What are Signs of Trafficking?

[Patricia]

I'd like to get a discussion going on about signs of trafficking.

What are signs of trafficking?

I am thinking of signs for clients to look out for primarily, though it doesn't only have to be things clients could observe.

I am going to post some example lists I've found online in various places.

I am asking this as we want to construct improved content for E-I to publish, for clients to read and help them be aware of possible warning signs, but we want a good sensible list, and I'm not sure there is such a thing out there, so we need to come up with our own.

Thank you in advance for your feedback everyone.

[Patricia]

Recognizing the Signs
The Individual(s) in Question

• Is not free to leave or come and go as he/she wishes
• 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 paid only through tips
• Works excessively long and/or unusual hours
• Is not allowed breaks or suffers under unusual restrictions at work
• 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 locations (e.g. opaque windows, boarded up windows, bars on windows, barbed wire, security cameras, etc.)

Poor Mental Health or Abnormal Behavior

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

Poor Physical Health

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

Lack of Control

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

Other

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

[Patricia]

• The women is a foreign national.
• She appears to be unhappy and unwilling to perform sexual acts.
• She is frightened or in physical pain.
• The women sees a large number of clients each day/night.
• She is able to keep little, or none, of the money she receives from clients.
• 'Special' services are offered including unprotected sex, often at a low price.
• She doesn't smile and is reluctant to cooperate.
• Food is paid for by another person.
• She has little or no time off.
• She may only know how to say sex-related words in English.

[Patricia]

• Evidence of being controlled: the person is accompanied by a controlling person, and do not speak on her own behalf. The person is transported to or from work; lives and works at the same place and is rarely allowed in public.
• Lack of control over personal schedule: the person is not able to move freely or leave a job. For example a women who works 24/7, sees an important number of clients and has no time for herself.
• Lack of control over money: the person is not able to keep the money earned. It is "withheld for safe-keeping". Most of the time the person owes debts to the employer.
• The person recently arrived in the country: she often does not speak the language of the country, or only knows sex related words in English.
• Fear, depression and overly submissive behaviour: the person is frightened to talk to outsiders and authorities as a result of threats.
• Poor health: Sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, pelvic pain and traumas, urinary difficulties, pregnancy resulting from rape and prostitution, infertility from chronic untreated STDs and unsafe abortions. Malnutrition and serious dental problems.
• Bruises, scars and other signs of physical abuse and torture: although, sex trafficked victims are often beaten in areas that won't damage their appearance, like their lower back.
• Substance abuse problems or addictions: the person is often coerced into drug use by her traffickers or turn to substance abuse to help cope with her dreadful situation.

[Lucy Chambers]

I'd like to get a discussion going on about signs of trafficking.

What are signs of trafficking?

I am thinking of signs for clients to look out for primarily, though it doesn't only have to be things clients could observe.

I am going to post some example lists I've found online in various places.

I am asking this as we want to construct improved content for E-I to publish, for clients to read and help them be aware of possible warning signs, but we want a good sensible list, and I'm not sure there is such a thing out there, so we need to come up with our own.

Thank you in advance for your feedback everyone.

*Signs of physical abuse

*seeming abnormally sad or fearful

*another person speaking on their behalf, them having little or no knowledge of the local language

*always accompanied by others, or confined to one apartment

Some I took from other sites, blibliography available-

Heavy security at the commercial establishment including barred windows, locked doors, isolated location, electronic surveillance. Women are never seen leaving the premises unless escorted.
Victims live at the same premises as the brothel or work site or are driven between quarters and "work" by a guard. For labor trafficking, victims are often prohibited from leaving the work site, which may look like a guarded compound from the outside.
Victims are kept under surveillance when taken to a doctor, hospital or clinic for treatment; trafficker may act as a translator.
High foot traffic especially for brothels where there may be trafficked women indicated often by a stream of men.

Questions that could be asked-

Questions to ask if you suspect you are in the presence of a trafficking victim
Screening Questions
Is the person free to leave the work site?
Is the person physically, sexually or psychologically abused?
Does the person have a passport or valid I.D. card and is he/she in possession of such documents?
What is the pay and conditions of employment?
Does the person live at home or at/near the work site?
How did the individual arrive to this destination if the suspected victim is a foreign national?
Has the person or a family member of this person been threatened?
Does the person fear that something bad will happen to him or her, or to a family member, if he/she leaves the job?

[Patricia]

People who have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation may:

• Be of any age, although the age may vary according to the location of the market
• Move from one brothel to the next or work in various locations
• Be escorted whenever they go and/or return from work and other outside activities
• Have tattoos or other marks indicating ‘ownership’ by their exploiters
• Work long hours or have few if any days off
• Sleep where they work
• Live or travel in a group, sometimes with other women who do not speak the same language
• Have very few items of clothing
• Have clothes that are mostly the kind typically worn for doing sex work
• Only know how to say sex-related words in the local language or in the language of the client group
• Have no cash of their own
• Be unable to show an identity document.

[Patricia]

I think we have to be careful here as many of the organisations that speak about trafficking completely conflate it with migrant sex work and can say really silly things at times like "If the woman is foreign, she is probably trafficked." We do not want to be giving out silly information or encouraging prejudice against escorts who are not from Ireland/UK etc. But, at the same time, we do want to make it even clearer to clients that trafficking does happen, and an very important tool in combatting trafficking is clients reporting it when they encounter situations that might indicate trafficking.

[Patricia]

The last one on this Blue Blindfold Ireland poster is an example of what I find wrong in a lot of these lists. We can't say that if an escort is a particular nationality, then she may be trafficked, that's simply not helpful.

[doodlebug]

Patricia, all of these signs are good to know and be aware of, but I think most of them will be unseen by clients. How many of us get the opportunity to know if a girl can leave the apartment etc. Most girls being security conscious leave the room with the money, rightly so, so how do we know how much of the money she gets to keep. The language ones are something of a catch 22 situation, if a girl has little or no English, it doesn't mean she is trafficked but the first words she will learn will be sex related if she is working in the sex industry. This is not intended to cause controversy, just pointing out that we need to come up with signs for during appointments that we can all use.

[Martin41]

Wasn't there some guy offering info on the signs of possible escort profiles that are risky?
He had some way of tracking them.
I seem to remember reading about him a while back.