// *Trigger Warning: Violence, Abuse //
It is no surprise that trafficking exists; however, it may shock you how close your life intersects with traffickers on a regular basis.
Human trafficking is often portrayed through cinema as a foreign problem, especially by films that come out of Hollywood. The antagonists in these films are generally not from the U.S., creating the belief that this issue is distant and separate from our society or the lives of U.S. citizens. Another misconception is that trafficking is most often done through abductions or that victims are recruited face-to-face; this is not the case.
In our first article in this series, Annabelle and I explained what sex trafficking is and how it happens. In this feature, we address how trafficking developed and expanded due to greater access to technology and the COVID-19 pandemic.
How do predators locate potential new victims?
Social media is one of the main ways that traffickers locate potential victims and engage in recruitment (as explained in our previous article). We are in the age of social media, so it is easier than ever before for traffickers to visit the vast array of sites looking for individuals who seem to emanate certain vulnerabilities. There are over 1 billion individuals who use Instagram and roughly 2.7 billion Facebook users worldwide. In the United States, Tinder is used by 7.86 million and Bumble is used by 5.03 million. The majority of current social media users range from age 16-34. The plethora of potential targets that these online predators have at their fingertips has only increased in the past decade.
Even though the majority of users fit in the age range of 16-34, the average age that a child receives their first phone is around 10 years old. Since kids are receiving smart devices at progressively younger ages, they are capable of accessing various social media platforms early on. Additionally, it is likely that there will be an increase in the population of kids on social media in the coming years. Traffickers have access to potential targets, especially youth, on social media and online sites now more than ever.
What tactics do traffickers use on social media?
Oftentimes, a predator will look for something that they can use to bond with a victim. They are able to execute the grooming stage directly through social media. The ability to simultaneously have countless interactions occurring over numerous apps or sites allows traffickers to engage with multiple victims at a time. Modes of communication, like apps and online media, enable predators to gain access to individuals’ vulnerabilities. These predators will engage through friend requests, commenting, direct messaging, and video chats. They look for various vulnerabilities such as “substance abuse, runaway activity, destabilization within the home environment, sometimes you can even find posts on social media that indicate poly-abuse histories”. Traffickers craft how they engage and connect with vulnerable individuals- mainly youth- based on the apparent emotional need expressed by the targets. They look for posts that elicit emotions such as loneliness, emptiness, a need for understanding, fear, and the desire to be free from one’s parents or situation. An example of what this could look like is as follows:
[“Nobody understands me, and I feel all alone. ”]- message posted by a girl on social media[“I am here for you. You can talk to me because I understand you.”]- trafficker
Social media platforms are set up to facilitate an instant connection between users, and this allows traffickers to easily instigate and maintain many different relationships. The danger is that these predators do not even need to leave their couch to exploit their victims. A study done at the University of Toledo reported that roughly 42 percent of the victims who meet their traffickers online are exploited without ever meeting them in person. It is important to report suspicious activity and to avoid connecting with people you do not know.
Recently, I came across an Instagram story that outlined a clever new ploy that traffickers potentially had been using to gain access to smartphone users’ locations. The post was of a text message instructing individuals to click a link because a package they ordered went missing. I heard numerous accounts from others that they were experiencing similar situations. The belief was that the link was encoded to allow traffickers to access the user’s location. While sources such as Reuters have reported that this was not necessarily linked to sex trafficking, it is important to be aware of how online predators can attempt to access your information and make contact with you in different ways.
How has COVID-19 opened the door to traffickers?
The current global pandemic has forced work, school, human connection, grocery shopping, appointments, and many other aspects of daily life online. With the vast majority of people spending their days online, traffickers have new ways to connect with more potential victims. Humans are naturally social creatures, so the inability to spend time with others has pushed people to look for ways to meet and communicate online. The use of chat apps such as Zoom, Omegle, Skype, WhatsApp, Houseparty, Chatroulette, and Monkey have become popular means of human connection with family, friends, and strangers. This surge of online activity makes it more likely that people will be victimized by sexual predators.
Since students were barred from attending classes in-person, there was a shift to online classes. This transition has facilitated predators’ access to youth and young adults. This push to school, and life, online has allowed traffickers to make more direct contact with children than ever before. While there are ways to try to prevent sexual predators from making contact, there are predators monitoring many media sites. There are issues such as Zoom-bombing, which is when uninvited parties join or hack into a private online meeting, as well as individuals distributing disturbing content over online media sites. There was an instance reported on NBC news where a Zoom meeting was interrupted with a video of horrific child sexual abuse.
The push to life online has not only increased access to potential victims, but there is also a larger population of potential buyers. Hilary Chester, the associate director for anti-trafficking programs with Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was quoted saying that “[t]here is a huge demand for pornography online right now,” and that “people (traffickers) are going to try to meet that demand. There are real concerns about people being coerced into it, not realizing they are being recorded.” The Polaris Project reports that traffickers are forcing victims to engage in online forms of sexual activity and/or pornography and that they have seen growth in the demand for this content. Due to the pandemic, sex trafficking victims live under even more duress than before. Risk factors for these victims such as abuse, exposure to the virus, and a decrease in the ability to access the help they need are more prevalent. These predators thrive off of exploiting vulnerabilities, and COVID-19 has created a surplus of people experiencing such vulnerabilities.
People who have lost their jobs, housing, or insurance are forced to return to their exploiters. Many of these people are minorities. Additionally, shelters that formerly housed victims of sex trafficking are shutting down. Victims who rely on these shelters for housing are becoming homeless, which adds increasing vulnerability to an already dire combination of risk factors that victims are currently facing.
In a related vein, young women who are unable to pay their rent are now being extorted by landlords. The U.S.-based National Fair Housing Alliance surveyed one hundred fair housing organizations and found that since the pandemic began, 13 percent of these organizations have reported an increase in sexual harassment complaints. Landlords are participating in “sextortion,” and “ are even advertising ‘room shares’ in exchange for sex on sites like Craigslist.”
In terms of younger victims, social isolation has drawn children away from their peers, mentors, and supporters. Additionally, many parents are either suffering from unemployment stressors or other distractions that take away from their ability to monitor their children’s activities. One way that traffickers lure potential victims is by dropping off drugs at the doors of victims’ homes. Since the social services and interventions that are traditionally provided by schools are essentially non-existent, this tactic has become much easier for predators.
Social isolation also creates an environment that makes it easier for traffickers to hide their illicit activities. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes states that during COVID-19, “where priorities and actions are geared towards limiting the spread of the virus, it is easier for traffickers to hide their operations, making victims increasingly invisible.” This is especially troubling as younger victims have less access to methods of reporting, such as teachers or social workers. Michael Breslin warns, “as governments divert assets to mitigating the spread of COVID-19, human traffickers are emboldened to exploit an increase in new potential victims – vulnerable populations – and slower responses from law enforcement.”
The risk factors that are present for victims of human trafficking are heightened in a pandemic. With the increase in time spent online, the lack of access to resources, the diversion of attention to the pandemic itself, social isolation, and dire economic circumstances, sex traffickers have found new ways to exploit victims and recruit new victims. This push online has also increased the number of consumers looking to buy online forms of sexual exploitation such as pornography.
In our next article, we will outline various methods that can be utilized to support and aid victims as well as keeping you and those you care about safe.
social media human trafficking; social media human trafficking; social media human trafficking; social media human trafficking
- Green America: Campaigning Corporations for Change in the Cocoa Industry - June 29, 2021
- Closing the Gap Between Now and Herd Immunity - April 27, 2021
- How the Third Largest Contributor to Homelessness is Being Overlooked - March 29, 2021