Complete Your CE Test Online - Click Here Chapter 3: Human Trafficking in the United States: Foreign and Domestic Victims 4 CE Hours By: Deborah Converse Learning objectives Explain the difference between human trafficking and human smuggling. List and describe five “push” and “pull” factors that contribute to human trafficking. Identify five reasons why some states have a high number of human trafficking victims. Describe the psychological factors affecting trafficking victims. Discuss the factors that make children vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking. Identify six locations where human trafficking for sexual exploitation may occur. Identify six locations where human trafficking for labor exploration may occur. Outline the routes that international trafficking victims take to arrive in the United States. List 10 types of physical abuse that trafficking victims endure. Identify 10 signs that may indicate human trafficking is occurring. Discuss three types of intervention that is used to address human trafficking. Describe the steps to take if human trafficking is suspected. Identify three national resources for information, rescue and support to address human trafficking. Introduction Human trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries, prompting the U.S. government, the United Nations and academic researchers around the world to work to eradicate this modern form of slavery. While many agencies and local and state law enforcement are working to determine the number of trafficked persons and interrupt the flow of victims into the United States, experts believe the effort must include people from all walks of life. Targeted training for people outside of law enforcement on how to recognize human trafficking and what you can safely do about it has been recommended for many professionals whose work environments include contact with the general public. It is a subject that you will likely find horrific and a world apart from your life and the lives of your clients. Much of the sordid sex business and economic slave networks are underground and shrouded in darkness. But it will take people like you, with the knowledge and awareness that this exists and day-to-day contact with the public, to recognize that something seems wrong in a situation – and not ignore it. As a caring person, someday you could be in a position to save a life and make a significant, positive impact on the effort to stop these troubling practices and help their victims. How widespread is human trafficking? Current data indicates the total number of human trafficking victims in the U.S. has risen to hundreds of thousands when estimates of both adults and minors, and foreign and U.S. resident victims of sex and labor trafficking are combined (Polaris, 2012). A recent study by the Polaris Project, the nationally funded anti-trafficking organization, estimated that between 100,000 to 300,000 children are victims of sex trafficking in the United States each year, with thousands more at risk of becoming victims every year. There is no data to accurately estimate the number of adult victims in the sex trafficking industry or the number of men, women, and children entrapped in labor trafficking. Victims come from around the world but many are exploited in the United States. Victims are male, female and other-gendered, and all ages, cultures and ethnic groups. Two main reasons have been identified as determining factors for the rise in human trafficking numbers: ● ● A state with large urban and rural counties with a high number of transient and immigrant populations present obstacles to customs and law enforcement officials working to uncover and stop trafficking operations. ● ● Proximity to the Canadian or Mexican borders, international ports and major highways makes it easier to transport victims across state lines, borders or international waters. Prevalence The International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations, and the Polaris Project estimate that more than 27 million people around the globe are forced into slavery, and 12.3 million people around the world are involved in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor and servitude. The human trafficking industry generates 32 billion dollars globally. These reports determined the factors that draw traffickers and victims to a particular area, called “pull” factors, include the following: ● ● Existing markets for human trafficking. ● ● Demand for sexual and labor services. ● ● A sizable population of foreign-born persons. Page 18 Massage.EliteCME.com