Frankly, no one knows exactly how many people trafficking affects. Years ago, it was estimated that 27 million people were being trafficked. In 2012, the International Labor Organization estimated that 20.9 million were being trafficked. More research is desperately needed. But we know the problem is real. We know the problem is big. And behind every estimate is a real person who cannot be dismissed. And in 2017, the International Labour Organisation expanded their reporting on trafficking & exploitation to include forced marriage. Under that definition, as of 2022, 50 million are estimated to be victims at any given moment. But these are estimates—not facts. Trafficking is an illegal underground issue; it is incredibly complex and underreported. For these reasons, it is difficult to measure, although more research is desperately needed. We know the problem is real. We know the problem is big. And behind every disputable estimate is a real person that cannot be dismissed. It is with humility over the past few years that we at Love146 have looked more closely at the problem of outdated or questionable estimates being presented as hard facts. Misuse of statistics discredits the movement and doesn’t truly equip people to address trafficking in their own communities.

Several videos of misinformation have gone viral on social media, and many perpetrate the myth that traffickers have set traps to target people for kidnapping.

Such sensational videos have claimed that a trafficker would target victims by leaving a rose or a toy on their windshield, and then kidnap them as the person pauses to examine it. A similarly inaccurate video suggested that traffickers would leave an empty car seat and (we quote the video here): “they want you to go up to that car seat and look around and they will snatch you really quick. It’s a ploy.” This isn’t true. This is not how trafficking occurs – and misinformation like this does harm!  Very few cases of human trafficking involve kidnapping, and Love146 has never seen any of the traps described in these videos and posts. Oftentimes, traffickers target people who are already vulnerable (e.g., homeless youth) or lure their victims to “voluntarily” leave their homes after grooming them and making false promises of love, care, and money. These posts and videos unnecessarily scare people and spread false information about human trafficking, hindering the identification of actual victims. 

They also waste the scarce time and resources of anti-trafficking organizations, like Love146, that have to refute such claims. Following posts like this, the National Human Trafficking Hotline often experiences an increased number of erroneous calls that tie up their phone lines hindering actual victims from getting through. 

When you see social media stories with shocking and scary information about trafficking, pause. Check reputable sources and anti-trafficking organizations you trust before sharing it.

Powerful people, such as Jeffery Epstein & R. Kelly have been exposed as traffickers. It’s a shocking reality. But to look at the problem within a framework of influential abusers (or evil “elites”) isn’t entirely true. We can be certain that there are some child traffickers and abusers in entertainment & government, because there are child traffickers and abusers in every community. In your city. At your gym. In your faith community. In your neighborhood. There is a fallacy in thinking that the setting for child abuse is exotic and that the perpetrators lead lives nothing like yours.

In the past decade, especially around elections, myths about trafficking have been used by politically charged groups to spread misinformation. In the fall of 2020, Love146 with over 100 leading anti-trafficking organizations signed a statement naming that conspiracy theories, like QAnon, harm the fight against human trafficking. You can find that statement at www.love146.org/freedomneedstruth.

In the words of that collective statement, “The majority of trafficked youth have been abused or neglected, have run away or don’t have stable housing, or are immigrant children fleeing violence in their home countries to seek refuge in the United States. They are the youth that we as a society have failed. They are not abducted by strangers or Hollywood elites — they are abandoned by failing and under-resourced systems.” There is not a “deep state cabal” of politicians and Hollywood celebrities who traffic children for sex. No major political party supports pedophilia or human trafficking.

On behalf of an underfunded and nonpartisan field dedicated to ending this horrific form of exploitation and abuse and helping those who have survived it, we urge you to engage real needs rather than politically motivated and profoundly dangerous narratives that harm the very people who they claim to be speaking for — victims, survivors, children, families and vulnerable communities.”

If you looked at a map of trafficking referrals, major highways, and human population density, you’d find they are often closely aligned. Where there are more people, more children are likely being exploited. Spikes in reported trafficking may also be influenced by an increased focus in that region on research, training, law-enforcement efforts, or an awareness campaign promoting the national hotline – and though the increase numbers may not seem like it at first, that can ironically be a good thing.

According to the International Labour Organization’s estimates, more children are trafficked for labor than sex.

The ILO report claims about sex trafficking that “The vast majority of victims (99 percent) were women and girls.” However, when we’ve adjusted our perspective and programs to make space to see and care for sexually exploited boys, we’ve seen identification rates jump significantly.

As of 2019, in Love146’s programs in the US and the Philippines for victims of child sex trafficking, we’ve seen 13.5% are boys and 1.6% non-binary youth. Some research suggests this number of boys affected could be as high as 30-50%.

Our data indicate that there is a disproportionate number of children of color being trafficked. Look deeper in this blog post.

Not always, but sometimes. However, “rescue” can be an incredibly disorienting experience for a victim. Many youth caught up in commercial sex live in fear of law enforcement and do not readily trust strangers. One child we know was told by rescuers, “We have a safe place for you with help and services,” to which she responded “Last time someone said that it didn’t turn out so well.” Repeatedly (and understandably) we hear from survivors that when they were “rescued,” they didn’t know they were being helped until much later. For a victim, to be removed from a situation of trafficking may mean being taken away from what has become familiar and predictable and placed into an unknown future. The anxiety that can be generated by a “rescue” experience is compounded if the child doesn’t yet understand their experience as trafficking. While operations to intervene are sometimes effective, there are lots of ways people find opportunities to exit exploitation. Many children in our survivor care haven’t been physically removed by law-enforcement from their exploitation. Rather, they’re connected to Love146 or child welfare agencies by caring adults who notice something is wrong – or sometimes even reaching out themselves and asking for help. Love146’s professional training equips adults to recognize and appropriately respond to children who are vulnerable or being exploited.

While we’ve encountered cases of children who were taken from their communities and kept in a locked room, forceful kidnapping and containment are not the majority of cases of trafficking. Many children are trafficked through empty promises, false job offers, and coercion. While they are not always kept physically bound to their trafficker, they may be scared to seek help or threatened if they leave. Additionally, in some cases they may not know of or have the opportunity to access help and resources. Today’s “chains” are less visible, and the Hollywood version of trafficking we may have in our minds (i.e. white vans and chains) don’t represent the majority of cases.

Demonizing those who buy sex from teens as pedophiles is technically incorrect and problematic. Pedophilia is the condition of being sexually attracted to young children who have not yet begun puberty. Rings of pedophiles exist, and people do buy and sell young children for sex—we’ve received girls in our own survivor care programs as young as 1-years-old. However, to think that all those who buy sex from children are affected by this abnormal psychological condition prevents us from seeing that it is often “normal” folks in our communities who buy sex from trafficked youth.

The UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol acknowledges that a child (that is, a person under the age of 18) cannot in any way give a valid consent for a commercial sexual act. Therefore, any child who is involved in commercial sex is a victim of exploitation.

Additionally, in many places age of consent and safe harbor laws (which vary state by state in the US) reinforce that these children are not prostitutes but victims. Legally and ethically, the term “child prostitute” itself is a misnomer. Unfortunately, this global and federal understanding is still unacknowledged by many U.S. states. In some states children continue to be arrested for prostitution.

Some children become involved in other criminal activity as a byproduct of their commercial sexual exploitation. For example, sometimes they are arrested for drug use/possession (often provided by a trafficker), truancy, loitering, and petty theft (which could be working to meet quotas set by traffickers), etc. For this and other reasons, many cases of child trafficking and exploitation are misidentified by law enforcement and media and incriminate the child or portray them as a delinquent. Unfortunately, this causes children who have been trafficked and/or exploited to be viewed and treated as criminals as opposed to victims, and it can hinder their ability to receive the holistic care they deserve.

In many cases, those buying, selling, and abusing children appear to live ordinary, respectable lives. In fact, perpetrators often seek out positions of trust and power in order to gain access to children and maintain exploitative situations. Too often the stories we hear involve pastors, diplomats, youth leaders, law enforcement, and educators—perpetrating unspeakable crimes against children, using their power and connections as protection and facade. They come from various walks of life. Lest we start another myth, we should say it is also pastors, diplomats, youth leaders, law enforcement, educators, etc. who have been some of the greatest champions for children. There is no one true stereotype for who exploits or trafficks children— or who could be their greatest ally.

Laws differ globally. In the United States, trafficking does not require the movement of a victim. Trafficking can occur without a victim ever leaving his or her own neighborhood.

Yes it does. Cases of child trafficking and exploitation are reported on a regular basis from law enforcement and social services throughout the country.