COMMUNICARE
®
Copyright © 2013 by The National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., Volume 14, Number 2, October 2013
Human Trafficking: Dispelling 10 Myths
By Detective Bill Woolf
®
Consultant to the VIRTUS Programs; Recognized as a national and international expert specializing in the Domestic
Sexual Trafficking of Persons
Human Trafficking is an issue that has received extensive attention lately in local and national news. Many of us have
heard about cases of human trafficking through community presentations or through public service announcements. We
may even be aware of the emergence of new non-profit organizations revealing an anti-trafficking mission statement or
have listened to the President of the United States, in September 2012, announce that combating human trafficking is a
1
priority for our country . However, are we aware of how human trafficking individually affects each one of us?
The U.S. government defines human trafficking 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” (Trafficking Victims
2
Protection Act) . This definition can be confusing and is often misunderstood. To better understand human trafficking and
how it affects each of us in our daily lives, it is important to first dispel some of the common myths. Below is an
examination of the 10 most common myths and misconceptions regarding human trafficking within the United States.
Myth 10: Victims of human trafficking are only “foreign nationals.” On the contrary, most cases of trafficking, and
particularly sex trafficking in the United States, involve U.S.-born citizens. Of the multitude of cases stacked on my desk,
about 85% of them involve victims born in the United States. Traffickers prey on the vulnerabilities of their intended
victims, depriving them of their human dignity and worth for the purposes of profit, regardless of the victim’s country of
3
birth .
Myth 9: Human trafficking is a crime that involves some form of travel or transportation. The term “trafficking” is
very misleading. Most people believe that a victim must be moved from one location to another, or across state or
international borders. Transportation is only one element. It is important for us to remember that victims could be exploited
in their own states, their own neighborhoods, or even their own homes. We need to pay particular attention to the reality
that our children, one of the most vulnerable and sought-after populations by traffickers, could be victims of trafficking and
yet could still come home every night for dinner, sleep in their own beds, and be present at school every day, as the
traffickers will do whatever they need to do to avoid detection. This often leads to victims of sex trafficking being
misidentified, and their victimization never being realized nor treated.
Myth 8: Human trafficking is just another phrase for “human smuggling.” Trafficking persons and smuggling them
are two crimes that are inherently different in nature. We often confuse the two, thinking that human trafficking refers to
the act of illegally transporting a foreign national into the United States from a foreign country. In actuality, human
smuggling is a crime against the state, and consists of an individual consenting to be moved across international borders
and paying a smuggler to assist in this endeavor. Conversely, human trafficking is a crime against a person; the human
being is exploited for the purposes of profit through force, fraud or coercion.
Myth 7: There must be elements of physical force, physical restraint or physical bondage to qualify the act as a
form of trafficking. It is easier for us to envision a scenario where a trafficker holds a gun to the person’s head and
forces them to engage in a crime or a commercial sex act. However, it is more difficult for us to sympathize or understand
how a person is coerced or induced into the same act by someone taking advantage of their personal vulnerabilities.
1
Speech by President Barak Obama (September 25, 2012). In White House online publication. Retrieved from the internet on October
15, 2013: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-efforts-combat-humantrafficki
2
U.S. Department of State. In U.S. Laws of Trafficking in Persons online publication. Retrieved from the Internet on October 15,
2013: http://www.state.gov/j/tip/laws
3
Ibid.
COMMUNICARE® Vol. 14, No.2, October, 2013, Copyright 2013 by The National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., 1-630-725-0986, Page 1 of 3
Regardless, we need to remember that the victimization is the same. Coercion to induce someone into a life of servitude
and slavery can deliver a greater degree of psychological damage because the person was manipulated to believe that
he/she was complicit. In situations where the victim believes that he/she agreed to engage in the conduct, there is an
4
increase in self-blame and personal shame on behalf of the victim .
Myth 6: Victims of human trafficking will always ask for help or self-identify as a victim. Traffickers employ a large
amount of psychological manipulation as a means of power and control over their victims. As a result, the victims are
made to believe that they consented to their own victimization, and in some instances, they believe that they themselves
5
are the offenders. In this way, victims of trafficking will rarely seek help or report these cases to the proper authorities .
Myth 5: Victims of human trafficking always come from situations of poverty or from small rural villages.
Recalling that traffickers target vulnerable persons, economic vulnerabilities comprise only one vulnerability out of several
that traffickers will use. When targeting our children, traffickers typically look for other vulnerabilities, such as attentionseeking individuals, those who have low self-esteem and children who lack an understanding of healthy relationships or
boundaries. In these instances, the traffickers never have to provide their victims with monetary rewards; rather, they offer
6
a semblance of love and affection to a child who is not being fulfilled at home .
Myth 4: Sex trafficking is the only form of human trafficking. It is important to remember that the term human
trafficking is a very broad term that includes the exploitation of human beings for the purposes of labor as well. This most
commonly occurs within hospitality services, agricultural and manufacturing industries, domestic servitude and peddling.
Myth 3: Human trafficking only occurs in illegal, underground industries. The reality is that human trafficking in the
forms of both labor and sex occur right in front of us. Regardless of whether we live in middle-class suburbia, wealthy
downtown business districts or subsidized housing, trafficking is occurring. Additionally, there are consumers of sexual
trafficking within each of these types of neighborhoods. More importantly, our children that are living in each of these
environments are also vulnerable to the traffickers’ deceptions.
Myth 2: If an individual initially consented to the sexual trafficking situation, then it voids the crime. Debatably, no
one can consent to exploit themselves, and certainly no child under the age of 18. Whether it is labor trafficking or sex
trafficking, a person cannot fully understand the mental, emotional and physical abuse that they will endure while being
exploited. The human brain is wired for intimacy. In every sexual act, the human brain needs an emotional attachment to
the sexual partner, or at minimum, a physical attraction to appropriately process the sexual encounter. Devoid of this
attachment, engaging in a sex act, particularly a commercial sex act, cannot properly be interpreted by the brain.
Therefore, the effects on the brain of commercial sex are equivalent to the worst types of sexual abuse. However, at the
7
time the victim consciously consents, their brain cannot subconsciously fathom the effects on the brain and body .
Myth 1: Human trafficking does not happen where I live. Most people think that human trafficking is an international
crime that does not have domestic victims, or they do not realize that human trafficking directly affects them. The
unsettling truth is that every community and every home in America is at risk to falling victim to human trafficking; the most
vulnerable group being our children. It is estimated that at least 100,000 U.S. children are induced into the commercial
8
sex trade every year in the United States . The traffickers exploit our children because of particular vulnerabilities that
impressionable young people possess. These vulnerabilities fall into four main categories: economic vulnerabilities,
victims of prior abuse (sexual or physical), situational vulnerabilities (homeless or runaway children) and “other at-risk”
vulnerabilities, which includes children with low self-esteem, attention-seeking youth, children from “broken” homes or
children who lack understanding of healthy relationships. It is essential to understand that these “other at-risk” youth are
the children that are in our schools, live in our neighborhoods, attend our churches and youth groups and are even living
in our homes.
The occurrence of the “white work van” abducting our children from street corners and forcing them into a life of
prostitution is very rare. Rather, it is smooth words and empty promises that target and exploit these vulnerabilities of our
children to force them into a life of sex, primarily with strangers. And as the traffickers exploit technology to enhance their
4
Farley, Melissa. Prostitution, Trafficking, and Traumatic Stress. Psychology Press, 2003.
United States Department of State, op cit.
6
Rao, Smriti, & Christina Presenti, Understanding Human Trafficking Origin: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis. Feminist
Economics, 2012.
7
Farley, op cit.
8
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking. Retrieved from the internet on October 15,
2013: http://www.missingkids.com/Testimony/09-15-10
5
COMMUNICARE® Vol. 14, No.2, October, 2013, Copyright 2013 by The National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., 1-630-725-0986, Page 2 of 3
abilities of recruiting, specifically through social media, their ability to reach our children becomes more of reality, and calls
for increased vigilance by parents and society as a whole.
To protect our children, it is important to have an understanding of what human trafficking looks like within our
communities and our neighborhoods. Awareness of the issue and acceptance that our families are vulnerable is the first
step in combating human trafficking.■
®
VIRTUS Programs: Updates
The Human Trafficking: Dispelling 10 Myths article is part of the VIRTUS Programs’ effort to respond to areas of great
importance in the protection of children from sexual exploitation. Additionally, VIRTUS is looking forward to create an
online module for sexual trafficking, in addition to an online module on pornography.
We continue to commit to the ongoing development of existing projects that will enhance the VIRTUS programs, such as
revising the Protecting God’s Children program to version 3.0 (including the DVDs and all accompanying materials) and
creating the Protecting God’s Children Online Awareness Session module, version 3.0. As a whole, we continue to work
closely with the dioceses, responding and adapting to consistent feedback to enhance the form, function, delivery and
tracking capabilities of all programs.
On a larger scale, internationally, we had an opportunity to attend a conference in Guyana on behalf of the Antilles
Episcopal Conference. It was yet again an amazing experience to see such determination in eradicating child sexual
abuse and domestic violence. We also had a meeting in Lisle with Fr. Adam Zak from Poland, who is searching for
solutions for his country. The Conference of Polish Bishops met at the end of June 2013, so we are looking forward to
receiving an update from Fr. Zak with regard to the recommended direction for safe-environment programs.
We will be working with Alvid Productions with the production of the Protecting God’s Children for Adults (PGCA) DVD, A
Time to Protect God’s Children and A Plan to Protect God’s Children. John D’Amico and Heather Mackenzie of Alvid
Productions were both instrumental in the production of the original PGCA videos, in addition to the version 2.0 PGCA
DVD, and they did an equally impressive job in the production of the children’s videos and the Keeping the Promise Alive
refresher DVD. Needless to say, we are extremely excited about the production and are anxious to share the new DVD
with our participating dioceses in 2014. We look forward to marketing this program on a broader base.
We have engaged Drs. Barbara Bonner, David Finkelhor, and Lisa Jones to give us their expert opinions with regard to
their examination and evaluation of the VIRTUS program materials. We are very interested in knowing whether or not they
believe the program materials convey information that is accurate; that reflects the latest research based evidence; and
that is conveyed in an easily understood, but also compelling and cohesive manner, so as to maximize comprehension.
Their feedback will increase the level of credibility of the program material. And, we plan to incorporate their thoughts and
suggestions into the revised Protecting God’s Children for Adults DVD as well as the Touching Safety™ program for
children.
With regard to conferences, we presented an abbreviated session immediately following the National Safe Environment
and Victim Assistance Coordinators Leadership Conference on July 17, 2013 and also had a successful Tenth Annual
VIRTUS Coordinators’ Conference held in Chicago on August 29 and 30, 2013. This was an opportunity to share new
programs and updates related to VIRTUS Online™ and to interact and share thoughts and ideas with the safe
environment coordinators throughout the country. We also shared the creation of the position of Associate Director to the
VIRTUS Programs and the acquisition of a new employee to assist the Director in the day to day operations and matters.
Immediately following the Chicago conference, we held our third meeting with our Advisory Council. We look forward to
their assistance with the continued development of new programs as well as the enhancement of our existent programs
and services. With our ongoing relationships with dioceses and other organizations, it is vital to continue addressing the
issues encompassed within the protection of our children and vulnerable adults.
COMMUNICARE® Vol. 14, No.2, October, 2013, Copyright 2013 by The National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc., 1-630-725-0986, Page 3 of 3