The hidden human trafficking crisis of the pandemic
Most of the world’s operations have slowed down or closed. But not for human traffickers.
photo by gbarkz
Traffickers are capitalizing on the reliance on technology and the closure of social systems that protection vulnerable children who are at risk of commercial exploitation. Compared to last year, calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline have increased by more than 40%. While stay-at-home orders prevent people from going to stores to purchase toilet paper, some are continuing to purchase sex.
With high unemployment rate, the collapse of social support systems, school closures, leaving children without teacher and adult check-ins, language barriers, immigration status, and more reliance on the internet, more youth are vulnerable to commercial labor or sexual exploitation by force, fraud, or coercion. Given the loss of income, many traffickers may recruit youth for servitude and sex for survival. Child predators are sharing strategies on how to exploit children during lockdown. Traffickers are approaching teens through Tinder, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, YOLO, and Lemon.
Victims of trafficking are forced to participate in even riskier behaviors to earn money, are enduring even more violence, and are in more debt to traffickers. This was also seen after the 2014 Ebola outbreak in west Africa, when over 16,000 children lost a parent. Teenage pregnancy increased by 65% during the outbreak, and 10% of young people knew girls commercially sexually exploited.
The criminal justice system has also slowed due to the pandemic, making it harder for law enforcement to make referrals and for justice to be served. And globally, 75 percent of all humanitarian operations are paused.
Risk factors for exploitation:
Living w unstable housing
Have a history of domestic violence
Have a caregiver/family member with a substance abuse issue
Are involved in the juvenile justice or foster care system
Are undocumented immigrants
Are facing poverty or economic need
Have a history of sexual abuse
Are addicted to drugs or alcohol
Are stigmatized due to identification as LGBTQIA+
Traffickers groom people through compliments, boosting self-esteem, showing romantic love, or making promises of decent jobs with good wages. But they are also targeted luring in children, who are home now online all day long, with busy parents who are managing their own day to day hassles.
Keep an eye out for these indicators of trafficking:
Seeming to adhere to a scripted/rehearsed response in social interaction
Lacking identification
Working excessively long hours
Living at place of employment
Not having their own room to sleep
Checking into hotels/motels often
Tatoos/branding on the neck/lower back
Security measures that seem to keep people inside (barbed wire, bars inside windows)
Not allowing people go to into public alone or speak for themselves.
Please call your local police, the National Human Trafficking Hotline (888) 373-7888 (or text HELP or INFO to 233733 at any hour) if you are concerned.
Children are being exploited every day for sex and labor, and it’s worsening during the prolonged pandemic. To read more, here’s the Global Initiative’s policy brief or Europol’s brief on cybercrime. And please feel free to donate or support these organizations doing wonderful work: Polaris Project, LGBTQ Asylum Project, HEAL Trafficking