Reduce Sex Trafficking in 25 U.S. Cities
For two decades, anti trafficking efforts in the United States have sought to identify and support victims and bring traffickers to justice. These approaches are critical in the lives of individual survivors but will never decrease the actual volume of sex trafficking in the United States. To accomplish that more sweeping goal, we have to fix the broken systems that fail to meet the needs of so many people, leaving them vulnerable to trafficking. And we have to fundamentally shift accountability for trafficking away from victims and to buyers and traffickers.
We are working toward a world with enough supports and services available to break the cycles of poverty, abuse and exploitation that put people at risk for sex trafficking – and hold traffickers accountable for the harm they cause.
The Problem
Since 2015, the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified 54,853 situations of sex trafficking. That’s what we learn about because someone asks for help. How much more is really out there is unknown. But we know it is too much. Through the Trafficking Hotline, we provide the victims in those situations with help and support but for most, the trauma is deep and the healing difficult. A far better outcome would be to prevent the trafficking situation from happening in the first place.
55,229
HUMAN TRAFFICKING SITUATIONS
January 2015 – December 2020
82,527
HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
January 2015 – December 2020
The Plan to Reduce Sex Trafficking
We will reduce sex trafficking in 25 U.S. cities by building the power of local communities to
Expand the societal safety net available to vulnerable populations and trafficking victims to reduce their risk of being trafficked and increase avenues for exit.
Shift legal accountability for trafficking to sex buyers and traffickers, and away from victims and potential victims.
Change norms around sex buying to remove victim stigmatization, influence sex buyer behavior, support the shift in criminal accountability to sex-buyers.
Expanding the Societal Safety Net
The work in the following three communities begins a 25-city strategy to prevent sex trafficking before it happens by understanding what makes people vulnerable to the advances of those who would exploit them. Armed with a better understanding of their potential role in the anti-trafficking ecosystem, advocates, survivors, and community leaders go through a structured process to determine focus areas for reducing trafficking, ultimately turning ideas into reality and stopping sex trafficking before it starts.
Louisville, Kentucky
Problem: Kiara* was sexually assaulted as a very young child and abused mentally, physically and sexually for years before she was removed from the family home. The living situations that came next weren’t much better – and didn’t address the trauma she had suffered. The drugs that were her only real coping mechanism became a full blown opioid addiction that pushed her into the open arms of a sex trafficker.
Solution: Support community efforts to establish residential facilities that provide stable homes with onsite services for minors and young adults at risk for trafficking; work with landlords and housing advocates to create more flexibility in the rental process for youth who age out of the child welfare system but can’t find independent housing while they get on their feet.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Problem: Stefani’s* daughter ran away from home to be with the trafficker who claimed to love her then sold her for sex. When police picked the girl up, Stefani was told to come bring her daughter home. If she didn’t, under local law a warrant would be issued for Stefani, and her daughter would be sent to a juvenile detention facility. Stefani knew she couldn’t keep her daughter safe. The girl would run back to the trafficker the moment she had the chance, but Stefani had no good options.
Solution: Work with state and local governments to change the law on issuing warrants and create a system of safe, supportive respite housing for at-risk youth.
San Diego, California
Problem: Dan’s* impoverished mother sold him for sex with older men. For years after, he struggled to manage the trauma and his own identity as a gay man. With few positive people in his life, and less self esteem, he got involved with gangs and drifted in and out of trafficking situations and “the life” for years, well into adulthood.
Solution: Support the LGTBQ+ community in San Diego in their efforts to ensure there are enough dedicated safe spaces with supportive services available for LGTBQ+ youth at risk for trafficking in every area of the city and surrounding county.
*Names have been changed for privacy reasons
Homeless youth have in many cases already been failed by the systems and people who were supposed to keep them safe. We can do better. Take action to support young people who are among the most vulnerable to sex trafficking.
