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Economy & Labor , Health , US , World

Do Traffickers Kidnap Their Victims? The Myths and Realities of Human Trafficking

by Melissa Brown February 25, 2019

This article was originally published in Montgomery Advertiser.


The stories persist, from the president of the United States to posts on neighborhood watch groups.

Women are “tied up, they’re bound, duct tape put around their faces,” said President Donald Trump. In Montgomery, a woman posts in a local crime Facebook group that two men, waiting by a van, want to stalk and grab women getting out of their vehicles.

As awareness and understanding around human trafficking grows, so do its myths, filtered and fertilized through social media and misunderstandings.

But experts say these stories — young girls snatched from their mothers in broad daylight, stalked in crowded supermarkets and kidnapped across the U.S. border— aren’t true.

And worse, spreading them can hurt, not help, efforts to dismantle human trafficking.

Myth: Human trafficking always means sex trafficking

Reality: Though sex trafficking is more highly reported, labor trafficking is also a real and ongoing issue.

Alabama advocates say labor trafficking is even harder to quantify than sex trafficking, as victims can be hard to identify and reluctant to speak to authorities. According to data provided by the Alabama Fusion Center, labor trafficking most often occurs in the restaurant/food/hospitality industries, as well as in chicken and fish processing plants. The construction industry, traveling carnivals, “peddling rings” and other traveling sales ventures are also considered top venues for labor trafficking.

Myth: Sex trafficking is another term for prostitution

Reality: Prostitution, though illegal in the majority of the U.S., involves a consensual agreement. Sex trafficking is not consensual. 

Prostitution, which is legal and regulated in parts of Nevada and in countries such as the Netherlands, involves a consensual agreement between a sex worker and client. Trafficking victims, on the other hand, have been forced, coerced or deceived by traffickers, or pulled into prostitution while a minor. A person who originally consented to commercial sex work could become victim to human trafficking if they are later forced or coerced into nonconsensual acts.

Myth: Human traffickers kidnap their victims

Reality: Traffickers in the U.S. usually lure victims into sex and labor trafficking situations through less dramatic, but just as insidious, means. 

Traffickers are too smart to try to snatch unwitting victims from grocery store parking lots and city parks, authorities say, despite urban legends that continue to circulate on social media. Though there are some cases of kidnapping in human trafficking operations, they are relatively rare. Some victims are coerced or forced into trafficking through familial or romantic relationships, like Claira. Tuscaloosa Police Department Lt. Darren Beams said he’s encountered victims who were promised money for college from a part-time job, only to become trapped in a trafficking ring. Victims most at risk — those without familial or community resources to turn to, or those fearful of authorities — include LGBT.

Myth: Most trafficking victims are undocumented immigrants

Reality: According to Polaris Project data, the majority of human trafficking survivors are U.S. citizens.

In 2015, 8,676 survivors were identified as U.S. citizens, compared to 7,885 identified as foreign nationals. Foreign nationals are defined as people who aren’t citizens of the country they’re in, which could include legally permanent residents, work visa holders and undocumented immigrants.

Myth: Traffickers most often target children

Reality: The majority of human trafficking victims are adult women. 

According to 2015 Polaris Project data, 67 percent of human trafficking victims were adults, while 33 percent were children. More than 85 percent were women, with men making up about 14 percent. Gender minorities, such as transgender individuals, accounted for about 200 cases.

Myth: Traffickers physically restrain or control trafficking victims

Reality: Trafficking is often a form of psychological manipulation, not physical restraint

Beams said his team has encountered victims in Tuscaloosa whose traffickers had traveled across state lines, leaving them to meet their quotas in Alabama. Beams, a former homicide detective, said unprecedented levels of trauma leaves victims in a psychological prison, of sorts. Many have no forms of transportation, only able to walk to nearby fast-food restaurants for meals, or means to contact family or friends. Others are blackmailed or threatened with force. Lyn Caffery, a trafficking survivor who now works with homeless youth and those at-risk for trafficking victimization, said traffickers break down and “reprogram” minds, leaving people unable to see a way out of their situation.

And worse, spreading them can hurt, not help, efforts to dismantle human trafficking.

Myth: Human trafficking always means sex trafficking

Reality: Though sex trafficking is more highly reported, labor trafficking is also a real and ongoing issue.

Alabama advocates say labor trafficking is even harder to quantify than sex trafficking, as victims can be hard to identify and reluctant to speak to authorities. According to data provided by the Alabama Fusion Center, labor trafficking most often occurs in the restaurant/food/hospitality industries, as well as in chicken and fish processing plants. The construction industry, traveling carnivals, “peddling rings” and other traveling sales ventures are also considered top venues for labor trafficking.

Myth: Sex trafficking is another term for prostitution

Reality: Prostitution, though illegal in the majority of the U.S., involves a consensual agreement. Sex trafficking is not consensual. 

Prostitution, which is legal and regulated in parts of Nevada and in countries such as the Netherlands, involves a consensual agreement between a sex worker and client. Trafficking victims, on the other hand, have been forced, coerced or deceived by traffickers, or pulled into prostitution while a minor. A person who originally consented to commercial sex work could become victim to human trafficking if they are later forced or coerced into nonconsensual acts.

Read article here.

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