Some Facts & Personal Knowledge from A Human Trafficking Survivor
I had a post like this that disappeared from tumblr (probably moderated out of existence) so I'm rewriting it with more careful language. Hopefully I can recapture the gist of what it said. Please mind the CWs.
I am speaking out as a survivor. I've experienced much of (though not all of) the experiences I describe here, and I'm not going to answer personal questions about what happened to me. Please be respectful of that.
First, involuntary human trafficking isn't exclusive to countries with less wealth. It happened to me in the United States.
Most people have a stereotype view of what human trafficking is, and who it can impact. Needless to say, women and girls are not the only victims of this crime. It can and does happen to men and boys as well as trans, nonbinary, and intersex people like me.
A few other things you may not know:
Some people traffic their own children or grandchildren (yes, for real).
Some trafficked children are literally born to other trafficked children as a result of SA or non-consensual artificial insemination.
Trafficking often looks normal from the outside. Traffickers go to great lengths to make it so, enrolling their victims in school and other normal activities, presenting as a "parent" at doctor's appointments etc. You may even know someone who's being trafficked right now.
Trafficking can involve many different forms of slavery, not just the one that likely came to mind first (I'm being coy here to avoid getting this post taken down).
People who are being trafficked usually will not tell you what is happening to them for good reason. Their handlers have likely threatened them very effectively (for example, I knew my handlers would try to end my life when I escaped, and I was right). Handlers usually have significant power (often financial and legal) that keeps them silent as well. Some individuals are even forced or tricked into signing non-disclosure agreements.
Many trafficked children are not aware of human trafficking as a concept and don't understand what is happening to them. All they know is that it's different than the childhoods they see other children having.
Traffickers use any means of control at their fingertips, often preventing individuals from even building their own savings or accessing the Internet to make plans for eventual escape. They also deliberately sabotage their victims relationships to prevent rescue. Trafficked people are also often forcibly exposed to substances as an additional means of control.
Survivors who escape are often left with not only Complex-PTSD, other trauma disorders, or substance-use disorders.
Survivors also have a complex set of issues with entering normal life due to the restrictions placed on them previously. Some have no legal documents or medical records and/or no job history to reference. Those who were financially abused may also have debt and bad credit deliberately created by their handlers to decrease their capacity to escape.
Survivors are often disabled. They may have been born disabled and were targeted by traffickers because they would be easier to control (hi, me, here). Or they may develop disabilities as a result of physical abuse and living conditions enforced by their handlers.
Many survivors are targeted even after escaping, and some don't make it through that. My handlers stalked, harassed, and attempted to off me, which is why I'm being very careful how much I say about my own experience here.
