January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Traffickers love silence. And secrecy. They love the fact that most people would love to ignore this problem. But millions of victims are praying that you don’t. Sexual slavery is literally all around you at this very moment.

Red flags are everywhere, yet most of us don’t realize they are indeed red flags. If you see or suspect anything from this list (even though you might think it is minor), please call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-3737-888 to report what you saw. You could very well save someone’s life.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and Love In Action recently held our big awareness event as Tajuan McCarty came to Dothan, Ala., to share her story and challenge a large crowd to do something to fight this horrible crime, which enslaves more than 21 million people worldwide.

I will be blogging more this month to help educate you about human trafficking. That's the key. We must educate ourselves about it, and then act on what we know. Don't turn your heads. Don't ignore it. Someone's son and daughter are being trafficked in your city. Pray it never happens to your children, and know the signs to protect your children and others.

Here are some tips on how to spot victims of human trafficking. Learn them and help us in this fight.

LIVING CONDITIONS
The individual in question:

• Is not free to leave or come and go as they please
• Is under 18 and is providing commercial sex acts
• Is in the commercial sex industry and has a pimp/manager
• Is unpaid, paid very little, or is paid only through tips
• Works excessively long and/or unusual hours
• Owes a large debt and is unable to pay it off
• Was recruited through false promises concerning the nature and conditions of his/her work.
• High security measures exist in the work and/or living conditions (e.g. opaque windows, boarded up windows. bars on windows, barbed wire, security cameras, etc.

BEHAVIOR
The individual in question:

• Is fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive, tense, or nervous/paranoid
• Exhibits unusually fearful or anxious behavior after bringing up “law enforcement”
• Avoids eye contact

HEALTH
The individual in question:

• Lacks health care
• Appears malnourished
• Shows signs of physical and/or sexual abuse, physical restraint, confinement or torture

LACK OF CONTROL
The individual in question:

• Has few or no personal possessions
• Is not in control of his/her own identification documents (I.D. or Passport)
• Is not in control of his/her own money, no financial records or bank account.
• Is not allowed to speak for themselves (a third party may insist on being present and/or translating)

OTHER
The individual in question:

• Claims of “just visiting” and inability to clarify where he/she is staying/address
• Lack of knowledge of whereabouts and/or do not know which city he/she is in
• Loss of sense of time
• Has numerous inconsistencies in his/her story

**This list courtesy of Nita Belles. Author of In Our Backyard

For more information and tips, click here to visit our website.