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Help Prevent Human Trafficking
From Just in Time Training Network:
Children who have been removed from their families of origin are at a greater risk of being preyed upon by human traffickers.
Most young trafficking victims are lured into being trafficked through the false promise of being taken care of by their trafficker and gaining ‘family’. Youth who run away from their homes are particularly vulnerable to becoming victims of both sex and labor trafficking.
Additionally, it can be hard to spot a trafficker; they can be classmates, other peers, or family members. Even after trafficked victims have been separated from their trafficker, they may still feel a strong connection to them and not recognize the harm their trafficker caused. It is important for foster parents, caregivers, and child welfare staff to learn how to recognize signs of trafficking and how to respond to victims.
Building Healthy Relationships
'The Healthy Relationships' video can help youth identify exploitive or unhealthy behaviors in relationships that are often a part of various kinds of victimizations, such as online enticement, sextortion, and child sex trafficking. This video and other helpful resources for setting boundaries, and identifying abusers were created by NetSmart.
Are you a kid looking for information on how to keep yourself safe? Check out Love146's Internet Safety Tips to Keep You Safe from Online Creepers.
Understanding Types of Trafficking
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Labor TraffickingLabor trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
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Sex TraffickingSex Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act when a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion. However, children under the age of 18 who are induced to engage in a commercial sex act or to exchange sex for anything of value, including food or a place to stay, are considered victims of sex trafficking.
Resources for Caregivers and Caseworkers
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Facts & Myths About Trafficking
Does trafficking only impact girls and women? Do traffickers target people they know? Is trafficking always a violent crime?
View a list of myths and facts from the National Human Trafficking Hotline.
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Caregivers & Caseworkers
Love 146 is an organization that provides information and resources about human trafficking. See their list of 20 tips for Caregivers.
Also, for child welfare agencies and professionals, the Child Welfare Information Gateway has guides related to human trafficking including Human Trafficking and Child Welfare: A Guide for Child Welfare Agencies and Human Trafficking and Child Welfare: A Guide for Caseworkers.
Human Trafficking Resources
Love146 Trafficking Awareness
It’s almost never obvious, but child trafficking is happening in every type of community. Be informed of human trafficking resources and watch out for the children in your life. Share this video to help spread the word.
"Safety features are important, but they’re not a replacement for open conversations with your child." - Love146
Risk & Protective Factors Posters
Social Media Awareness
Many of the youth in our Survivor Care Program were first approached by their traffickers online. Right now, social media and gaming companies do not put the safety of kids first. Love146 and a multitude of organizations and citizens are working to hold these companies accountable, but in the meantime, it’s critical that you check the settings on your kids’ apps and devices. Do not trust the default settings.