How to Identify & Report a Victim:
You Could Save A Life
- Minors traveling with adult(s) that does not appear to be in a familial relationship and seems controlling. They will usually avoid questions or give brief, scripted replies.
- Numerous inconsistencies in their stories.
- Child who is always escorted or accompanied, especially by different adults.
- Minors traveling alone and without appropriate supervision.
- Fake IDs or lying about age.
- Minors dressed in provocative clothing, or wearing excessive clothes, accessories, or makeup to disguise. Inappropriately dressed for the climate (i.e. covering themselves up despite warm weather).
- Carrying extra clothes in backpack or large handbag.
- Excessive amounts of cash, jewelry, or expensive materials.
- Children in places or situations they don't belong (bars, alleys, clubs, establishments, at adult events, after hours, etc).
- Kids on the street late at night, during school hours, or at odd times.
- Signs of physical abuse include lack of or limited nutrition/food/water, limited medical/dental care, sleep deprivation, bruises, cuts, burns, and physical injuries.
- Children who avoid eye contact, appear scared, anxious, nervous, and uncomfortable. Not wanting to be noticed. Rarely smiles. Appears submissive. Twitching, fidgeting, nail biting, picking at skin and pulling of hair are some typical traits.
- Quickly leaving or being rushed away when seen, approached, or talked to.
- Children who seem dazed, confused, sedated, or otherwise unusually unaware of their surroundings and/or who they’re with.
- Children who aren’t allowed to speak for themselves, or seem to have rehearsed or scripted lines.
- Significant behavioral changes. Anxiety, depression, aggression, loss of zest for life, significant changes in appetite, or other negative changes in their demeanor or personality.
- Disconnected from community, family, friends.
- Stops going to school or starts missing classes or doing poorly in studies.
- Self harm, cutting, or excessive piercing.
- Tattoos, branding, or burns.
- Unstable living arrangements.
- No personal belongings.
- Guests with no luggage in hotels, and/or who frequently visit the same hotel without a reservation and has multiple hotel room keys.
- Loitering in hallways, exits, malls, parking lots, or lobbies - especially in hotels.
- Someone standing outside of an apartment, hotel room, building, or house, while others are in and out of that establishment.
- Bars on the windows, padlocks on doors, shades or curtains always drawn, or other features that make the house or building resemble a prison.
Common Sex Trafficking Language:
- Automatic: Victim's routine when her pimp is out of town, in jail, or otherwise not in direct contact.
- Bottom or “Bottom Bitch”: A female appointed by the trafficker/pimp to supervise other victims.
- Branding: A tattoo or carving on a victim that indicates ownership by a trafficker/pimp/gang.
- Caught A Case: Refers to when a pimp or victim has been arrested and charged with a crime.
- Choosing Up: When a different pimp takes “ownership” of a victim.
- Circuit: A series of cities among which prostituted people are moved.
- Cousin-in-Laws: Victims of pimp partners who work together.
- Daddy: The term a pimp will often require his victim to call him.
- Date: The exchange when prostitution takes place, or the activity of prostitution.
- Exit Fee: The money a pimp will demand from a victim who is thinking about trying to leave. It will be an exorbitant sum, to discourage her from leaving. Most pimps never let their victims leave freely.
- Facilitators: Common facilitators on which traffickers frequently rely include: Hotels and Motels, Landlords, Labor brokers Taxi and other driving services, Airlines, bus, and rail companies Advertisers (Websites like Craigslist.com, Phone books, Alternative newspapers) Banks and other financial services companies, Inmate pen-pal services.
- Family/Folks: Individuals under the control of the same pimp.
- Finesse Pimp/Romeo Pimp: Controls victims primarily through psychological manipulation.
- Force (Federal TVPA Definition): Physical restraint or causing serious harm.
- Fraud: Knowingly misrepresenting the truth or concealing an actual fact for the purpose of inducing another person to act to her/his detriment.
- Gorilla (or Guerilla) Pimp: Controls victims almost entirely through physical violence and force.
- Head Cut: A victim getting beaten down by their pimp.
- In-Pocket: Not paying or speaking to any other pimp than the one controlled by the victim.
- Kiddie Stroll: An area known for prostitution that features younger victims.
- Loose Bitch: Victim who keeps choosing different pimps.
- Lot Lizard: Derogatory term for a person who is being prostituted at truck stops.
- Madam: An older woman who manages a brothel, escort service or other prostitution establishment.
- Out of Pocket: When a victim is not under control of a pimp but working on a pimp-controlled track, leaving her vulnerable to threats, harassment, violence in order to make her “choose” a pimp.
- Pimp Circle: When several pimps encircle a victim to intimidate through verbal and physical threats in order to discipline the victim or force her to choose up.
- Pimp Partner: Two pimps who are friends and allow their victims to work together.
- Quota: A set amount of money that a trafficking victim must make each night before she can come “home.”
- Reckless Eyeballing: The act of looking around instead of keeping your eyes on the ground. Eyeballing is against the rules and could lead an untrained victim to “choose up” by mistake.
- Seasoning: A combination of psychological manipulation, intimidation, gang rape, sodomy, beatings, deprivation of food or sleep, isolation from friends or family and other sources of support and threatening or holding hostage of a victim’s children.
- Squaring Up: Attempting to escape or exit prostitution.
- Stable: A group of victims who are under the control of a single pimp.
- The Game/The Life: The subculture of prostitution, complete with rules, a hierarchy of authority, and language.
- Track (a/k/a Stroll or Blade): An area of town known for prostitution activity.
- Trick: Committing an act of prostitution, or the person buying it. A victim is said to be “turning a trick” or “with a trick.”
- Turn Out: To be forced into prostitution or a person newly involved in prostitution.
If You Suspect Child Sex Trafficking or Online Predation:
Please follow the necessary steps to report suspicious activity:
- Contact your local law enforcement agency
- Submit a tip to the FBI at 1-800- 225-5324.
- Submit a tip to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 or by texting BeFree to 233733.
- Submit a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at Report.CyberTip.org or call 1-800-843-5678.
Be able to describe in detail:
- Who you saw (description of child/trafficker),
- What you saw (description of vehicle, license plate, make/model of car, social media account),
- When you saw it (day/time)
- Where did it occur
- Why it’s suspicious
If your child has been a victim of an online predator:
- Cease use of the phone immediately. Turn the phone on airplane mode to prevent removal of data by remote access.
- Secure other electronic devices such as iPads and laptops.
- Contact authorities.
- Report any suspicious social media accounts to the social media platform, as well as to law enforcement.
Get Proactive to Ensure the Safety of Your Children:
- Download the FBI Child ID App. A free app that allows parents to store updated photos and a physical description of their child and transmit that information to authorities if their child goes missing.
- Regularly check the local and federal sex offender registries and alert your children, family and friends of predators nearby. National Sex Offender Public Website: NSOPW.gov
- Frequently check your children's phones, tablets and computers. This should be a priority.
- Download monitoring/parental control apps such as Bark, Net Nanny, and Qustodio to monitor your child's activities, apps and communications on their phones.
- Be open and honest with your children on the dangers of internet use, social media, apps and online video games. Encourage transparent communication; listen to them, and answer their questions thoughtfully. Monitoring your children is not an invasion of their privacy; it’s a non-negotiable safety precaution. It can go from online harassment to your child being harmed or physically taken from you.
More Educational Resources:
What is Child Trafficking?
What is Child Trafficking?
What is Child Trafficking?
What Is Grooming?
What is Child Trafficking?
What is Child Trafficking?
How to Safeguard Children
What is Child Trafficking?
How to Identify & Report Child Predators
How to Identify & Report Child Predators
Contraland: a shocking documentary about child trafficking & predators in the USA
How to Identify & Report Child Predators
Internet Safety Tips & Parental Control
Contraland: a shocking documentary about child trafficking & predators in the USA
Contraland: a shocking documentary about child trafficking & predators in the USA
Contraland: a shocking documentary about child trafficking & predators in the USA
Contraland: a shocking documentary about child trafficking & predators in the USA
Contraland: a shocking documentary about child trafficking & predators in the USA
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