Resources to Protect Our Children

Human trafficking uses force, fraud, or coercion to exploit people. It includes both sex trafficking and labor trafficking.

In the U.S., it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of children are trafficked each year—many for commercial sex or forced labor. It’s a tragic crime that often goes undetected due to barriers in identification and underreporting.

Trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise in the world.

Trafficking impacts children of every race, age, gender, and economic status. Victims can live in rural, suburban, and urban communities.

Youth may be at higher risk if they:

• Are experiencing poverty, neglect, or homelessness
• Are in foster care or have unstable home environments
• Struggle with trauma, mental health, or identity-related stigma
• Are seeking emotional connection or validation

• Myth: Most trafficking involves kidnapping by strangers.
  Fact: 99% of victims knew their trafficker beforehand—some were even family members or romantic partners.
• Myth: It only happens in big cities.
  Fact: Trafficking happens everywhere—including small towns and tight-knit communities.
• Myth: Victims always want to escape but can’t.
  Fact: Many victims don’t realize they’re being trafficked, or feel trapped due to manipulation, fear, or shame.

Recruitment can happen in-person or online. Youth may be manipulated slowly, often without realizing they’re being groomed. Traffickers rarely act like criminals at first. They may build trust by pretending to offer:

• Friendship
• Romantic interest
• Mentorship or employment
• Food, clothing, or a place to stay

Social media is one of the most common recruitment tools for traffickers.

They may:

• Use DMs, friend requests, or flirty comments to build trust
• Pose as someone the victim’s age, or as a recruiter for modeling or music gigs
• Move conversations to encrypted or disappearing message apps
• Use apps that hide content, like fake calculator apps or ghost folders
• Blackmail victims after receiving inappropriate images

📱 Popular platforms used in grooming include Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, WhatsApp, and online games with chat features.

Explore in-depth research, policy recommendations, and national data to better understand the scope of trafficking:

• 2020 Trafficking In Persons Report – U.S. Dept. of State
• Polaris Project – Research & Data
• 2016 Human Trafficking by the Numbers – UT Austin
• Shared Hope 2019 State Report Card
• Roadmap for Texas Communities – Meadows Institute
• On-Ramps, Intersections & Exit Routes – Polaris Routes – Polaris