human trafficking prevention month

January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month.⁠ It is a harsh reality that foster care is connected with so many other social issues of today - one of which is⁠ human trafficking.⁠ Reports show that as many as 2/3 of trafficking victims here in the US have a history in the child welfare system.⁠
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This is a hard topic and the details are difficult to read about. But it's impossible to talk about the prevention of human trafficking without acknowledging our society's most vulnerable children - and it's impossible to talk about making a difference for foster care, without acknowledging one of the gravest threats to these kids' safety and well being.⁠

Human trafficking is a market-driven, global industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars in profits. It is a form of modern-day slavery when someone is exploited through force, fraud or coercion for the economic gain of another, in the form of:

• Sex Trafficking: inducing another individual to perform commercial sex, including: escort services, pornography, illicit massage businesses, brothels, or outdoor solicitation
• Labor Trafficking: inducing another individual to work or provide services, including: agriculture, domestic work, restaurants, cleaning services and carnivals​

Not all those who are trafficked are physically forced - in fact, most human trafficking occurs through psychological coercion, tricking, manipulation, or threats.  This criminal industry affects every type of community across the country and is present amongst various ages, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds; however, according to the Polaris Project, roughly two-thirds of reported survivors in 2018 were women and girls.

According to the nonprofit organization Children at Risk, Texas is a leading hub for human trafficking, which spans across all of our major cities and even exists in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods.

If we want to support the end of human trafficking, we MUST support children in foster care. Two of the top five reasons for human trafficking are due to 1) unstable housing and 2) runaway or homeless youth - both of which are common circumstances for youth in foster care. Traffickers will seek out and groom those who are most vulnerable. And because children in foster care often lack consistent support and a watchful eye, they can fall prey to tricks and manipulations by predators. 

Voices for Children explains, "The trafficker will play on the vulnerability exposed by their victim to gain power and ensure loyalty. According to the Department of Justice, most often, victims fall prey to traffickers who lure them in with an offer of attention, food, clothes, a safe place to sleep, friendship, and love. During the process known as grooming, the trafficker’s goal will be to gain the victim’s trust, provide for the victim’s needs, and isolate them. The grooming process can be lengthy, as it involves earning the victim’s trust. Many foster children have experienced a lack of trusted caring adults in their life; however, pimps are willing to put in the work, as the child will serve as a financial payout for them in the future. Once the trafficker feels they have successfully made the victim dependent on them, they will manipulate or directly force the victim into prostitution. They will often use violence to retain control. With the rapid growth of digital technology, traffickers now heavily rely on social media to recruit and start the grooming process."

At Houston Angels, we know that young people who have grown up in the foster care system have received less financial, emotional, and social support than their peers, are less prepared for life after foster care, and are more likely to fall victim to life-threatening situations such as human trafficking, homelessness, incarceration or suicide. This is why our Dare to Dream Program was created to help local youth in foster care navigate life's challenges and provide them with one more healthy adult to call. Our volunteer mentors provide wisdom, advice, encouragement, and community that help empower and guide our youth towards a healthy, happy and thriving adulthood. We tell mentors that the simple act of telling their youth “I believe in you,” or answering the phone when times get hard, can change their path completely - and hopefully avoid these statistics that plague our system. 

Our children deserve better than this.

Click on any of the links below to learn more about the human trafficking crisis:
https://www.state.gov/identify-and-assist-a-trafficking-victim/⠀
https://humantraffickinghotline.org/type-trafficking/human-trafficking⠀
https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking⠀
https://www.nfyi.org/issues/sex-trafficking/⠀
https://childrenatrisk.org/human-trafficking/⠀
​https://www.speakupnow.org/foster-care-and-human-trafficking/