Human Trafficking - BPOC 736, Module E, Chapter 21, Units 9-17

Question 1

Name visible cues that reveal a trafficking victim

Answer 1

Visible injuries; averting eyes/cowering; disconnected from family/friends; stopped attending school; sudden dramatic change in behavior; juvenile engaged in commercial sex acts; disoriented or showing signs of mental or physical abuse; bruises in varying stages of healing; fearful, timid, or submissive; signs of starvation, lack of water, sleep or medical care; in company of someone to whom they defer; appear to be coached on what to say; living in unsuitable conditions; lack personal possessions; can they freely leave where they live; are there unreasonable security measures?

Question 2

Name red flags of sexual exploitation

Answer 2

Child avoids answering questions or lets others speak for them; appears frightened, resistant, or belligerent to law enforcement; lies about their age and identity; looks to others before answering questions; does not ask for help; resists offers to get out of their situation; does not self-identify as a victim; coached in talking to law enforcement; uses trafficking-related terms like “trick,” “the life,” or “the game”; preoccupied with “getting money”; has multiple cell phones and/or electronic devices; has substantial amounts of cash or pre-paid credit cards; has no ID or ID is held by another person; multiple children are present with an unrelated person; a child has sexual paraphernalia; evidence child may be traveling, living out of suitcases, at motels, or in a car; name or symbol tattooed, burned, or branded onto their bodies; reluctance to explain the tattoo; tattoo matches other children’s tattoos; tattoo indicates money or ownership; child has keys to a hotel room; in the presence of an overly controlling or abusive person; child is recovered at a hotel, street track, truck stop, or strip club

Question 3

What questions do you need to ask to identify a victim?

Answer 3

How did you enter the United States? Who was in control of documents during your travel to the United States? How did you pay for your travel? Who made travel arrangements? Who accompanied you during your travel? Were you aware of your travel plans and place of destination? Did you or someone else acquire fraudulent travel documents? What were you told to say to immigration officials when your arrived?

Question 4

How should you ask questions of a child trafficking victim?

Answer 4

In a non-threatening and non-authoritative manner; victims often fear police; they have been trained what to say when asked about their immigration status; must be made to feel safe and secure

Question 5

What questions should you ask about a victim’s employment and employer?

Answer 5

Can you move about freely? If so, where do you go? How much money are you paid in a week and where does that money go? Did you come to the U.S. for a specific job or purpose? What type of employment do you have? Who is your employer? Do you owe any money and/or service to your employer? Is there an employment contract? If so, what were the terms of employment? Were you forced to have sex as part of the job? What happens if you make a mistake at work? Does the employer hold your wages? Are there video cameras to monitor your activities? Are you happy with your employer/employment? If so, what makes you happy?

Question 6

What questions should you ask about safety and coercion?

Answer 6

Have you or your family been or felt threatened with harm if you try to leave? What is your understanding of what would happen if you tried to leave? Have you been physically harmed, deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care, or other life necessities?

Question 7

What questions should you ask about their ability to come and go freely?

Answer 7

Are you allowed to buy clothing and food on your own? Can you come and go as you please? Can you freely contact (phone, write, email) friends and family? Are you free to have a relationship with someone? Are you isolated from the community? Can you bring friends home?

Question 8

What are the three channels of communication?

Answer 8

Non-verbal, verbal, and paralinguistic (i.e., tone or pitch of voice, response latency, and length of response)

Question 9

What are some non-verbal cues you should look for when interviewing a victim of trafficking?

Answer 9

Dry mouth, restless, excessive sweating, posture, hand movements, grooming gestures (trying to clean clothes), personal gestures (i.e., scratching, pulling ear lobe), facial expressions (i.e., discomfort, fright)

Question 10

What is “kinetic interviewing”?

Answer 10

Focuses on observable outward physical behaviors of the body to ascertain a person’s emotional state

Question 11

Are non-verbal behaviors sufficient to make conclusive inferences or determinations of human trafficking?

Answer 11

No, but it is enough to decide to conduct a more probing investigation

Question 12

How are trafficking victims transported?

Answer 12

In small groups accompanied by a “chaperone”/guard; they will be met at a port or agreed location by another group of traffickers who will take them to meet their “owner”; forged documents and the financial means to travel indicates an organized group is participating in the trafficking operation

Question 13

What are some investigative cues that traffickers are trying to recruit a victim?

Answer 13

Ads in newspapers, television, radio, and via the internet and social media; modeling agencies and travel agencies; paid personnel posing as legitimate professionals and/or prospective employers to deceive victims

Question 14

Name the variables used to identify trafficking offenders

Answer 14

Identifying, Recruitment, Magnitude of the Operation, Victim’s mens rea (criminal intent), Collusion, Retribution, Profit

Question 15

What is the “magnitude of the operation”?

Answer 15

Smaller organized networks perform much of the grunt work; the larger operations require an organized network that can transport victims around the world

Question 16

What should investigators recognize about the victim’s mens rea?

Answer 16

The victim’s knowledge and/or awareness of the situation is an important investigative tool; the degree of force, fraud, coercion, and deception are instrumental; the more elaborate the scheme, the less the victim is likely to know of their fate; under a recruitment-by-force, the victims are completely unaware of the outcome or demands

Question 17

What are indicators of collusion?

Answer 17

When work is induced by force, identification documents have been confiscated, and the victim is denied the freedom to leave; no knowledge of their situation; demands involve exploitation and violation of human rights

Question 18

What are indicators of retribution?

Answer 18

Beatings, assaults, injury to the victim or the victim’s family; the ability to conduct retributive threats to family members; the ability to bribe others; the ability to pay officials to look the other way and take no action, to forge documents, or to facilitate illegal activity

Question 19

What is the primary reason to traffic human beings?

Answer 19

A substantial return on the sale of the humans; individuals and very small, loose networks have seen the high-profit low-risk nature of human trafficking; “mom and pop” shops are engaged in much more human trafficking than previously believed.

Question 20

What is the role of a “recruiter” in a trafficking operation?

Answer 20

To find victims to bring into the industry, usually by deception but sometimes using force; recruiters sell victims to brokers or directly to employers, such as brothel owners or bar owners

Question 21

What is the role of the “employment agent” in a trafficking operation?

Answer 21

To arrange a “legitimate” job and job description to entice victims

Question 22

What is the role of the “travel agent” in a trafficking operation?

Answer 22

To arrange for a “legitimate” trip with an alleged purpose to move the victim to the consumer; arrange for visas, passports, and identification papers; usually performed by someone who has a legitimate employmentor travel agency but also uses it for illegitimate purposes

Question 23

What is the role of the “document thief” or “forger” in trafficking operations?

Answer 23

To arrange for and obtain “legitimate” documentation for travel to another country; may steal or otherwise illegally obtain legitimate documentation, or they may create false documentation; this role may be filled by an immigration officer or a lawyer

Question 24

What is the role of the “transporter” in trafficking operations?

Answer 24

To accompany the victims on trips by airplane, train, bus, car, or on foot to their destinations; may take the victim through multiple countries; usually deliver the victim to a broker at a border or inside a destination country; sometimes deliver to an employer; may be referred to as an escort, jockey, or coyote

Question 25

What is the role of the “employer” in a trafficking scheme?

Answer 25

Purchases and then sells the victim to the customer and provides a place of employment; provides the victim with a place to live and work; tells the victim about the conditions of their work, living arrangements, lifestyle, and their demands; commonly a bar, club, or brothel; small number of street pimps and have no business establishment; may be referred to as a “procurer”

Question 26

What is the role of the “enforcer” in a trafficking operation?

Answer 26

Provides protection for the place of business and, to a lesser extent, the victim; protects the business from other criminal gangs, from extortionists, and from police; make sure victims follow demands, do not escape, and that the customer pays for the services; may be referred to as “guard” or “roof.”

Question 27

What does “bottom bitch” or “bottom girl” mean?

Answer 27

The person in a stable of victims who is appointed by the trafficker to manage, recruit, and supervise others

Question 28

What does “the life” or “the game” mean?

Answer 28

Commercial sexual exploitation or the sex industry

Question 29

What does “quota” mean?

Answer 29

The amount a victim must earn for their trafficker each night

Question 30

What does “daddy” mean?

Answer 30

The term a male trafficker might require his victims to call him

Question 31

What does “manager” mean?

Answer 31

Another term that is used for traffickers, often easier to tell people than pimp or daddy

Question 32

What does “branded” mean?

Answer 32

When a trafficker tattoos a victim to show ownership

Question 33

What does “family” or “folks” refer to?

Answer 33

The term used to describe the environment created by the trafficker and an attempt to recreate the family structure some youth lack

Question 34

What does the term “stable” refer to?

Answer 34

A group of people under a trafficker’s control at the same location

Question 35

What does “hit a stain” mean?

Answer 35

To contact someone to have sex for money

Question 36

What does “finesse” mean?

Answer 36

Someone who is a sweet talker and will give a person anything to catch their attention or keep them interested

Question 37

What does “breaking” mean?

Answer 37

Breaking someone down through control and force so they are subservient and lose their will to fight back

Question 38

What does “enforcers” or “gorilla pimp” mean?

Answer 38

Someone who teaches victims a lesson by beatings or showing them the consequences if someone doesn’t follow the rules

Question 39

What does “track” or “stroll” mean?

Answer 39

A street location for commercial sex

Question 40

What does “turnout” mean?

Answer 40

When a trafficker puts someone out to work for the first time

Question 41

What do the terms “tricks,” “Johns,” and “dates” refer to?

Answer 41

Buyers of commercial sex

Question 42

What does the term “twelve” or “12” refer to?

Answer 42

Police officer(s)

Question 43

What does the term “Trappin’” mean?

Answer 43

Having sex with many people

Question 44

What do the terms “grooming,” “recruiting,” “breaking in,” or “training” refer to?

Answer 44

The process a trafficker uses to manipulate a victim into prostituting for them, commonly includes romantic gestures and promises

Question 45

What does the term “incall” refer to?

Answer 45

When a buyer comes to a residence or hotel room for sex

Question 46

What does the term “outcall” refer to?

Answer 46

When the victim goes to the residence/hotel room of a buyer for sex