MAJORITY CASES GO UNDETECTED.
In 2020, 268,884 women were reported missing, and nearly 100,000 were Black women and girls. Black women account for less than 15% of the U.S. population, but more than one-third of all missing women.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS IMPACTING THE BLACK COMMUNITY
The intersection of sex trafficking and minority missing persons is a critical issue. Both sex trafficking and the disproportionate number of missing individuals from minority communities are deeply concerning. The correlation between these two issues often highlights systemic vulnerabilities and the need for increased awareness, support, and resources to combat these injustices. Efforts to address these issues should consider the unique challenges faced by minority communities and work towards providing equitable protection and support for all individuals.
Human trafficking has a significant impact on the Black community, with individuals facing heightened vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking. Factors such as economic disparities, systemic inequalities, and historical injustices contribute to this heightened risk. Addressing human trafficking in the Black community requires targeted and culturally sensitive interventions that address these underlying issues, provide support for survivors, and work to prevent future exploitation. Raising awareness, supporting community-led initiatives, and advocating for equitable policies are crucial in combating human trafficking's impact on the Black community.
Human trafficking has a significant impact on the Black community, with individuals facing heightened vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking. Factors such as economic disparities, systemic inequalities, and historical injustices contribute to this heightened risk. Addressing human trafficking in the Black community requires targeted and culturally sensitive interventions that address these underlying issues, provide support for survivors, and work to prevent future exploitation. Raising awareness, supporting community-led initiatives, and advocating for equitable policies are crucial in combating human trafficking's impact on the Black community.
SEXUAL EXPLOITATIONLearn how to protect your child from sexual abuse Dock Ellis Foundation partners with NCEMC to support our mission to recover missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent future victimization.
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WE PROVIDEPrevention trainings for adults and K-12th grade students to recognize and stay safe from predators. Become empowered to get ahead of abuse and exploitation before it takes place.
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WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?
HUMAN TRAFFICKING CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE, BUT CERTAIN VULNERABILITIES MAKE EASIER TARGETS FOR PREDATORS.
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that preys on the vulnerabilities of people. While it can happen to anyone, some people have more odds stacked against them…
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery that preys on the vulnerabilities of people. While it can happen to anyone, some people have more odds stacked against them…
- Broken home life
- Lack of structure and support
- Previous abuse
- Poverty
- Addiction
- and many other factors
WE ARE HERE TO HELP.
“AFRICAN AMERICAN HUMAN TRAFFICKING NUMBERS ARE AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THE COUNTRY”
HUMAN TRAFFICKING TERMS
IDENTIFYING
Traffickers begin by looking for individuals who meet the twisted demands of their clients/buyers. Hair color, skin color, body type, age, gender, and degree of sexual innocence, among other areas may all be taken into consideration. Once a target is located, they will then identify the victim’s vulnerabilities as a means to gain trust and/or an emotional connection that will serve as a gateway into exploitation. This can be done through a variety of ways such as monitoring the victim’s online activities, observing them at their place of employment, or just reading their body language during an encounter. Every single person has vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
GROOMING
Once the trafficker has identified a victim’s vulnerabilities, they will put on the disguise of a benefactor, generously meeting those vulnerabilities, while underhandedly securing an emotional and psychological bondage for that victim. Grooming could take days, weeks, or even months to play out. This might look like providing food, shelter, or protection. It could be feigning the ideal job opportunity or way of escape from a broken situation. It might meet the need of an addiction or offer love, value, and affection to someone who feels unknown, unseen, and unwanted. In short, the grooming/recruitment stage blindsides an individual into entrapment by meeting their very real needs.
ISOLATING
Transitioning out of the grooming stage, traffickers will at some point begin to isolate their victim from their current known world. This could be a physical isolation by moving them to a new location or encouraging them to run away on ‘their own’. Or it could be a psychological and emotional isolation by promoting emotional disconnection and distrust of those around them. Traffickers accomplish this with well-placed lies such as ‘Your parent doesn’t understand you like I do,’ or ‘Your so-called friends are holding you back from being the incredible person you are.’ Traffickers dictate secrecy in their relationship and may entangle some blackmail into the dialogue. By the end of this phase, victims are left emotionally desperate and believe that only their trafficker can meet their needs.
BREAKING
Now traffickers are ready to turn their victims into products to be sold, but they have to break down any possible remaining resistance and make it perfectly clear who is in charge – no exceptions. This could be done through the use of shaming, rape, forced viewing/participation in porn, threats against themselves or their ‘loved ones,’ blackmail, forced addiction to drugs, and the use of violence. The ‘rules’ of the life are outlined in this phase, and all ‘players’ are introduced. They are taught who will market them, what they are to wear, and what requirements they must meet in their new life of bondage.
REGULATING
Any identity an individual had has been lost in their past world. They are now a product, with a label like ‘Sugar,’ or ‘Cherry’. They’re advertised as a sex object with an accompanying price tag for their exploitation. This is the new normal and victims have no choice but to get on board, lock away their humanity, and enter into survival mode. At this point, traffickers’ purpose is to maintain their products and ensure maximum profit. They use tactics of every form of abuse, mixed with gifts, words of love and affection, and every possible lie to ensure a complicated masterpiece of control that will last for either as long as their new product benefits them, or can be discarded as worthless.
Types of Traffickers
PIMPA pimp is an individual perpetrator seeking to profit from the exploitation of individuals.
GANG
Criminal street gangs engage sex trafficking as a lucrative enterprise while exploiting individuals.
FAMILIAL
Familial trafficking is the abuse or exploitation of an individual at the hands of someone they are related to.