Trafficking
Most people assume trafficking involves dirty brothels in third world countries or children being abducted overseas. Although these things sadly do happen, trafficking is often much harder to identify, and it is most likely happening right under your nose.
I used the word trafficking to describe my experience. You might ask why. Let me help you understand some myths about trafficking, directly quoted by the sources listed at the bottom of the page.
Myth: Trafficking victims are usually kidnapped by strangers.
Fact: Victims of trafficking are usually coerced by someone they know and trust. Many survivors are trafficked by romantic partners and family members, including their own parents.
Myth: Trafficking victims are held against their will, locked up, and physically unable to escape captivity.
Fact: Although this is sometimes the case, more often, victims stay in trafficking situations for many reasons. Some lack the basic necessities to physically get out (like money, transportation, or a safe place to live), some are afraid for their safety, and some have been so effectively manipulated that they do not realize they are under the control of a predator.
More facts and statistics about familial trafficking
- In 2017, IOM estimated that 41 percent of child trafficking experiences are facilitated by family members and/or caregivers.
- Familial trafficking occurs “when a family member or guardian is the victim’s trafficker or the one who sells the child to a third-party trafficker.”
- In familial trafficking, the trafficker may be grooming and trafficking the victim at a much earlier age than in other types of trafficking.
- The victim may find it challenging to speak out due to their loyalty to and reliance on their family. They may also feel deep shame about the situation and the need to protect their family. Victims may also fear what will happen once they report a family member, since the common approach is to permanently separate the victim from the offender. Given this alternative, many victims choose to stay with what they know. This can make them uncooperative witnesses; in some cases, they may refuse to participate in interviews or recant testimony. One study in the Criminal Justice Review found that the most prominent and consistent factor in domestic minor familial sex trafficking cases was that juvenile witnesses and other family members were uncooperative to the investigative process.
- The indicators for familial trafficking differ from other types of human trafficking, and it can be difficult to find common indicators among victims of familial trafficking. One study in the Journal of Crime and Justice found that juvenile familial trafficking victims were less likely to run away (69 percent versus 92 percent) and less likely to use drugs and alcohol (56 percent versus 81 percent) than juveniles exploited by non-family members. The same study found that some familial trafficking victims may develop educational or social delays, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), psychological disorders, and other issues that educators and others may pick up on, while other familial trafficking victims may excel at school.
Sources
https://mbfpreventioneducation.org/myths-vs-facts-trafficking/
https://cops.usdoj.gov/html/dispatch/01-2024/familial_trafficking.html
https://www.missingkids.org/blog/2023/uncovering-familial-trafficking
https://www.state.gov/navigating-the-unique-complexities-in-familial-trafficking/
Song of the Silenced 