Human Trafficking Part 1
Welcome to Human Trafficking: Part 1, developed and presented by the Indiana Child Welfare Education and Training Partnership. This training is available in different formats for State of Indiana employees and School of Social Work students. Scroll down the page for instructions on how to take this training.
State Employee Training #
State employees can take Human Trafficking: Part 1 through the State of Indiana’s Learning Portal (also known as SuccessFactors). If you’re already logged into My Learning in SuccessFactors, you can select the Human Trafficking: Part 1 button to go directly to the training.
If you haven’t logged in, the Human Trafficking: Part 1 button will take you to a log-in screen. After you’ve logged in, select the My Learning button. From there, you can search for this training by name (using the Find Learning search box) or come back here and use the direct training link.
For a video walkthrough of how to access this training, select the help button.
School of Social Work: Student Training #
In this training, you will review human trafficking as defined by the Indiana Code and recognize human trafficking indicators to identify victims of Human Trafficking.
What is Human Trafficking?
IC 35-42-3.5
A person who knowingly or intentionally pays to, offers to pay to, agrees to pay money or other property to, or benefits in some other manner another person for a human trafficking victim or an act performed by a human trafficking victim commits human trafficking, a Level 5 felony.
There are two categories of human trafficking:
- Sex Trafficking
- Labor Trafficking
Human Trafficking: Sex Trafficking
Family Case Managers should be aware that parents can be the victims of sex trafficking, which could lead to the abuse and neglect of their children. Parents may also be the perpetrator of trafficking their children, and it is important to be cognizant of the parent-child relationship when assessing human trafficking.
Human Trafficking: Labor Trafficking
Family Case Managers should be aware that, as with sex trafficking, abuse and neglect of children can result from parents being the victims of labor trafficking. Parents may also be the perpetrator of trafficking their children, and it is important to be cognizant of the parent-child relationship when assessing human trafficking.
Daniel's Story
“My name is Daniel. I am 17. I came to the United States with my cousin Julia. She is 16. We were promised food, housing, and enrollment in school while we lived with our second cousin, Carlos. Once we got to America, we were forced to work long hours for a cleaning service and had to sleep on the floor. There were eight of us workers who slept on the floor. Many of the other workers are much older men. We were told that we couldn’t talk to any family back home until we paid our debt off.”
Human Trafficking: Recruiter
Gains the victims trust in order to exploit them for personal gain. The recruiter may be the victim’s parents, a family member, or an intimate partner.
An example is a “Bottom Girl® who recruits other girls to gain money for herself or to avoid suffering further abuse.
Human Trafficking: Trafficker
Gains power over, and controls the victims through fear, abuse, threats, and lies. As a general rule, human trafficking involves transporting individuals from one place to another, either against their will or under some sort of false pretense. With smuggling, on the other hand, there is an agreement between the smuggler and the person who is being smuggled to be transported somewhere for a specific price. Once the terms of this agreement are met, the relationship between the smuggler and the person who was smuggled ends. However, sometimes smuggling will turn into human trafficking.
Human Trafficking: Consumer
Funds the human trafficking industry by purchasing goods and services.
Depending on the circumstances and industry, a consumer may not be aware they are contributing to the suffering of a victim of human trafficking.
Human Trafficking: Victim and Teresa's story
Human Trafficking reaches every culture.
Regardless of demographic, victims are vulnerable in some way, and the trafficker will use that particular vulnerability to exploit them.
85% of trafficked youth have been involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice system.
Some risk factors include:
- Youth
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- Homelessness
- Desperation
- A need to be loved
- Immigration Status
- Homes in countries torn by armed conflict, civil unrest, political upheaval, corruption, or natural disasters
- Family backgrounds strife with violence, abuse, and conflict
The victim:
- Likely has been lied to about the work they will be doing in the U.S.
- Believes they have a real debt to pay and takes this very seriously.
- Has been lied to about their rights in this country, and what will happen to them if they seek help. Does not have any meaningful social network.
- May not self-identify as a victim, and may even blame themselves for their situation.
- May be holding out hope that if he or she proves their worth, things will get better.
- May feel extreme guilt or fear.
- May be in love with their trafficker.May feel like this situation is better than where they came from.
Teresa’s story
16-year-old Teresa just moved to Indianapolis from Detroit in the middle of her junior year of high school.
She is having a hard time making friends and adjusting to her new environment.
Teresa’s mother fled an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, taking Teresa with her to Indiana.
Teresa’s mother is aware that her boyfriend had been sexually abusing Teresa when they lived together.
The boyfriend tracked them down in Indiana
He convinced Teresa’s mother to give him a second chance and move in together.
Teresa began to act out in school and stay out all night.
She was disrespectful to teachers and aggressive towards school administrators.
After being suspended, Teresa admitted her sexual abuse to a school counselor.
She was removed from her mother’s care due to her mother allowing her boyfriend to have direct contact with her.
Teresa’s mother stopped coming to visitation and eventually moved back to Detroit with her boyfriend, leaving Teresa in foster care.
in roster care, Teresa continued to have behavior issues.
She was moved to several different foster homes and changed schools.
Each time she was moved.
Teresa tried to run away and became involved with Juvenile Probation.
Teresa became trends with Gina, an older girl she met in juvenile detention
The two of them kept in contact after being released from custody.
Teresa thought it was cool that Gina’s boyfriend bought her nice clothes, paid for her to get her nails done, and took her to fancy hotels.
Gina told Teresa that her boyfriend had a friend and they should all meet up at a party.
The older boy seemed so cool compared to the one she knew from school.
He bought Teresa new clothes and took her out to expensive dinners.
He made her feel special and wanted.
eventually, the older boy told her that he loved her.
He wanted her to live with him so he could take care of her.
He continued to buy her expensive things.
After a period of time, her boyfriend told her she would need to earn her keep.
He became violent and threatened to harm her and her family if she didn’t do what he asked.
Teresa was forced to have sex with older men several times a day by her boyfriend.
Teresa thought if she just loved her boyfriend more, he wouldn’t ask her to do these things.
She loved him and did not want to return to foster care
She kept hoping things would get better.
tach time law enforcement located Teresa and returned her to her roster home, she would run away and return to her boyfriend.
Each time she was returned to foster care, she would have expensive clothes with her, a new cell phone, and her nails and hair done.
Teresa would not say where she had been staying while on the run or how she was able to afford the expensive clothes and makeover.
Human Trafficking Statistics
- Human Trafficking is a growing problem that affects youth.
- Human Trafficking is tied as the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world, just behind the drug trade.
- Every year 1 million children are exploited by the commercial sex trade worldwide. $32 billion is generated annually by the human trafficking industry. 100,000 to 300,000 U.S. children are victims of commercial sexual trafficking each year, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
- 83% of sex trafficking victims found in the U.S. were U.S. citizens, according to one Justice Department study.
Reporting Cases
- If you suspect human trafficking, call the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1.800.800.5556.
- Information should include the victim’s name, date of birth, location and any relevant information about the suspected trafficking.
- If you have questions related to human trafficking within any of your cases (assessment and permanency), send an email to DCSHumanTraffickingInformation@dcs.IN.gov for assistance.
Resources
- Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services
- House Ways and Means Hearing on “Protecting Vulnerable Children: Preventing & Addressing Sex Trafficking of Youth in Foster Care* Representative Louise M. Slaughter Human Resources Subcommittee Testimony October 23, 2013.
- International Labor Organization (ILO), A global alliance against forced labor (2005) at p.55 (PDF)
- Kestian, Heather, Human Trafficking Presentation
- Testimony of Ernie Allen (July, 2010), National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (PDF)
- U.S. Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau Guidance to States and Services on Addressing Human Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States, pg.2, 3 (Sept. 13, 2013). [herein in “ACYF guidance”] (PDF)
- U.S. Department of State, The Facts About Child Sex Tourism (PDF)
- Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-386 (2000)
- Indiana Trafficking Victims Assistance Program (ITVAP)
- Homeland Security, Sex Trafficking Awareness