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Identifying the Signs

How to identify victims of human trafficking

The vast majority are adult (age 18 and over) females, although males are also victimized by human traffickers. Most are victims of sex trafficking, but approximately sixteen percent are victims of labor trafficking, or of a combination of labor and sex trafficking. Over half of the victims in Orange County are U.S. residents. The rest are foreign nationals, primarily from Mexico, the United Kingdom, Asia (Philippines, China, South Korea, North Korea, and Vietnam), Iran, and Kenya.

Human trafficking is found in many industries, especially:

  1. Commercial sex trade (street prostitutes, brothels, strip clubs, live sex shows, fake massage businesses, escort services, sex tourism, internet, or the pornography production industry)

  2. Factories (especially the garment and meat packing industries)

  3. Labor for farms, landscape maintenance, construction, or fisheries

  4. Service industry (hotels, restaurants and bars, nail or hair salons, etc.)

  5. Private residences (housekeepers, child care workers, servile marriages)

  6. Street peddling and/or begging, door-to-door magazine sales

  7. Victims are forced into servitude in a variety of ways, such as by

  8. False promises of a good job in another country

  9. False marriage proposals, especially to mail order brides

  10. Abusive, controlling husbands or boyfriends

  11. Promises of protection, food and shelter, made to young people living on the street

  12. Parents, husbands, or boyfriends who sell them to traffickers, especially to work in the sex trade

  13. Kidnapping by traffickers

Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that 28 percent* of human trafficking victims in Orange County are children, all of whom are engaged in sex trafficking. The data indicates that child victims are more likely to be forced into sex trafficking than are adult victims.

Traffickers find young people through telephone chat lines, at clubs, on the street through friends, and at malls, and may use girls to recruit other girls at schools and after-school programs, or involve school age boys in gaining and betraying the trust of potential victims.

Victims may begin by working in bars or strip clubs, sometimes voluntarily and then be forced into full-fledged prostitution or pornography. The average age of entry into the commercial sex trade is 12 to 14 years old, although some victims are younger.

Most victims will not identify themselves as such, due to fear of retribution from the trafficker, distrust of outsiders, or shame. Some do not understand that they are victims of a crime because of a lack of education or awareness of their rights, or because traffickers make them believe that they are to blame for their circumstances. In other cases, the victim begins to depend on the trafficker and views the trafficker as her protector or boyfriend, and ceases to see herself as a victim or the trafficker as a criminal.

What are the typical signs of human trafficking?
Experts have identified some key characteristics of human trafficking. Learn more by selecting the specific area below.

Signs to look for in a victim’s personal appearance
Someone’s personal appearance may seem very unusual or inappropriate, especially for their age or social class, or may suggest injuries or poor health:

  • Possesses unusually expensive jewelry, clothing or cell phone – or has few or no personal possessions

  • Has unusual tattoos, or branding or burn marks

  • Dressed inappropriately for weather conditions or surroundings, or in clothing that is dirty or poorly maintained

  • Has bruises or other exterior signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, physical restraint, confinement, or torture

  • Appears to be in poor general health, or has a history of general health problems

  • Appears hungry and/or malnourished

  • Has had multiple pregnancies or sexually-transmitted disease

  • Physical signs of drug addiction

Look for behaviors that are unusual or inappropriate and cannot be explained, make it appear that the person is trying to hide facts about their life, or that suggest that their lives are being inappropriately controlled by another person.

Signs to look for in children:

  • Infrequent or irregular school attendance; unexplained truancy

  • Talks about frequent travel to other places

  • Claims to be “just visiting” – does not know his or her address, and cannot explain where he or she is living

  • Provides inconsistent stories about where they live, and who they live with

  • Reacts defensively when asked about their relationships with adults

  • Not allowed to communicate with others in person, on the telephone, or online, or to speak for himself or herself (a third party may insist on being present or on translating)

  • Has no control over his or her schedule; not allowed to participate in before- or after-school activities, socialize with his or her peers, etc.

  • Does not have access to personal identification documents typically carried by a child of that age

  • Withdrawn, depressed, anxious, fearful, nervous, submissive, ashamed, or tense, especially when interacting with adults and authority figures, or when law enforcement is mentioned

  • Avoids eye contact

  • Has a “boyfriend” who is noticeably older

  • Refers to sexual situations and knowledge, or uses sexual language, unusual for a child of that age, or used in the commercial sex industry

  • Engages in promiscuous behavior; and may be labeled “fast” by peers

  • Has multiple pregnancies or sexually-transmitted diseases

  • Talks about dancing or “working” at a bar or club, , in the commercial sex industry, or in the pornographic (“adult”) film industry, but is under the legal age for that type of employment

  • Mentions being “out of pocket,” “Johns,” or “Tricks”

Signs to look for in adults:

  • Infrequent,  irregular, or unexplained absences from work

  • Talks about frequent travel to other places

  • Distorted sense of time and/or place; claims to be “just visiting” – does not know his or her address, and cannot explain where he or she is living

  • Provides inconsistent stories about where they live, and who they live with, or other details about their lives

  • Has no control over his or her schedule, or access to identification documents (personal identification, passport, etc.) or finances (such as bank accounts)

  • Not allowed to communicate with others in person, on the telephone, or online, or to speak for himself or herself (a third party may insist on being present or on translating)

  • Avoids eye contact

  • Is not free to come and go as he or she pleases; may only appear in public if accompanied a certain person

  • Kept under surveillance when taken to a doctor, hospital or clinic for treatment (a third party may insist on being present or on translating)

  • Withdrawn, depressed, anxious, fearful, nervous, submissive, ashamed, or tense, especially when interacting  with authority figures, or when law enforcement is mentioned

  • Engages in unusually promiscuous behavior

  • Talks about dancing or “working” at a bar or club, in the commercial sex industry, or in the pornographic (“adult”) film industry

  • Mentions being “out of pocket,” “Johns,” or “Tricks”

Inappropriate working and living conditions:

  • Transported to and from work by a guard; or lives and works in the same place

  • Works excessively long and/or unusual hours

  • Is not allowed to take breaks, or suffers under unusual restrictions at work

  • Is not paid for his or her work, or is paid significantly less than others who do the same job, or only through tips

  • Owes a large debt to his or her employer or a job placement agency, and is unable to pay it off

  • Was recruited through false promises concerning the nature and conditions of his/her employment

  • May not leave the building without permission; work and/or living locations have opaque or boarded up windows, locked doors and windows, barbed wire, security cameras, etc.

  • Claim that they cannot schedule appointments

  • Must ask permission to eat, sleep, and/or go to the bathroom

For more information
Additional insight into the problem can be found at these links.

Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force
California Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Home Page

*2013 Human Trafficking Victim Report from the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.

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