Get the facts on human trafficking

Earlier this year the nonprofit organization Polaris, which fights human trafficking, published a blog post about human trafficking rumors. In it they wrote:

Over the past week, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received hundreds of reports referencing social media posts claiming online retailer Wayfair is part of a complex child sex trafficking scheme. These reports come from concerned citizens who learn of something unspeakable and feel compelled to act. Unfortunately, the Wayfair situation in many ways echoes the Pizzagate conspiracy in 2016, which resulted in violence and barely-averted tragedy. What we learned at that time was that unsubstantiated claims and accusations about child sex trafficking can spin out of control and mislead well-meaning people into doing more harm than good.

– Polaris

The problem?

First, when people call human trafficking hotlines about rumors, that misuses the organizations’ resources. Beyond that, rumors get in the way of the actual truths about human trafficking. Finally, when people believe the rumors they read without verifying facts, they sometimes harm innocent people in their rush to execute what they believe is justice.

Here’s what you need to know about child sex trafficking

• Sex traffickers rarely kidnap children. Instead, they seek vulnerable children and teens and convince them that they care.
• The children most likely to be trafficked are in situations that leave them vulnerable to oppression or abuse. They may be runaways, experiencing domestic or sexual abuse at home, living in poverty, or addicted to drugs and alcohol. They are more likely to be LGBTQ+ youth or people of color.
• Children and youth are most likely to be trafficked by someone they know, such a family member or someone they’re dating.
• Youth may be approached on social media by someone who claims a romantic interest in them, or they may respond to a job offer that isn’t legitimate.

Source: Polaris – “What We Know About How Child Sex Trafficking Happens,” “Recognizing Human Trafficking: Vulnerabilities and Signs of Recruitment,” and “On-Ramps, Intersections, and Exit Routes: A Roadmap for Systems and Industries to Prevent and Disrupt Human Trafficking”

What can you do?

Wanting to stop human trafficking is a noble impulse. Here are some tips and helpful resources:

• If someone shares information with you about child sex trafficking, check the facts before you spread the word. Polaris has a page dedicated to popular rumors regarding child sex trafficking.
• Educate yourself about slavery. Visit the websites of well-established nonprofits that fight human trafficking, such as:
  • Polaris, which has operated the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline since 2007;
  • International Justice Mission, which partners with local authorities in 13 countries to combat slavery, violence against women and children, and police abuse of power against people who are poor;
  • Free the Slaves, founded in 2000 to change the conditions that allow modern slavery to exist;
  • Stop the Traffik, a 14-year-old, UK-based organization that uses an intelligence-led approach to prevent human trafficking;
  • Freedom United, a global organization that focuses on awareness, education, and mass action to end slavery; and
  • A21, an organization that works to reach people with information on human trafficking, offers rescue services such as hotlines and legal assistances for survivors, and provides restorative services, such as survivor relocation and aftercare.

You will notice that the focus of these organizations goes beyond child sex trafficking. That is because child sex trafficking is only part of the slavery that exists worldwide; in fact, forced labor accounts for at least 50% of modern slavery. (See note below for more information on this figure.)

• Donate to nonprofits that fight slavery, such as the ones I mentioned above. It’s not a good idea to take matters into your own hands, as the man who followed through on his concerns about alleged sex-trafficking at Comet Ping Pong learned.
• There are other actions you can take. For instance, if you take pictures of your hotel room and upload them to the TraffickCam app, these pictures may allow investigators to identify rooms used in advertisements for people who are being trafficked for sex. I encourage you to go directly to the organizations I mention above to look for ways you can work to stop human trafficking. My blog also offers a few ideas (search for “slavery”).

Note: In April 2019, I stated “81% of slaves worldwide are forced to provide labor” — a figure that is significantly different from the one cited above. One reason for this is that it can be hard to get accurate statistics about slavery, since slavery is illegal and therefore tends to be hidden. In addition, I have cited two different sources for these figures. Free the Slaves, which provided the statistic stating that forced labor accounts for 50% of modern slavery, counts forced marriage as a form of slavery, accounting for 37.5% of worldwide cases of slavery. The information I found that states that 81% of slaves are involved in forced labor was from Polaris’ website; I can no longer find that information on their site. Including or not including forced marriage as slavery could affect statistics on the percentage of slaves who are forced to provide labor.