 Distrust of law enforcement – brainwashed to fear law enforcement by the pimp or learned
distrust of law enforcement due to direct negative experiences
 Isolation – from others, from other support structures, from means of relief
 Misinformation and false promises – have been told lies or deceitful information
 Hopelessness/Resignation – feelings of no self-worth, disassociation, giving up, apathy
 Lack of knowledge of social systems – may not understand social service infrastructure or
how and where to access help

Difficulty in identifying victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

These factors also complicate the process of identifying domestic sex trafficking victims:
 Frequent movement – may not be in one place long enough to form social connections
 Distrust of service providers – generalized impressions and perceived judgmental attitudes
 Lies and false stories – may be self-generated or trained to tell lies, fake names, fake SSN
 Rarely come into contact with institutional systems – that are designed to help them
 Low likelihood of multiple encounters – within institutions or through doing outreach

Indicators of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

It is important to be aware of potential indicators of Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Each of these
indicators may or may not be a tell-tale sign of domestic sex trafficking, but it is recommended that each
be taken in an overall context of appearance, demeanor, and affect:
 Presence of an overly controlling and abusive ‘boyfriend’
 Inability to look in the eyes or face of people, especially her ‘boyfriend’
 Injuries/signs of physical abuse or torture
 Signs of malnourishment
 Restricted or controlled communication
 Demeanor - Fear, anxiety, depression, submissive, tense, nervous
 Claims of being an adult although appearance suggests adolescent features
 Lack of identification documents (ID, birth certificate, Social Security card)
 Presence of different aliases and ages
 Lack of knowledge of a given community or whereabouts
  Frequent movement
 Claims of “just visiting” and inability to clarify addresses
 Few or no personal possessions
 Few or no personal financial records
 Inconsistencies in their story
 Inappropriately dressed for court
 Reporting an excessive amount of sexual partners during a health check-up

Potential victim indicators

Things to remember for initial encounters and Interactions with potential victims of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation:
o Building trust is the first priority
o Reassure the potential victim that:
 You are there to help and you care about them
 You are not trying to get them arrested or send them to jail
o One-on-one interactions are ideal
 Attempt one-on-one interactions as much as possible
 If possible, no one else should be in the room or within listening distance
(interactions should occur in private settings and out of sight)
 One-on-one interactions are ideal for building trust and receiving an honest
account
o Terminology and cultural sensitivity are important
 Avoid technical terminology and jargon
 Knowing appropriate “street terms” helps to build trust
o Many victims do not self-identify as “trafficking victims:
 Expect the potential victim not to know the term “human trafficking”
 Do not expect to receive the full and honest story during a first encounter:
 Be aware of and expect lies, canned stories, untruths
 Canned stories may include “I’m just visiting,” “I’m from out of town,” or “I do
this on my own because I want to – I don’t have a pimp.”
 Do not be offended if they lie; do not take it personally
 Women and girls may have been coached to give certain stories
 It often takes up to 3-5 encounters before the true story may emerge
o Be on their level:
 Avoid victim-blaming attitudes, body language, or behaviors
 Avoid “gasps” or acting “shocked”
 Avoid pity, judgment, or patronization
o Assess safety and threat levels:
 Ask the woman or girl if she feels like she is under threat or if she is with her
“folks”
o Anticipate and expect that the client may return to the pimp:
 Due to high levels of loyalty, brain-washing, and/or fear, victims may return to
their pimp during the course of receiving services
o Understand her world view:
 The victim may have a very difficult time understanding that she has been a
victim of a crime and that the pimp may be arrested for what he has done to
her. This difficulty occurs because pimps brainwash their victims.
Victims’ needs
General comprehensive service needs of Commercial Sexual Exploitation victims are varied and diverse.
This list outlines the types of services victims often require:
 Emergency, Transitional, and Long-term housing
 Legal services
 Medical and Mental health services
 Clothing and food
 Court and daily accompaniment
 Crisis intervention
 Emotional support and counseling
 Employment assistance
 Protection/safety planning
 Social service advocacy
 Transportation
 Literacy education (school, G.E.D.)
 Assistance in accessing government benefits

Safety Concerns
These questions are helpful for conducting a safety and threat assessment of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation victims. The answers will help to develop a personalized course of service:
 Where is the trafficker?
 Are you living under any current threats or fears?
 Are you afraid someone is looking for you?
 Are you concerned for your safety? Why? How?
 Does anyone else know where you are right now?
 Contingency planning
o What to do in an encounter with the trafficker?
o What to do if trafficker calls?
o Phone protocols/Internet and email protocols
Contact with Potential CSE Victims
If you come in contact with a suspected CSE victim, you should be aware of and sensitive to a number of
issues. Victims of CSE have experienced a great deal of trauma and face an equal amount of uncertainty
in their lives. Often they may seem unwilling to cooperate due to their experience. Law enforcement
officers should be aware of the following things:
1. Victims of human trafficking are hesitant to come forward because of their fear of being
deported. While many of these victims are women and children who have been beaten
and/or raped, their current situation may still be better than where they came from.
2. Victims come from different social and ethnic backgrounds than the investigating
officers. There may be significant cultural differences between the victim and U.S. law
enforcement officials.
3. Victims may be completely unaware of their rights or may have been intentionally
misinformed about their rights in this country.
4. Many victims do not self-identify as victims. They also do not see themselves as people
who are homeless or as drug addicts who rely on shelters or assistance. Victims may not
appear to need social services because they have a place to live, food to eat, medical
care and what they think is a paying job.
5. The victims may fear not only for their own safety but also for that of their families in
their home countries. Some traffickers threaten that they will harm their victims'
families if the victims report their situations to, or cooperate with, law enforcement
6. Take into consideration a victim’s cultural and social background as these traits will
impact the way victims should be managed as witnesses, as well as the way the
investigation of their cases are carried out. If possible, you should work with a culturally
and linguistically competent interpreter when a victim demonstrates any of the above-
mentioned characteristics. Ideally, this person could serve as a language interpreter and
be able to interpret the cultural values and unique behaviors that are characteristic of
the victim’s national and ethnic background.
Mental Health Effects and the Importance of Counseling
This list outlines the various mental health effects that victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation may
display:
 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Drug use
 Depression
 Disconnection from feelings and flat affect
 Anxiety disorders
 Self-blame
 Hopelessness, helplessness
 Nightmares – dreams of rapes, sexual assaults, physical abuse
 Anger and anger management issues
 Suicidal ideation and attempts
 Paranoia
 Stockholm Syndrome
 Spiritual disruption
 Fatalism and rage
 Dual diagnosis
 Self-care issues
 Sleeping issues
 Dis-associative disorders
This chart provides basic examples of how pimps use the elements of force, fraud, and coercion in
Commercial Sexual Exploitation.

FORCE

Beating/Slapping
Beating with Objects (bat, tools,
chains, belts, hangers, canes, cords)
Burning
Sexual Assault
Rape/Gang Rape
Confinement/Locked in
Torture Practices
Seasoning/Initiation

FRAUD

False promises
Deceitful enticing and affectionate behavior
Withholding wages
Lying about working conditions
Lying about the promise of “a better life”
Preying on desperation and poverty
Blackmail, extortion

COERCION

Threats of serious harm or restraint

Threatened abuse of legal process
Intimidation/Humiliation
Emotional Abuse
Climate of Fear
Modeling abusive behavior
Controlling daily life skills
Creating dependency
Establishing quotas
 Section Fifteen
Resources for Law Enforcement

This resource guide contains information developed to provide background information and guidance
for law enforcement officers to identify and communicate with victims of human trafficking and
commercial sexual exploitation.

Identifying the Crime of Human Trafficking

 Law enforcement officers should keep in mind that the following scenarios may involve some
form of human trafficking, or may be situations in which victims and/or traffickers could be
found:
o Prostitution rings
o Operations of massage parlors, strip clubs, etc.
o Domestic abuse
o "False" or poorly examined 911 calls
o Vice raid where foreign nationals are encountered
o Encounters with migrant workers where a foreman or supervisor attempts to keep the
group away from the law enforcement officers or attempts to control all communication
between the officer and the group
o Brawls between people in which money is owed
o Crimes involving immigrant children in situations such as prostitution or forced labor
 Law enforcement officers may encounter the perpetrators or traffickers themselves who will
offer alleged explanations of the situation. In these cases it is important for the first responding
officer to note the following about others at the scene of the crime who may be victims of
human trafficking:
o What are their living conditions?
o What are their working conditions?
o Are there indications of restriction of movement (e.g., Are they allowed to leave the
premises?)
o Are they forced to make frequent moves?
o Are there any behavioral indicators of severe dependency (e.g., submissive behavior,
fearful behavior in the presence of others)?
o Who is in physical possession of their legal documents of identification?
o Who insists on providing information to law enforcement?
o Are they in the country legally?
 Traffickers use various techniques to keep victims enslaved. Some traffickers keep their victims
under lock and key, however, the more frequent practice is to use less obvious techniques
including:
o Debt bondage – financial obligations, honor-bound to satisfy debt
o Isolation from the public – limiting contact with outsiders and making sure that any
contact is monitored or superficial in nature
o Isolation from family members and members of their ethnic and religious community
o Confiscation of passports, visas and/or identification documents
o Use or threat of violence toward victims and/or families of victims
o The threat of shaming victims by exposing circumstances to family
o Telling victims they will be imprisoned or deported for immigration violations if they
contact authorities
o Control of the victims’ money, e.g., holding their money for “safe-keeping”
 o The result of such techniques is to instill fear in victims. The victims’ isolation is further
exacerbated because many do not speak English and are from countries where law
enforcement is corrupt and feared.

Traffickers may also violate multiple state and local laws including:

Crimes associated with human trafficking

Murder Assault
Kidnapping Sexual assault and battery
Prostitution, pandering or
False imprisonment
promoting prostitution

Screening Victims of Human Trafficking

This tool contains key questions law enforcement officers should consider asking to determine whether
someone is a victim of human trafficking. The questions will also help to secure information that can
later be used as testimonial evidence.

Fraud/Financial Coercion Questions

 How did you get your job?
 How did you get into this country?
 Who brought you into this country?
 Did you come to this country for a specific job that you were promised?
 Who promised you this job?
 Were you forced to do different work?
 Who forced you into doing different work than what was promised?
 Was there some sort of work contract signed?
 Who organized your travel?
 How was payment for your travel handled?
 Are you getting paid to do your job?
 Do you actually receive payment or is your money being held for you?
 Do you owe your employer money?
 Are there records or receipts of what is owed to your employer/recruiter?
 Are there records/receipts of what was earned/paid to you?
 How were financial transactions handled?
 Are you in possession of your own legal (I.D.) documents? If not, why?
 Were you provided false documents or identification?
 Are you being made to do things that you do not want to do?
Physical Abuse Questions
 Were you ever threatened with harm if you tried to leave?
 Did you ever witness any threats against other people if they tried to leave?
 Has your family been threatened?
 Do you know about any other person’s family ever being threatened?
 Were you ever physically abused, or did you ever witness abuse against another person?
 What type of physical abuse did you witness?
 Were there any objects or weapons used in the physical abuse?
 Where are these objects or weapons located?
 Was knowledge of this abuse ever communicated to a person outside of this situation (e.g.,
police reports, domestic violence reports, hospital records, social service records)?
 Was anyone else ever abused or threatened with harm in your presence?
 How were medical problems handled, and who attended to them?

Freedom of Movement Questions

 Is your freedom of movement restricted?
 Do you live and work in the same place?
 What were the conditions under which you were left unattended?
 Were there instances of physical restriction through locks, chains, etc.?
 Where are the locks used and who has the keys to them?
 How was movement in public places handled (e.g., car, van, bus, subway)?
 Who supervised your movement in public places?
 How was the purchase of private goods and services handled (e.g., medicines, prescriptions)?
 What forms of media or telecommunication did you have access to (e.g., television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, telephone, the Internet)?

Psychological Coercion Questions

Behavioral indicators:
 Who are you afraid of?
 Why are you afraid of them?
 What would you like to see happen to the people who hurt you (e.g., jail, deportation)?
 How do you feel about the police? Why?
Environmental Indicators:
 Do you live and work in the same place?
 Where do you live/eat/sleep?
 Where do the alleged perpetrators live/eat/sleep?
 Are the living conditions between the two excessively disparate?
Law enforcement officers questioning the victim should consider the following:
 Is there evidence of possible “Stockholm” or “Patty Hearst” Syndrome where the victim,
because of his or her dependency, actually begins to identify with the trafficker?
The Mindset of a Human Trafficking Victim
The following points illustrate how victims of trafficking may see themselves and their situations. It
highlights the challenges that you may face as a law enforcement officer when interacting with potential
victims.
 Victims are taught by their traffickers to distrust outsiders, especially law enforcement. They
have a sense of fear and/or distrust toward the government and police because they are afraid
they will be deported. Sometimes they feel that it is their fault that they are in this situation. As
a coping or survival skill, they may develop loyalties and positive feelings toward their trafficker
or may even try to protect them from authorities.
 Victims of human trafficking are hesitant to come forward because of their fear of being
deported. While many of these victims are women and children who have been beaten and/or
raped, their current situation may still be better than where they came from.
 Victims come from different social and ethnic backgrounds than the investigating officers. There
may be significant cultural differences between the victim and U.S. law enforcement officials.
 Victims may be completely unaware of their rights or may have been intentionally misinformed
about their rights in this country.
 Many victims do not self-identify as victims. They also do not see themselves as people who are
homeless or as drug addicts who rely on shelters or assistance. Victims may not appear to need
social services because they have a place to live, food to eat, medical care and what they think is
a paying job.
 The victims may fear not only for their own safety but also for that of their families in their
home countries. Some traffickers threaten that they will harm their victims' families if the
victims report their situations to, or cooperate with, law enforcement.
 Criminal prosecution should empower the victims and should facilitate their healing process so
that they see the crimes committed against them condemned and the people who harmed them
punished.
Communicating with Victims of Human Trafficking
Most victims are afraid and initially hesitant to cooperate, often fearing for their lives. This document
provides law enforcement with strategic word choice and usage geared to establish trust between the
officer and the victim.
 You are safe now.
 No one here will hurt you.
 Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, victims of trafficking can apply for special
visas or could receive other forms of immigration relief.
 Coming to us/Working with us will help you.
 You are a victim, not a criminal.
 What happened to you was wrong, and the person who did this to you should be in jail.
 You have a right to live without being abused.
 You deserve the chance to become self-sufficient and independent.
 By helping us, you are helping yourself.
 We can help get you what you need.
 We can help to protect your family.
 You can trust me.
 We want to make sure what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else.
 You have rights.
 You are entitled to assistance. We can help you get assistance.
 If you are a victim of trafficking, you can receive help to rebuild your life safely in this country.
Identifying and Interacting With Victims of Human Trafficking
Victims of human trafficking are vulnerable human beings who have been subjected to severe physical
and emotional coercion. Most have been “taught” to distrust law enforcement, so victims of human
trafficking need to be reassured that once they come in contact with law enforcement officers, they will
be protected and safe.
Following are some things law enforcement officers should consider when dealing with victims of
trafficking. Being aware of these items will help promote a cooperative relationship, helping law
enforcement to gain the assistance of victims in the investigation and prosecution of traffickers.
 Human trafficking is a devastating human rights violation that takes place not only
internationally, but also here in the United States. As a law enforcement officer, you play an
important role in identifying and helping trafficking victims. While trafficking is largely a hidden
social problem, trafficking victims are in plain sight if you know what to look for.
 Trafficking is not just forced prostitution. Victims of human trafficking may also be in forced
labor situations as domestic servants (nannies or maids); sweatshop workers; janitors;
restaurant workers; migrant farm workers; fishery workers; hotel or tourist industry workers;
and as beggars.
 A person who is trafficked may look like many of the people you see daily, but asking the right
questions and looking for small clues will help you identify those people who have been forced
or coerced into a life of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Look for the following clues:
o Evidence of being controlled
o Evidence of an inability to move or leave job
o Bruises or other signs of battering
o Fear or depression
o Non-English speaking
o Recently brought to this country from Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, Canada, Africa or
India
o Lack of passport, immigration or identification documentation
o There are four areas of general victim needs:
o Immediate assistance (housing, food, medical, safety and security)
o Mental health assistance (counseling)
o Income assistance (cash)
o Legal status (certification, immigration)
 Take into consideration a victim’s cultural and social background as these traits will impact the
way victims should be managed as witnesses, as well as the way the investigation of their cases
are carried out. If possible, you should work with a culturally and linguistically competent
interpreter when a victim demonstrates any of the above-mentioned characteristics. Ideally, this
person could serve as a language interpreter and be able to interpret the cultural values and
unique behaviors that are characteristic of the victim’s national and ethnic background.
 Effective communication is essential in gaining trust of victims as well as defining their
immediate needs. Effective witness management extends into the courtroom when the time
comes to present testimony and evidence to a jury.
 Screen interpreters to ensure they do not know the victim or the traffickers and do not
otherwise have a conflict of interest.
 A successful investigation and prosecution of a human trafficking case is victim-centered. This
requires lending support to traumatized and confused victims before you can gain their
confidence.
 Once victims of human trafficking are rescued from the traffickers, they generally will be
incapable of finding outside support due to the isolation they have suffered while in captivity.
This especially impacts you as law enforcement officers because it can place you in the initial
position of having to arrange for such support.
 Victims of human trafficking in the U.S. who are non-citizens may be eligible to receive special
visas and to receive benefits and services through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)
to the same extent as refugees. Victims who are U.S. citizens are already eligible to receive
many of these benefits.

If you think you have come in contact with a victim of human trafficking, call the National
Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1.888.3737.888. This hotline will help you determine if
you have encountered victims of human trafficking, will identify local resources available in your
community to help victims, and will help you coordinate with local social service organizations
to help protect and serve victims so they can begin the process of restoring their lives.
 Section Sixteen
Standards of Holistic Care for Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

"We have a long way to go both here and abroad to recognize victims and bring their perpetrators to
justice, and provide for the compassionate care mandated by law and our common ethic; to raise
awareness and combat the demand that traffickers rush to meet through violence and exploitation."
Luis CdeBaca
Ambassador-at-Large, Office To Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

These are "Best Practice" Protocols for the care of Commercial Sexual Exploitation Victims:

1. Ensure that victims are identified as such, and that they are not arrested or treated as offenders.
This is especially important in cases involving commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), where
“prostitutes” (even those over age 18) are actually victims. Those under age 18 should not be
arrested, detained, or turned over to the juvenile justice system without first ensuring their
status as offenders and not victims.
2. All victims should be treated with compassion and respect.
3. Victims should be isolated completely and protected at all times from their accused
traffickers/procures/pimps/brothel keepers and their representatives (if deemed a viable threat,
this may include the families or guardians of children under 18).
4. All victims should be provided with food, clean clothing, and personal hygiene products within
the first hour of rescue.
5. An adult female support person should be present when female victims are interviewed.
6. All victims should be taken immediately to a certified place of safety that houses victims of the
same gender, with as little time as possible detained in police stations, and allowed to remain
there for a period adequate to facilitate recovery (usually between 12-18 months).
7. Safe houses and shelters must maintain 24/7/365 staffing. Because victims of CSE have often
been deeply indoctrinated by and are deeply attached to their exploiters, many try to return to
the streets. Safe houses therefore require around-the-clock monitors, preferably prostitute
“survivors”/peers, to try to discourage victims from leaving. However, the victim has the final
choice – staying must always be voluntary. Shelters should, whenever possible, hold spaces
open for victims who choose to return.
8. Safe houses and shelters must be secure and should be physically, socially and culturally
welcoming, including an orientation program and provision for victims with special needs. Rural
settings may reduce stress, prevent triggers, and enhance recovery.
9. Victims should be assigned a case worker trained in the care of CSE victims, who is charged with
helping victims develop an individual life plan and who will coordinate medical care,
psychological care, legal counsel (including a victim witness advocate), acquisition of
identification documents, academic assessments, and other social services needed for recovery
and reintegration.
10. All victims will be systematically linked to a variety of support structures and given the skill and
confidence to avail themselves of these services.
11. Victims should never be coerced into care. They should be enabled and empowered to make
their own choices and to use services in a manner and at a pace with which they can cope.
12. Medical attention, including initial mental health counseling and HIV/AIDS/STD testing, should
be rendered within the first 12 hours of rescue.
13. Victims should be provided with supervised access to telephones and/or electronic
communications.
14. Every effort should be made to reunite trafficking victims with their children.
15. Every effort should be made to recover the personal belongings of the victim.
16. All victims should be assisted in the recovery or replacement of legal identification and other
necessary documents.
17. Victims should be ensured freedom of movement, without any physical restrictions.
18. Safe houses and shelters must develop crisis management plans to address foreseeable
problems such as outbreaks of illness, death, fires, accidents, serious complaints, staff
shortages, or control problems.
19. Each victim must have a separate, single bed with appropriate bedding, and a place for the safe
storage of personal belongings.
20. Victims should be provided with opportunities for outdoor reflection and recreation whenever
possible.
21. Mental health/trauma counseling is a right of all victims and should be provided at no cost.
Victims should be provided with private and confidential needs-based, sustained, professionally
designed and delivered services to promote overall psycho-social wellbeing, including
psychotherapeutic counseling, group therapy, 12-step programs, and psychiatric treatment as
necessary.
22. Meals should be arranged jointly by the victims and the staff of the safe house, with guidance by
medical personnel and nutritionists as necessary.
23. Victims should be provided with new clothes, outerwear, and shoes at no cost.
24. Victims should be helped to locate trusted family members, community members, or friends.
25. Adult victims should have access to their files at any time.
26. Victims of trafficking and other forms of violence often suffer serious damage to their self-
esteem, self-image, self-confidence and self-identity. They may at times adopt self-destructive
behaviors. Every victim must be helped to regain a positive self-identity.
27. Staff-mediated peer group discussions should be encouraged to raise issues affecting day-to-day
living in the safe house, such as bullying, fighting, abusive language, and sexual exploitation.
28. Staff responses to unacceptable behavior on the part of any victim must be constructive and
follow known disciplinary measures, and will never include any form of physical punishment,
confinement, or food deprivation.
29. Staff members should build positive relationships with victims, setting clear boundaries,
expectations for acceptable behavior, and rights and responsibilities.
30. Physical restraint must only be used to prevent likely injury to the victim concerned or to others.
31. Under no circumstances will the dependence of victims be used to transfer any particular faith
system to victims, and no services will be conditional on the victim belonging to or accepting any
particular faith system.
32. Faith-based counseling should be provided at the request of the victim.
33. Victims often have suffered multiple sexual offenses and extreme insecurity and may have
become or made to become addicted to drugs ranging from nicotine and alcohol to hard
narcotics. Victims must be offered specialized professional assistance to overcome drug
dependence/addiction.
34. Free time is essential to healing and must be balanced with structured day-to-day activities.
35. Victims should be empowered to make their own decisions.
36. Victims should have access to news media, books, magazines, music, writing materials such as
personal journals, and games.
37. Education must be considered an inalienable right of every victim.
38. Victims should be provided with supportive educational services such as tutoring or special
education, including vocational training as requested.
39. All victims will be provided with basic life skills education, including self-knowledge, work
dynamics and ethics, managing money, problem solving, relationship building, health, effective
communication, citizenship.
40. Professional legal services should be made available to all victims at every stage free of cost.
41. Legal representation must be provided unconditionally and not be associated with the victim’s
willingness to testify or serve as a witness in any prosecution.
42. Every effort should be made to facilitate prosecution of traffickers/procures/pimps/ brothel
keepers or others involved in the abuse or exploitation of the victim.
43. Where necessary, victims should be given the option of the Witness Protection Program.
44. All victims will be provided with the education, knowledge, skills, orientation, and micro-credit
to secure work and economic independence.
45. All victims’ records must be kept confidential and secure, including health information.
46. Complete confidentiality must be maintained about the facial and other personal identifiers of
the victim – from rescue to rehabilitation to reintegration.
47. Victims should not be reconnected with their families without adequate assessment.
48. Monthly follow-up should be provided for each victim for the first six to twelve months after
reintegration or repatriation to ensure that the victim is receiving adequate support and does
not get re-trafficked, abused, or exploited.
49. In the case of non-US residents, repatriation should be facilitated only with the consent of the
victim and with adequate protections to prevent re-trafficking or exploitation.
50. Federal and/or State governments should reimburse all expenses related to victim care and
support, from rescue through rehabilitation and eventual reintegration.
 Section Seventeen
Residential Facilities for Underage Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation
A Guide for Students Who Want to Help

Many people are interested in developing residential programs for underage victims of Commercial
Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in America. Here, you will find provide practical information about the
characteristics and needs of these young people, and describe the type of residential programs and
facilities currently providing services for this population.
While we recognize that males and transgender youth are also victims of CSE in America,
current emphasis and service delivery is focused on females. Therefore, this information is limited to
minor female victims of CSE.

What are the Impacts of CSE on Young People?

While there is no consensus on the number of underage CSE victims in the United States, there is clear
consensus that the impact of this crime on the victims is devastating. Girls who have been domestically
trafficked experience physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual repercussions from the trauma of
sexual exploitation. Providers of care often report that victims present with the following health-related
issues:
 Physical health problems associated with beatings and rapes, including broken bones and
the need for wound care;
 Reproductive health problems, including exposure to HIV and other STDs, pregnancies, and
fertility issues;
 Malnutrition;
 Mental health problems, including PTSD and somatic complaints (headaches, chronic pain)
resulting from the trauma, and others listed below; and
 Alcohol and other drug use, as well as addiction.

Mental health symptoms resulting from repeated abuse include:

 Extreme anxiety and fear;
 Changed relationships with others (including the inability to trust);
 Self-destructive behaviors (including suicide attempts);
 Changed feelings or beliefs about oneself (including profound shame and guilt);
 Changed perception of the perpetrator (including establishing a traumatic bond); and
 Despair and hopelessness.

Certainly, female CSE victims in America experience a different level of abuse and trauma. As one
provider of care for these victims describes it, “Their level of trauma is much greater and their level of
damage, severe.” These girls are in need of a new identity separate from “The Life.” They also need to
develop healthy attachments with peers, adults, and family members (whenever possible). Perhaps
most important, these girls need to feel safe, both physically and emotionally.
What are Current Challenges and Limitations to Serving this Population?
Law enforcement and health and social services providers working with this population acknowledged
several challenges and limitations to effectively meeting the needs of these girls. Overarching challenges
include:
 Difficulty identifying victims. The hidden nature of the crime and the use of the Internet by
traffickers make identifying victims challenging. Additionally, the lack of standard protocols
for identifying potential victims coming in contact with law enforcement, child protective
case workers, street outreach workers, drop-in centers, school counselors, and emergency
shelters is problematic. Perhaps the greatest challenge is the lack of recognition of these
minors as victims. It is reported that many law enforcement, child protective services
workers, and shelter providers believe that these girls had “chosen” to become involved in
prostitution and therefore should be held accountable for their “criminal” actions. The
stigma associated with prostitution is evident to all who are involved with this issue,
especially the young victims themselves. It is typical that the girls do not view themselves as
victims and, in many cases, say that they do not want help. Viewing these minors as victims
of human trafficking instead of “criminals” or “prostitutes” represents a huge paradigm shift
that has occurred within the law, but not in practice.
 Lack of understanding of domestic human trafficking. A significant is the lack of knowledge
and understanding that human trafficking can occur in America. Specifically, many people
think human trafficking is a crime that happens only to immigrants. The relationship
between the prostitution of minors and human trafficking is not well understood by most
providers. Not only does this impact the ability to identify victims, but it impacts the ability
of staff to provide appropriate services to meet the needs of these girls.
 Inadequate services. It is clear to even the casual observer that the services provided to
this population are terribly inadequate. In some runaway and homeless youth shelter
programs, the time restrictions on the length of stay imposed by funding sources make it
impossible to build trust with the girls, let alone begin any meaningful treatment.
Additionally, the diversity of the minors in shelter programs and group homes make it
difficult to tailor services for a specific population. Within juvenile detention facilities,
treatment plans are often aligned with the criminal charges — often crimes unrelated to
prostitution (e.g., curfew violations, truancy, shoplifting, runaway) — and, therefore, they
are ineffective in addressing the real issues facing these girls. For minors placed in foster
care or group homes, once again, the sexual exploitation is often not recognized and,
therefore, the trauma and related problems are not treated.
 Safety concerns. The issue of safety for staff, other residents, and the girls themselves
extremely important. In the case of runaway and homeless shelters and drop-in centers, the
location is often known to the trafficker. In fact, there are many reported cases of traffickers
recruiting girls outside these facilities or, in some cases, girls being sent into the shelters to
recruit other girls. Very few programs are equipped to handle these situations.
  Flight Risk. Another challenge is the flight risk that these girls pose for law enforcement and
the programs working with them. Law enforcement and providers often describe how a girl
usually believes she was in love with her trafficker and felt compelled to return to him, out
of this love or out of fear of retribution if she didn’t return. This is a facet of the powerful
trauma bond created with her abuser, which is one form of the Stockholm Syndrome — an
extreme form of PTSD otherwise most frequently seen in torture victims. Additionally, these
girls often feel like there is nothing they are good at outside of “The Life”; which is the term
girls often use to describe their experiences with prostitution. This belief that their value lies
in being an object of sexual abuse — a belief often first developed as a child sexual abuse
victim — often compels a victim to return to her perpetrator and “The Life.” They frequently
speak of the immediate gratification or lure associated with street life in general, and
“prostitution” in particular; something difficult for any program to compete with.
Furthermore, for the majority of girls, their current situation includes a sense of belonging
that feels better than where they were before they were recruited and includes various
“perks” such as trips to different states, nice clothing and jewelry, etc.

Residential Facilities
The majority of domestically trafficked girls who are not living in their homes during the exploitation are
being placed in a variety of settings, including residential treatment centers, child protective services-
funded group homes and foster care placements, and juvenile corrections facilities.
Additionally, many of these girls are flowing in and out of shelters for runaway and homeless
youth and frequenting drop-in centers, often without detection as a victim of domestic sex trafficking by
the staff. There are very few residential facilities specific to this population in existence in the United
States. These include Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) Transition to Independent Living
(TIL) program, Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) Safe House, Children of the Night, and
Angela’s House. Despite the limited number of these programs, across sites, street outreach workers,
shelter providers, residential facility staff, law enforcement, and child protective services workers agree
on the importance and priority for more residential programs uniquely tailored to young victims of CSE.

Population Served
While the current focus is on female victims of trafficking in America, there is a need for similar facilities
for males and transgender youth. Several of the runaway and homeless youth shelters note challenges
trying to house this population among mixed age and mixed gender populations.
Most providers advocate for smaller programs and populations for care settings. Underage
victims of trafficking have difficulty navigating relationships and, therefore, need — and are more likely
to benefit from — a smaller, more intimate setting. This extends to believing that no more than two girls
should share a room; a model similar to domestic violence shelters. Advocates for larger programs
believe in the ability to serve a greater number of young people more economically. A larger program
must have appropriate space to allow for smaller subgroups to interact. Facilities should consider
grouping residents by similar age and/or stage of recovery. This could be done through different units
within a single residence or through different facilities.
Finally, there are some exclusion criteria or conditions under which the existing residential
facilities and alternative placements, including runaway and homeless youth shelters and domestic
violence shelters, will not serve underage victims. While these varied by program, the criteria often
included the presence of a severe mental disorder (psychotic, suicidal), active and severe substance
abuse and addiction, and severe violent behavior (homicidal, threat to others). These victims need the
intensive treatment often available through hospitalization, staff-secured residential treatment facilities
for minors with emotional and/or behavioral disorders, or inpatient substance abuse treatment
facilities. However, few beds are available for a minor with either no insurance or Medicaid and the lack
of in-depth understanding of the experiences of victims of domestic sex trafficking among staff at these
facilities.

Length of Stay
Providers and law enforcement working with this population advocate for a minimum length of stay at
an appropriate facility of at least 18 months. This is also echoed by survivors. The 18-month length of
stay is recognized as sufficient time to build trust with the girls, provide the necessary therapy to
address their trauma, and to begin “working their treatment plan” and rebuilding their lives. Providers
also advocate for continued connection to the program following exit and long-term aftercare services.

Voluntary Stay
Most providers feel strongly that recovery from the trauma and victimization cannot happen until a
victim is ready and willing to work on her recovery. They call for a voluntary residential program in
which participants could opt in once they were invested in exiting “The Life.” Survivors universally agree
on the policy of voluntary placement, saying, “The girls need to make the choice themselves.”
Furthermore, providers acknowledged that being ready to use the services and support in a
residence takes time. For example, providers at SAGE report, “Bringing girls into the group home slowly
has shown benefits in terms of buy-in.” For Children of the Night, their success rate is reportedly higher
among residents who voluntarily enroll in their program compared to court-mandated placements.
Whether advocating for a voluntary or mandatory program, many people recognize that this population
is prone to run away or relapse, similar to the phenomenon in substance abuse treatment programs.
Unlike some residential treatment programs and group homes funded through the child protection
system within the United States and several of the runaway and homeless youth shelters, all of the
dedicated programs for underage victims of CSE have a policy to allow girls to return after they run away
from the facility. One survivor says, “Programs need to be able to hold a space open for someone to
come back.” Programs should also specific protocols in place to work with running as part of each girl’s
treatment plan and provided intensive one-on-one case management during heightened risk periods for
running (e.g., initial intake, specific points in therapy, etc.).

Program Location
There is a great deal of debate among providers as to the appropriate setting for a stand-alone
residential program for American victims of CSE. Currently, many of the residential programs are sited
within urban areas, although all of these programs are away from “the track” or known areas of street
prostitution. Those providers who advocate for a program within city limits believe that locating a
program within the city allows girls to retain any healthy emotional supports already in place, including
any family members, therapists, outreach workers, and school personnel. The girl may also be in a
position to better access supports that an urban area can provide, such as a diversity of medical
providers, therapists, educational opportunities, recreational opportunities, and job training and
employment opportunities. In addition, these providers believe that her real recovery can only occur
within the context of her triggers; a victim must learn how to navigate the environment to which she will
undoubtedly return.
Providers who advocate for programs sited outside of an urban environment believe that
anyone with PTSD is better able to begin recovery away from the daily triggers. For combat veterans,
this would be outside of the area of war; for girls who have been the victims of CSE, this would be away
from the areas of their exploitation. Furthermore, many people believe that the distance will provide an
added measure of security from traffickers and other predators, and decrease the likelihood that a girl
on the run from a program will easily find her way back to the area in which she was trafficked for sex.
 In some cases, the decision as to where to locate a residential facility may be driven by
availability and cost. Some providers find that they are constrained by which neighborhoods will allow
their program to be located there and the costs associated with housing in each neighborhood.

Security of Facility
There is universal agreement that any residential facility needs to be secure in order to establish
physical and emotional safety for these girls, which is an essential ingredient for their recovery. Ensuring
the safety of the facility and staff themselves is also a priority. Examples of security measures to put in
place at a residential facility are identified from the existing residential facilities, domestic violence
shelters, and many of the runaway and homeless youth shelters. These measures include: undisclosed
location, security cameras and alarm systems, 24-hour staffing and presence of security guards,
unannounced room searches and drug screens, limited phone use, supervised or no access to the
Internet, locked doors at all times with staff and residents buzzed in and out of the facility, pre-
approved/screened contact lists, etc. For some runaway and homeless youth shelter programs currently
housing this population, the staff makes the most of close relationships with local law enforcement and
ongoing safety training for staff and residents as key elements to ensuring a safe environment. Not only
are these security measures important for programming, they are also important items to consider
when developing a program budget.
Additionally, the development of safety plans for each resident, similar to practices employed by
domestic violence shelters, is practiced and recommended across the residential programs. Girls are
taught to find safety zones for themselves (e.g., within a local convenience store or a fire station) that
they can use to flee their trafficker or simply avoid an old acquaintance. These safety plans are put in
place to address both the possibility of running and to navigate day-to-day life after exit.

Program Staffing
Programs for domestically victims of trafficking must be run by individuals who “live and breathe
trafficking” in contrast to administrators lacking that expertise and specialization. Because domestically
sex-trafficked girls have been exploited primarily by males, programs believe it is important to begin
their recovery in an all-female environment and therefore advocate for hiring only female staff. One
survivor says there is a need to create a “community of women.” However, some providers do advocate
for the appropriate use of male staff to demonstrate the possibility of a relationship with a male that is
non-exploitative. It is of primary importance that staff truly understand underage victims of domestic
trafficking in the United States and the impact of their life experience. The staff needs to be able to be
consistent, nonjudgmental, and treat victims with the utmost respect.
This requires a staff with an authentic understanding of “The Life.” The need to have a natural
ability to connect with domestically trafficked girls has led to some providers advocating for the hiring of
survivors. Both SAGE and GEMS prioritize hiring women who were sexually exploited, including minor
victims of domestic sex trafficking and have successfully exited “The Life.” SAGE explains the rationale
for using a “peer support model” as follows: — “Clinicians spend 75% of their time establishing trust,
while peers can start from a place of trust.” One service provider observed that someone who has
exited “can convey hope in a way those of us who haven’t been there cannot,” while another
commented that survivors show that “people can survive and pull themselves out.” Among the benefits
of survivor mentoring is that hearing the life story of someone who has been trafficked for sex often
paves the way for girls to open up.
Regardless of whether a program employs survivors or not, it is important for all staff to be well
trained in understanding sexual exploitation, the realities of prostitution and sex trafficking, the
methods of recruitment, the physical/psychological/spiritual impact of the trauma, potential methods
for exit, an overview of youth development programming, and appropriate boundaries and healthy
working relationships.

Services Provided
While not all programs are able to offer all services onsite, there is universal agreement regarding the
range of services that need to be available to residents. These include:
 Basic needs. Programs housing victims must meet the basic needs of all residents, similar to
runaway and homeless youth programs. That is, each program should provide clothes that
fit appropriately (including undergarments); food; shelter, including showers; and a safe
place to sleep.
 Intensive case management. One of the most important services to be offered is intensive
case management. Girls should paired with staff with an emphasis on their relational
development — their connection to the staff person builds simultaneously while the
services are provided. As described by one provider, this requires “lots of time
commitment — she needs 24-hour access to her advocate/case manager.” Girls must be
guided and supported through the complexity of their life situations by case managers (i.e.,
legal services, medical services, etc.). The case managers must work in collaboration with
girls to develop Individual Service Plans. The overall goal of treatment relates to the general
mental and physical health-related goals of building self-worth, self-respect, and self-
efficacy. This treatment must be delivered within the context of “understanding the
developmental hindrances of having been under the control of someone [her trafficker] for
so long.”
 Mental health counseling/treatment. There is an urgent need for trauma-informed
ongoing mental health services, with a variety of specific treatments receiving particular
emphasis (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), eye
movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)). In addition, programs should tailor
their program to ensure trauma-informed care. For example, residents can be given an MP3
player and headphones as a means of offering one particular coping and self-soothing tool.
In addition, there is a need for trained staff to provide crisis management around the clock.
As one outreach program describes it, vulnerable youth, in general, and trafficking victims,
in particular, “need someone there all the time to help them stop and process the crisis.”
 Medical screening/routine care. Given the physical health needs of this population, all
programs must provide medical screening for STDs, pregnancy, and other health-related
problems, often through local medical providers sensitive to this issue or onsite nurse
practitioners. Depending on the source of referral to the program, victims should receive
medical screening (and emergency treatment, if required) prior to entering the facility (e.g.,
detention facility, child protective services). For more critical or emergency needs while
staying at the facility, programs should access local urgent or emergency care facilities.
Mobile health clinics and local teen clinics should also be utilized by the runaway and
homeless youth shelters housing this population.
 Life skills and job training programs. Programs serving underage victims of SCE should
integrate some type of life skills, job training, and career development process as part of a
girl’s treatment plan. This may include check writing, bank account management, learning to
pay phone bills, and other types of financial literacy. As described by provider, a primary
goal when working with these girls is to “deconstruct their relationship with money.” All
girls should become involved in a pre-employment and employment program. Girls should
be able to apply for hourly work in the office of the provider or as part of outreach, building
skills they can take with them. Furthermore, girls should be offered a stipend in the form of
 a $5 coupon for attending workshops, classes, or helping out in general. They can then able
cash these coupons with staff once every other week. Along with teaching them to manage
their money and finances, this communicates to girls “you can do things that aren’t harmful
to yourself and still get compensated and keep the money.”
 Youth development programming. Many programs, both those serving minor victims of
domestic sex trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation and those
serving vulnerable youth in general (runaway and homeless populations), stress the
importance of creative youth development-oriented programming that builds on the
strengths of each young person — programming that helps her “find her gifts.” These
programs need to provide multiple types of educational opportunities for victims to “keep
her engaged and busy.” One provider described that “it can’t be boring — it has to be a
meaningful alternative [to ‘The Life’].” The most important piece of this creative
programming is to involve the young people in its development — the “key is that kids are
included in determining what they want to do.” Several runaway and homeless youth
programs and drop-in centers provide engaging programming informed by youth and often
led by youth, including music production, art and poetry, and sports and recreation.
 Education. The educational programming offered by the existing residential facilities varies.
Some programs opt for referring girls to mainstream schools, GED programs, or vocational
schools. Other programs offer educational programming through a collaborative
arrangement with a local day-treatment provider. These models are also similar for the
runaway and homeless youth shelter programs. It is agreed that it can be difficult to serve
all of the girls in the same educational program, given the differences in their cognitive
abilities, past school experiences, and interests.
 Family involvement/reunification. When a healthy relationship is possible, it is of vital
importance to involve biological family members or other appropriate support people in the
lives of victims. Unfortunately, many providers assume there is no family of origin to whom
the girl can return. While the outcome may never be returning home, there may be an
opportunity to maintain some type of family relationship through counseling and education.
It is clear, however, that because of the extensive abuse histories of most trafficking victims,
programs need to provide structured, safe environments in which families can reconnect.

Other Factors Needed for Success

While providers and law enforcement stress the need for residential facilities for the underage victims of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation as a priority, they also recognize that a residential facility alone will
never be enough to effectively serve these girls. There is wide agreement that residential facilities need
to be situated along a continuum of care that begins with prevention education and outreach to at-risk
populations, teachers and school counselors, health and human services professionals, juvenile justice
and child welfare systems personnel, parents, and communities at large. The residential facilities also
need to be connected to existing community-based programs, including youth drop-in centers and
emergency shelters, given their contact with this population and the importance of these programs as
an identification and referral source for the facilities.
Finally, providers and law enforcement alike say the need for long-term aftercare services,
including support groups, mentoring, individual counseling, and education is acute. Once there is well-
designed and well-funded residential facilities to house these girls, then other aspects of their
restoration can begin.
One program alone is unlikely to be able to provide the entire platform of services needed.
Collaboration, specifically among law enforcement, juvenile courts and probation, schools, child
protective services, and direct service providers (including runaway and homeless youth shelters), is an
essential ingredient for successfully meeting the needs of these girls. In fact, providers and law
enforcement alike in constantly attribute their current successes to collaboration, open communication,
a common language and shared definition of Commercial Sexual Exploitation and its underage victims,
information sharing, trust, and ultimately a genuine desire to help this most vulnerable population.
Finally, funding to support new programs or enhancements to existing programs is critical for
this movement. Not only are current resources scarce, but limitations on funding with respect to who
could be served (e.g., age, city/county of residency) and how long services could be provided (e.g., 14
days, 30 days, 90 days) create significant obstacles that limit access to much needed services for this
population.

Summary
Underage victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation are frequently in need of services, including out-of-
home placement. Providers and law enforcement across multiple cities are advocating for more options
for residential facilities in which these girls can receive support, comprehensive services, and a start on
the path to recovery. But there is a great need across all sectors of society to recognize that minors
exploited as “prostitutes” by a “pimp” meet the statutory definition of a “minor victim of sex trafficking”
and therefore deserve the humanitarian protections called for under TVPA.
This change in paradigm is made more difficult, however, by the historical treatment of
prostitution and prostitutes as a criminal matter, and the denial of minor victims themselves that they
are “victims” of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. Providers and law enforcement agree that there
is not a “one size fits all” model to serving domestically sex-trafficked girls. Different levels of care and
different types of care are needed to ensure long-term stability and exit. However, the few programs
that are providing services specifically to this population identify certain common components or
elements that show promise of being effective. At a minimum, these programs need to be safe, trauma
informed, population specific, and adequately funded. Furthermore, programs currently housing
domestically sex-trafficked girls, such as runaway and homeless youth shelters, detention facilities, and
group homes, need additional training and access to appropriate resources to better serve this
population. The future safety and stability of this vulnerable population of girls rests on our society's
ability to provide a “home” in which they can recover from the trauma of their trafficking situation and
be given a chance at a new life free from Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
 Section Eighteen
Instructors’ Guide for Young Men

OVERVIEW
For students, education focusing on Sex Trafficking in the United States, what little there is, has mainly
focused on young women. These educational efforts have highlighted the root causes of sexual
exploitation, objectification, and commodification, such as societal tolerance of sexism, gender
oppression, and various forms of exploitation against women. Often held in schools, churches, and
community centers, these educational forums have typically focused on providing support and
resources to those who have survived these forms of abuse and exploitation. Though prevention has
always played a key role in protecting young people, most prevention programs have targeted younger
women to help them understand the issue and protect themselves from becoming victims.
More recently, educators have shifted the focus of prevention work, acknowledging that ending
commercial sexual exploitation of women cannot be viewed only as a “women’s problem.” If this
singular, shortsighted perspective were to continue then we as educators would be guilty of ignoring the
vital role men must play in ending commercial sexual exploitation. In his book, The Macho Paradox,
Jackson Katz explains: “The long-running tragedy of sexual and domestic violence including rape,
battering, sexual, harassment, and the sexual exploitation of women and girls—is arguably more
revealing about men than it is about women. Men, after all, are the ones committing the vast majority
of the violence. Men are the ones doing most of the battering and almost all of the raping. Men are the
ones paying prostitutes (and killing them in video games), going to strip clubs, renting sexually degrading
pornography, writing and performing misogynistic music.”
To decrease the prevalence of these forms of exploitation, we can no longer solely engage
women in conversations and activism about these issues. Though it is essential to continue to provide
support and safe spaces for women, we will not reduce the exploitation of young women if we do not
appropriately target prevention efforts at the individuals and culture that are overwhelmingly
responsible for this harm. By refocusing anti-exploitation efforts toward male audiences, educators
must increase the effects of prevention and create a larger community of anti-exploitation allies.
Though men perpetrate the vast majority of rapes, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation,
this subset of men represents a small percentage of the total population. Russ Ervin Funk explains in his
book, Reaching Men, that men can become agents of change, stating, “Ultimately, men taking the
initiative (not the leadership) to confront other men’s attitudes and behaviors will result in the kind of
change in attitudes necessary to end sexism and violence” Men who do not commit acts of
commercial sexual exploitation of women can play a key role in the solution to ending it by holding
exploitive male peers and community members accountable for their actions, helping challenge our
current culture of sexism, and standing with women in saying that exploitive attitudes and behaviors will
not be tolerated.
One often-overlooked form of exploitation is the demand for women in the commercial sex
trade. Research has consistently shown that the commercial sex trade industry is inherently violent;
customers and pimps, who are predominantly male, perpetrate harm against those in prostitution –
often a form of human trafficking - who are predominantly female. Misogyny, power, and patriarchy
play the same roles in sexual exploitation as they do in other forms of gender based violence.
In short, men are the problem.
Consequently, there is a need to further explore methods of helping young men better
understand the role they play in ending sexual harm. One of these methods is talking with young men
about the commercial sex trade to help them understand the role that men play in perpetuating and
normalizing prostitution. Another is to explore with young men why some men perpetrate sexual harm
against those involved in the sex trade industry. Third, to highlight how the commercial sex trade can be
a form of violence against women. And finally, to engage men in understanding and resisting
commercial sexual exploitation.
The purpose of this curriculum guide is to empower young men with knowledge that both
highlights the harms of sexual exploitation and provides active roles they can play to end sexual harm.
By specifically educating and empowering young men, it is possible to decrease the number of people
who patronize the commercial sex trade and perpetrate sexual harm against trafficked and otherwise
exploitive individuals while increasing the number of men who are allies in understanding and
challenging the harms of commercial sexual exploitation.
INSTRUCTOR ROLE AND STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Though there are a variety of strategies to educate and mobilize young men to work toward ending the
commercial sexual exploitation of women, the most effective method is to prevent men from ever
committing or tolerating the behavior leading to this kind of abuse. A well-trained and effective
instructor can help young men develop a consciousness about the commercial sexual exploitation of
women and assume responsibility for ending it.

INSTRUCTOR QUALITIES AND GROUNDING PRINCIPLES

Each instructor should uphold certain qualities to effectively encourage critical consciousness, individual
transformation, and collective action among participants in their classes and workshops. Adapted from
Reaching Men, the “Characteristics of Effective Educators” require an instructor to be:
 Knowledgeable about the commercial sex trade and other forms of exploitation against
women, as well as the culture and individuals who enable the perpetration of this harm
 Thoughtful about ways to present material and the variety of reactions to the material
presented
 Passionate about the subject matter and social justice
 Flexible and adaptable
 Aware of and attentive to their own emotions
 Aware of and attentive to participants’ emotions
 Honest and authentic
 Comfortable with disruption in the classroom
 Able to handle confrontation
 Organized
 Positive and hopeful
 An active listener
 Nonjudgmental.
INSTRUCTOR QUALITIES AND GROUNDING PRINCIPLES (continued)
Instructors should work from a set of principles about the commercial sexual exploitation of women and
young men’s roles in perpetuating and ultimately ending these abuses. Challenging existing biases helps
an educator provide sensitive, empowering, and safe spaces for young men to reflect on their own
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Though instructors may have personal assumptions about engaging
young men, such as their capacity to understand and respond to the information, there are a number of
guiding principles that can alleviate some of the barriers to reaching young men while respecting their
humanity and capacity to grow:
 Everyone has experienced various forms of violence, exploitation or abuse.
 Everyone has the right to be free from violence, abuse, exploitation and threats.
 The problem of exploitation is both a social and a justice issue, as much as it is a
personal one.
 Men who perpetrate commercial sexual exploitation of women are more than the abuse
they perpetuate (for example, men are more than “rapists,” “batterers,” or
“pornographers”).
 Committing acts of exploitation and violence is a choice.
 Men are not naturally or innately sexist, exploitive, violent, or abusive.
 Men do care about ending exploitation of women.
 All people have an unlimited and inherent capacity to feel empathy for others.
 Men can handle their anger and other strong feelings that may be triggered as a result
of talking about sexism and exploitation.
 Everyone benefits by working to ending commercial sexual exploitation and by
challenging our culture’s acceptance of it.
 Men work effectively alongside women and become strong allies in the work to
promote social justice and human rights.
HOW TO ENGAGE MEN
Male Only Meeting Spaces and Male Instructors
There is ample research indicating various ways of creating safe, productive spaces to address the
commercial sexual exploitation of women with classrooms of young men. While there are some noted
benefits to having female instructors and mixed-gender settings, particularly the opportunity for
empathy generating dialogue between men and women, this curriculum guide looks specifically at the
benefits of having a male-identified instructor in a male-specific space.
The male-only environment is preferred for several reasons.
First, male educators can act as representatives for the intolerance of male-perpetrated violence
and can model more equitable, anti-sexist behaviors.
Second, many researchers have identified the importance of peer acceptance and collective
norms among men to the development of young men’s attitudes and behavior toward women.
Third, a male instructor can help young men shift their perceptions of these collective norms by
showing that it is possible to gain acceptance by men for anti-sexist behaviors and attitudes.
Fourth, research suggests that male-specific spaces can more successfully facilitate men to think
critically about exploitation and sexism, their own attitudes and behaviors, and men’s overall
responsibility in stopping violence. Researcher Funk again describes the benefits of having male-
identified instructors and gender-specific spaces, explaining, “Male educators can probably expect to get
a more thorough depiction of the ways that men subscribe to the myths of male violence than when
women are present. Discussions that occur when it is ‘just the guys’ provide a unique and powerful
opportunity for male educators to challenge deeply held beliefs and assumptions that the male
participants have”
UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANTS AND INSTRUCTORS
It is important for instructors to understand the role that their own personal race, class, ability, sexual
orientation, nation of origin, and age, play in their world view and assumptions.
Therefore, it is also important for instructors to understand the limitations of approaching male
participants as a unilateral group. Instructors who are aware of individual differences will be able to
validate and acknowledge how the participants’ identities will influence the way they process and
respond to the material presented. For instance, because of the disproportionate incarceration rates of
men of color, particularly poor men of color, as well as the state-sanctioned violence that is associated
with the criminal justice system, some participants might be resistant to the idea of calling the police on
a community member who is soliciting sex or even pimping or trafficking individuals.
The instructor should look upon the differing identities of participants positively and he should
have the ability to find complementary and culturally relevant approaches to anti-exploitive work to
prevent programs from being “color blind.” Rather than emphasizing neutrality and sameness, the class
should be culturally relevant and embracing of different points of view. This tact will enable the
instructor to more effectively explore the ways in which men’s experiences and understandings of
violence are organized by race, class, sexual orientation, age, physical and mental ability, and other
forms of social division.
When working with male youth participants from a variety of backgrounds, the instructor should
also acknowledge his own identifications, how they intersect, and how they influence potential biases.
Because the instructor is the expert adult on the topic of commercial sexual exploitation, he will
automatically experience privilege and power in the context of the workshop or training. Therefore, the
instructor is responsible for the power dynamic between himself and the participants. Given that all
forms of commercial sexual exploitation of women are rooted in power and control, it can be liberating
for the instructor to actively address and reject these power differentials within the workshop. If the
instructor is able to acknowledge his privilege and share power with the youth participants, he will be
able to model for the students how to be knowledgeable, strong, and in control without having power
over another person.
This curriculum guide emphasizes the role of an instructor as someone who empowers young
men, models nonviolent and egalitarian attitudes toward women, and embodies a deep respect for the
ways in which participants’ multiple identifications can influence their understanding and response to
sexual exploitation.
THEORY AND APPROACHES
Young men can hear, process, and engage the material that is presented in a workshop or training in
many ways. However, a few strategies have proven to be most effective in engaging young men on the
topic of concerning commercial sexual exploitation. These approaches, which are supported by various
male anti-sexist researchers, include Social Norms Theory, Popular Education Theory, and Media
Awareness Theory. An overview of these different approaches emphasizes their utility for addressing
the commercial sexual exploitation of women and discussing how young men can generate critical
consciousness and collective action.
These theories are not mutually exclusive, and an instructor can adopt different elements of the
approaches when developing his educational techniques. This curriculum guide borrows various
elements from each to create a consciousness-raising and action-oriented workshop.

The Social Norms Theory

Social Norms Theory is based on the principal that one’s behavior is influenced by incorrect perceptions
of how other members of our social groups (or peers) think and act.
For example, an individual may overestimate the permissiveness of peer attitudes and/or
behaviors with respect to alcohol, smoking, or other drug use, or underestimate the extent to which
peers engage in healthy behaviors. The prevalence of these misconceptions increases problem
behaviors while simultaneously discouraging healthier behaviors. Essentially, this theory posits that
people behave based on what they think other people think and do, as opposed to what they actually
think and do.
Social Norms Theory can be applied to the commercial sexual exploitation of women and other
forms of sexism. Many men are uncomfortable with the sexist behaviors and attitudes they witness
among their peer groups. However, because few men vocally dissent to this everyday glorification of
sexism, most men believe they are alone in their discomfort. This perpetuates a society where men are
uncomfortable with misogyny and the exploitation of women but remains silent, thereby sending a
passive message to their peers those they condone these actions and behaviors.
Therefore, part of this curriculum guide focuses on correcting misperceptions and generating a
critical consciousness about sexual exploitation, resulting in decreased adherence to the myths
associated with prostitution and a reflective change in their participation in the sex trade industry.
The Popular Education Theory
Popular Education Theory is a direct response to the ineffectual nature of traditional education methods
in both engaging and mobilizing students. Popular education, also known as liberating education, is
“based on the principle that the art of education is a liberating experience for the student as well as the
educator. As such, it is an inherently empowering process that actively engages participants in the
process of education."
This approach is driven by an understanding of education as social change, where knowledge is
co-created through a dynamic process between the participants and the educator, with the goal of
developing critical consciousness in both parties. The Popular Education Theory is an appropriate
grounding principle for a curriculum focusing on the dangers and abuses of commercial sexual
exploitation because it enables the participants to reflect on how sexism and exploitation affects them
personally, their relationships with others, and their communities. From that vantage point a critical
consciousness is developed and participants are empowered to address the relationship between
masculinity and the commercial sexual exploitation of women directly.
Because this approach is different from traditional education models, which focus on lectures
and instructor-driven content, the process of developing the techniques and skills of popular education
and participatory learning can be challenging for instructors who may not have experience with it.
In “Questions for Revolutionary Sexual Violence Prevention Education,” Ross Wantland provides
guiding questions that can help instructors better understand the popular education perspective and
how it can inform their work with students, such as:
 Am I aware of my limitations and “hot button” issues?
 How will I deal with these limitations? How will I maximize my strengths?
 I telling the group what to think or am I creating a space where they can come to their
own conclusions?
 Do I know (or am I able to hear) where they are in their process? Can I take these needs
and work with them from where they are?
 Am I approaching them as the problem or the solution?
 Am I paying attention to the emotional process and space the students need to
understand this information?
 Am I giving them skills for practical application and reintegration?
 Am I creating an opportunity for them to engage in social change?
Media Awareness Theory
The Media Awareness Theory emphasizes the important role and influence of the various forms of
media surrounding and influencing the lives of students. We live in a culture in which young people have
consistent and pervasive exposure to media images that send restrictive and often dangerous messages
about masculinity and gender roles. These media messages are particularly apparent with regard to the
sex trade industry, where various media sources reinforce harmful cultural notions of people in
prostitution and pimps without acknowledging the violence and oppression that many experience.
Therefore, effective curricula often utilize media awareness strategies to help participants be
critical of the messages they receive and become conscious media consumers.
CONSIDER THE REBOUND EFFECT
Even well-prepared and well-executed programs may not shift the attitudes and behaviors of
participants over a long period of time due to what some call the Rebound Effect. This occurs when
changes in attitudes and behavior shift backward or even become worse after the completion of a
particular educational process.
It may sound discouraging, but knowing ahead of time about the Rebound Effect can also arm
instructors and program developers with insight on how to plan for and implement a more effective
curriculum. Research on the Rebound Effect, particularly as it relates to long-term attitude changes
around commercial sexual exploitation and all forms of violence against women, offers some practical
advice for those who facilitate programs focusing on these issues. The rebound effect indicates that it is
important for instructors and their programs to work actively toward preventing attitude regression
using strategies including:
 Incorporating a single-session presentation into a larger educational program
 Creating systems for teachers, youth workers, or administrators at the institutions
where the curriculum is implemented to follow up on the topic with the program
participants throughout the year
 Keeping up to date on evidence-based educational strategies with long-term outcomes
 Consistently updating the curriculum to reflect the current best practices in the
educational field.
EVALUATION STRATEGIES
The extensiveness of the training, preparation, and resources in developing and implementing an anti-
exploitation curriculum merits evaluation strategies that measure its effectiveness.
Furthermore, as stakeholders begin to place a stronger emphasis on the importance of measurable
results within education and social services, having evaluations written into curricula can be a useful
internal and external tool. Evaluations provide instructors the valuable feedback necessary to adjust
their style or delivery, gage the level at which participants enjoy or feel connected to the workshop, and
finally, measure any short or long-term changes in attitudes and behavior about commercial sexual
exploitation.
Though the latter is particularly important in verifying whether a program is effective in
preventing gender-based violence, it is also the most difficult to evaluate. Most programs administer
evaluations directly after the completion of the workshop and do not measure longer-term changes in
attitudes or behaviors.
Researchers consistently emphasize the importance of developing outcome measurement
strategies that document the changes in attitudes about commercial sexual exploitation of women.
Though one goal for curricula is the actual reduction in rates of exploitive behavior and thinking, with a
persistent emphasis on creating evaluation tools that measure these outcomes, there is still value in
student evaluations and feedback. The immediate responses of participants after a session can help an
instructor learn about his delivery style and effectiveness, and the sections of the curriculum that were
either particularly engaging or ineffective.
Some important questions to ask participants include:
 I have a different attitude toward women now (yes/no)
 I liked the way the teacher lead class (yes/no-explain what you didn’t like)
 I found the teacher engaging (yes/no)
 My favorite way to participate in the program was by (acting/writing/talking/drawing/I
did not participate at all)
 I am less likely to commit a violent act in the future because of this course (yes/no)
 What was your favorite activity during this course? (short answer)
 Do you think you will talk with your friends about the subjects you discussed in class?
(yes/maybe/no)
 Is there anything in the past that you might have done differently if you had taken this
course first? (short answer)
Experiential Activities
Approximate time needed: 200 minutes (Four 50-minute sessions)
Structure: Four 50-minute sessions empowering young men to end sexual exploitation with the
following objectives:
1. To understand commercial sexual exploitation as a form of gender-based violence
2. To explore cultural norms and their impact on our society’s perceptions of masculinity,
male sexuality, and the normalization of the sex trade
3. To discuss the pressure from the media, peers, and societal messages to conform to
these norms and how they influence our understanding of the sex trade, as well as the
decision to become customers
4. To empower young men with the skills and knowledge to become allies against sexual
exploitation by identifying tangible ways in which to end sexual harm.

Session One
Introduction and getting acquainted: Creating Safety and Accountability
Approximate time needed: 50 minutes
OBJECTIVES: The first session sets the stage for Disc the expectations and goals of the course
1. Create rapport and a sense of mutuality between the instructor and the participants.
2. Foster a confidential, safe, and bonding environment for learning and trust.
3. Help participants understand the elements of the sex trade by examining and defining
terminology associated with it.

Session Two
Commercial Sexual Exploitation
Approximate time needed: 50 minutes
OBJECTIVES: The second session focuses on understanding commercial sexual exploitation with the
following objectives:
1. To explore personal and collective beliefs about the sex trade
2. To help young men recognize the sex trade in its various forms
3. To help young men challenge some of the societal misconceptions about prostitution
4. To start the participants thinking about the role of demand in the sex trade.
Session Three
Commercial Sexual Exploitation within a Larger Context
Approximate time needed: 50 minutes
OBJECTIVES: The third session focuses on understanding commercial sexual exploitation within a larger
context with the following objectives:
1. To help participants understand commercial sexual exploitation in relation to other
forms of commercial sexual exploitation of women by examining myths about
prostitution, gender constructs, male sexuality, and power
2. To help young men understand these problems as cultural and structural issues that
require cultural and structural responses as opposed to simply changing individuals
3. To illuminate some of the harms many women and girls in prostitution experience.

Session Four
Taking Action Against Sexual Harm
Approximate time needed: 50 minutes
OBJECTIVES: The fourth and final session builds on the material presented in previous sessions and
focuses on taking actions to end commercial sexual exploitation with the following objectives:
1. To help the participants understand that they can be allies and agents of change in the
struggle toward ending commercial sexual exploitation
2. To provide participants with a space to talk about how they can turn their recently
gained insight on commercial sexual exploitation into action-oriented responses
3. Decision-Making Skills and Responsible Behaviors in Personal, School, and Community.
 Section Nineteen
“Targeted, some drug dealers switch to prostitution: Authorities fear surge in human trafficking”
By Maria Cramer, Boston Globe, October 26, 2008

A federal crackdown on drug dealers has succeeded in taking some of Boston's most dangerous offenders off the
streets, but it is also driving some dealers and gang leaders to pursue another line of criminal work: prostitution.
Law enforcement officials and victim advocates say girls as young as 14 have become a prized commodity
for criminals who would rather exploit them than run the risk of serving a long federal sentence for dealing drugs.
"The girl has become the new drug," said Kelley O'Connell, a sergeant detective who runs the Boston
Police Department's human trafficking unit, which has been working with the drug unit to track dealers who may
have turned to prostitution.
The trend is in part a consequence of the comparative ease of sexual exploitation in the digital age. Pimps
can advertise girls and women online - a way both to increase demand and avoid street arrests. But the
department's more aggressive use of tough federal drug laws to target gangs and so-called impact players - those
police believe to be involved in shootings - has also sent a message that criminals should consider another path,
according to police officials and some community leaders.
Some teenagers have recoiled from crime entirely, deciding to stick with school and seek legitimate jobs rather
than deal drugs, community organizers say. Others have turned to theft.
But the greatest impact has been on human trafficking.
Most of the city's fledgling pimps are men in their late 20s and early 30s who served time in prison for
drugs, have recently been released, and have settled on a new source of illicit income, said Deputy Superintendent
Paul Fitzgerald, head of the drug unit.
"They know we're looking hard at drug dealing," he said. "They're taking the path of least resistance when
they go toward the girls."
In recent years, the department has been working more aggressively with the FBI to target dealers, who
are often gang members responsible for much of the city's gun violence. During one 2006 sweep, Boston police
and the FBI arrested 23 men - half of whom were alleged gang members - for dealing cocaine near the Bromley-
Heath housing development in Jamaica Plain. Last year the department and federal officials announced three
stings in which more than 50 men were arrested for drug and gun charges. Some of the drug arrests have led to
sentences of 15 years in out-of-state federal prisons; if prosecuted under state law, they would have faced five to
10 years in a state prison. So criminals have adapted.
Tracking the change through statistics is difficult, police officials say, because law enforcement is focusing
less on arresting prostitutes than on tracking down the people who appear to be exploiting them.
But police have seen the trend in the arrests of people like James Williams, 26, who was caught by Boston
police and the FBI, who were investigating him in Miami in 2006 for luring a 16-year-old girl there and forcing her
into prostitution. Williams, who was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison, had been arrested for
drug-dealing in Boston three years earlier.
The trend can also be detected in the reports police are getting from their informants and the stories of
prostitutes approaching victim advocates for help. Cherie Jimenez, coordinator of Kim's Project in Brighton, an
organization that helps former prostitutes, said the number of women who have come through her door has more
than doubled since 2006 to 40. Police are conducting several ongoing investigations that they believe could soon
lead to more arrests.
Police still monitor busy strips like Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan, where some women sell their services,
usually to help feed a drug addiction. But law enforcement's focus has turned to pimps who run more organized
operations and recruit girls and young women from online social networks and in places that teens frequent, such
as bus stops, shopping centers, and outside urban schools.
O'Connell and her staff are reviewing the arrests and criminal backgrounds of dealers, looking for other
charges in their recent history, including domestic violence calls, which might be clues that they are also exploiting
women.
In the last year, school police officers have begun visiting the homes of girls who could be at risk of being
drawn into prostitution. In June, the trafficking unit finished training all of the department's patrol officers to look
for warning signs: expensive jewelry or excessive makeup on particularly young girls; truancy and long absences
from home; and bruises, which could be the result of an abusive pimp.
Fitzgerald said the drug trade still keeps his unit busy. Last year, officers obtained 288 search warrants for reputed
drug houses, about the same number of searches they conducted in prior years.
But the threat of a federal sentence has caused many dealers to take the business inside. Now dealers are
more likely to conduct transactions using cellphones and will arrange meeting places with clients, rather than deal
more openly on the streets.
The money is harder to come by, and the work less appealing, especially for new teenage recruits.
"What's different is that except for a few key people, kids are not making the kind of money they used
to," said Emmett Folgert, head of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative. "Entry-level jobs are actually competing with
what many of these kids were making on the streets. More of these kids are going back to school. They don't have
the pull of the big money. In general there's been a change, and we're thankful."
One drug dealer, a sleepy-eyed 18-year-old from Dorchester who said he peddles marijuana laced with
crack and heroin, said he is tired of dealing and constantly being worried that he will be stopped by police or
robbed by other dealers.
"I'd rather have a job," he said, looking younger than 18 in his oversized gray sweat shirt and black pants.
The shift of some to prostitution and pimping has tragic consequences of its own, as is evident in the
stories of women like Ashley. A 22-year-old from Boston, she finally got away from her pimp - and boyfriend -
three years ago, but not before he beat her repeatedly and got her pregnant.
He was a drug dealer when they met five years ago. At first, he had her meet with clients a couple of
times a week. But soon, Ashley said, he was spending less time dealing and more time driving her to clubs and
places like Atlantic City to find clients.
Her pimp, who was about three years older, saw the trade as "something to fall back on," Ashley said, an
easy way to make money and steer clear of law enforcement. "They don't really have to go out there and put in
the effort to do anything. It's just drop you off and pick you up."
By the time she was 19, he had her working every day, sometimes for 12 hours. He would not let her quit
each day until she had brought in at least $500, Ashley said. If she protested, he beat her up, she said. Ultimately,
her pimp was arrested on drug charges.
Pimps are generally charged under federal human trafficking laws, which can carry significant prison
terms. But they are difficult cases to prosecute, said Fitzgerald. The women are often too afraid of their pimps, too
in love , or both, to testify against them.
In Massachusetts, there is no specific human trafficking law. State Senator Mark C. Montigny has
proposed legislation that would create a state law against traffickers and punish offenders with up to 20 years in
prison. Victim advocates say they hope more government attention to the issue will show people that prostitution
is not a victimless crime.
"The major thing that we have to look at as a city and as a country is that this is going to be a major public
health crisis," O'Connell said. "More and more individuals are seeing the criminal side of this and the big money
they can make. You're going to be seeing more and more of this demand. There is going to be more need for
product and that product is a girl."