By Victor R. Wilburn, Ph.D. Professor, The Department of Child and Family Studies, Southeast Missouri State University; Gateway Alliance against Human Trafficking Board Member.
Families continue to exercise a wealth of opportunities to explore their communities and experience their definition of the American dream; however, the occurrence of unethical practices continues to persist in our society. Consequently, many families are devastated as they increasingly find themselves helpless when it comes to keeping their loved ones safe and protected from the many dangers that persist while navigating their communities (Dijk, 2015, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children).
The human sex trafficking industry continues to extract a great toll on the overall cost of human life; for example, reports of online incidents have increased by more than 300% from 2021 to 2023, resulting in approximately 105,653,162 data files reported to the CyberTipline in 2023 (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). While these are troubling statistics, the good news is that organizations have significantly improved their awareness and efforts at coordination and implementation of procedures at the state, federal, and local levels to thwart this system (https://www.justice.gov/psc/about-project-safe-childhood). Today, more than any other time in the past, there is a concerted approach to educating and informing attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers, educators, survivor activists, and individual family members regarding the occurrence of human sex trafficking and its prevalence in communities throughout the nation (OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights).
Professionals are challenged to adapt and evolve by going where families and children exist to play, interact, and explore relationships for the purpose of monitoring and apprehending criminal minds. In fact, the internet and the game world is an enormous industry that continues to draw attention and resources (i.e., manpower and fiscal) (Mahler, Gaviria, & Sarachaga-Barato, 2018; Dijk, 2015). Concurrently, there continues to be a need to collaborate nationally and internationally to address the shared need of targeting this crime industry (OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, 2000).
The following represent best practices and recommendations to foster our continued efforts to support survivors of human sex trafficking:
Best Practices:
Changing Family & Community Mindset. Understanding that human sex trafficking is an industry that feeds off the challenges that come when citizens are least aware of how predators operate. For example, Human sex trafficking is likely to occur in communities where there is the perception of safety. In addition, targeting is likely to occur to children in places (i.e., internet and through games) where uninformed parents may be less trained to monitor. Therefore, it is important that the overall community must be informed as an essential means of increasing optimal safety in our communities.
Targeting Through Technology. It is important for conscientious citizens and families to understand the multitude of technology and social networking-related platforms where we increasingly find people are also the shared spaces that perpetrators use to exploit vulnerable populations within our society. Consequently, we can partner with law enforcement agencies by increasing our awareness of where and how predators attract and victimize vulnerable citizens. While there has been significant growth in the efforts of law enforcement agencies, there is a continued need for citizens to increase their awareness of events and their willingness to act and report concerning activities in these spaces (US Department of Justice, 2023).
Increase Family Debriefing Sessions. Today, families experience complex challenges and arrangements to support the needs of each member. Consequently, it can become easy to overlook the struggles of individual members. This can be significantly improved when families make a more concerted effort to find time and create multiple opportunities to check in with each member and process their daily experiences and challenges. It is essential that families continue to discover more improved ways of walking through life with one another to reinforce feelings of support and assurance for the more vulnerable members of the family. This collective experience of family interaction and support can be a major step towards reducing the occurrence of victimization within our communities.
Support Family Programs that Build Character. Within many communities, there is a wealth of programs that build self-esteem, competence, and assertiveness. These traits improve the likelihood of individuals being able to advocate for themselves and reduce their vulnerability to others. In addition, this can be a great preventative approach towards sex trafficking, as it is far easier to support victims before they become entrapped by the sex trafficking industry.
Resources:
- Alpert, E. J. & Chin, S. E. (2017). Human Trafficking: Perspectives on Prevention. Human Trafficking is a Public Health Issue. Pp. 379-400. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-47824-1_22
- Dijk, J. V. (2015). Estimating human trafficking worldwide: A multi-mode strategy. Forum on Crime and Society. 8, 1-155.
- John F. Clark President and Chief Executive Officer National Center for Missing & Exploited Children for the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary “Protecting Innocence in a Digital World” July 9, 2019. https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Clark%20Testimony.pdf
- Mahler, C., Gaviria, G., and Sarachaga-Barato, N. (2018). Statistics on Human Trafficking Around the World. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. 254-260. file:///C:/Users/vwilburn/Downloads/978-3-319-73621-1_28.pdf
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children https://www.missingkids.org/education/safe-to-compete#bestpractices
- OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. (November 2000) U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. https://odihr.osce.org/odihr/19223?download=true
- United States Department of Justice (2023). Subject Matter Expert Working Group Report.
- CyberTipline.org 1-800-843-5678 (800 The Lost). You can report any instance of sexual exploitation as well as online sexual abuse of a minor.