What Schools Need to
Know to Recognize and Respond to the
Trafficking of
Students

Christina Dukes
National Center for
Homeless Education cdukes@serve.org
Melissa Brockie
Tumbleweed Center for
Youth Development mbrockie@tumbleweed.org

• NCHE operates the U.S. Department of
Education’s technical assistance center for the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program
• Website: www.serve.org/nche
• Webinars: www.serve.org/nche/web/group.php
• Helpline: 800-308-2145 or homeless@serve.org
• Listserv: www.serve.org/nche/listserv.php
• Products: www.serve.org/nche/products.php

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Arizona Partnership to End Domestic Trafficking- Six organizations within Maricopa and Pima County that offer training, education and direct services for survivors of human trafficking.
STAR (Sex Trafficking Awareness and Recovery) Weekly psycho-educational group offered at Phoenix Youth
Resource Center to discuss topics surrounding sex trafficking.
Supportive program for all Tumbleweed clients to be able to access comprehensive case management, safety planning and meet clients unique needs.

• Gain a greater understanding of the issue of human trafficking and its prevalence in schools and communities
• Learn about indicators and warning signs of trafficking involvement
• Learn what schools can do to prevent and respond to signs of trafficking among students
• Know where to go for more information

Sex trafficking in the USA hits close to home
September 2012 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/09/26/sextrafficking-in-the-usa/1595489/

What do you think?
True or False?
For an activity to be considered trafficking, the victim must have been transported across county or state lines.

Human trafficking
– Is a form of modern-day slavery where traffickers profit from the control and exploitation of their victims
– Is a highly profitable global criminal
enterprise, generating billions of dollars in annual profits
– Operates according to the dynamics of
supply and demand, allowing for multiple entry points into combatting trafficking

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection
Act (TVPA), as amended
– Sex Trafficking: The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act
– Commercial Sex Act: Any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person

Severe Forms of Trafficking
• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act
has not attained 18 years of age; or
• The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or
coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery
*Movement across a geographical boundary is not needed for an activity to be considered trafficking

Minors (17 or younger) involved in a commercial sex act
Adults (18 or older) who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into committing commercial sex acts
Anyone (regardless of age) who is forced, defrauded, or coerced into various forms of labor or services

• Online (social networks, Backpage,
Craigslist)
• Strip clubs
• Residential or commercial brothels
• On the street via pimp- or gang-based prostitution
• Fake massage or nail parlors
• Truck stops
• Hotels, motels, homes, etc…

What do you think?
True or False?
It is estimated that 1/3 (33%) of youth victims of trafficking are runaway, thrownaway, or homeless youth

Some caveats…
Criminal element
Definitional issues
Methodological issues

An estimated 100,000 children are traded for sex in the United States each year
The Polaris Project http://www.polarisproject.org/ human-trafficking/overview

The number of 10- to 17-year olds involved in commercial sexual exploitation in the United States each year likely exceeds 250,000, with 60% of these victims being runaway, thrownaway, or homeless youth
Congressional testimony
Ernie Allen, President
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children http://judiciary.house.gov/_files/hearings/ pdf/allen100915.pdf

As many as one third of teen runaway or thrownaway youth will become involved in prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
Congressional testimony
Ernie Allen, President
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children http://judiciary.house.gov/_files/hearings/ pdf/allen100915.pdf

50%...
The percentage of minors served by Covenant House who engaged in commercial sex for a place to stay
Covenant House http://www.covenanthouse.org/sites/default/files/attachments/
Covenant-House-trafficking-study.pdf

http://www.polarisproject.org/storage/documents/2014statistics.pdf

• 24,062 “signals” to the NHTRC hotline (calls, emails, webforms, texts)
Sex
71%
Labor
16%
Not spec’d
9%
Both
4%

What do you think?
True or False?
Trafficking victims usually know their traffickers prior to their being trafficked
(boyfriend, friend, family member, etc.)

Traffickers come from
and often

Strangers
9%
Employers
14%
Immediate family
36%
Friends of family
14%
Immediate family
Boyfriends
Friends of family
Employers
Strangers
Boyfriends
27%
Covenant House http://www.covenanthouse.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Cov enant-House-trafficking-study.pdf

• Individual pimps (male, female; young, old; any race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background)
• Gangs and criminal networks
• Brothel and massage parlor owners
• Intimate partners
• Family members
• Fellow students

The Polaris Project http://blog.polarisproject.org/wp-content/uploads//2010/10/HT-
PowerControl-Wheel.jpg

What do you think?
True or False?
A history of child welfare involvement is widely considered to be the most direct contributor to increasing a minor’s vulnerability to trafficking.

“The themes of trauma, abandonment, and disruption , begun in childhood, are central to the narratives of adolescent girls trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. Girls describe having had a profound sense of being alone without resources .” http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/ humantrafficking/litrev/

The average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution
The average age at which boys and
transgender youth first become victims of prostitution
Federal Bureau of Investigations http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcementbulletin/march_2011/human_sex_trafficking

• Homelessness*/running away
• Economic vulnerability (poverty, lack of education, poor employment opportunities)
• Age (inexperience, need to belong, self-esteem issues)
• Prior experiences of abuse
*Widely considered to be the most direct contributor to vulnerability to trafficking amongst minors

• Lack of a support network, including a trustworthy adult
• History of systems involvement
(child welfare, juvenile justice)
• Disabilities
• LGBT
• African American / Hispanic /
Native American

• Physical injuries/health problems due to physical and sexual violence (broken bones, untreated wounds, STDs, reproductive health problems, malnutrition)
• Mental and emotional health
problems due to psychological trauma (PTSD, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, despair and hopelessness)

• Substance abuse forced on the victim by the trafficker or used by the victim as a coping mechanism for abuse
• Changed relationships with self and others (profound sense of shame and guilt, inability to trust)
• Unhealthy bond with the perpetrator (“trauma bond”)

Party Crews
Still in school, beginning of the recruitment
Campus and Neighborhood
Exploitation
Still in school, truancy, decline in academic performance
Completely in “The Life”
No longer attending school, runaway, on the track and circuit

• Unexplained school absences/irregular school attendance
• Chronic running away
• Homelessness
• An abrupt change in attire, behavior, or relationships
• The presence of an older “boyfriend” or “girlfriend”
• Travel with an older male who is not a guardian
• References to frequent travel to other cities
• The sudden presence of expensive possessions

• Unusual attachment to cellphone
• Lack of control over schedule, money, and/or proof of identification
• Signs of psychological distress, such as depression, anxiety, paranoia, and/or suicidal ideation
• Signs of psychological coercion, such as an overly submissive attitude or inability to speak for self
• Signs of physical trauma, including bruises, cuts, burns, and/or scars

• Strange tattoos or other branding marks
• Substance abuse or addictions
• Poor health, as evidenced by sexually transmitted diseases, malnutrition, and/or serious dental problems
• Inappropriate dress
• “A reputation”
• References to sexual situations beyond what is ageappropriate

• Support school staff in
– Understanding the dynamics of trafficking
– Recognizing signs of trafficking involvement
– Responding in possible incidences of trafficking
• Train school social workers and psychologists on how to work with trafficking victims

• Joint effort
– School administration
– Law enforcement
– Mental health agencies
– Child welfare
– Victim services providers
– Other community agencies
• What to do if…

Sample Protocol – Grossmont Union
High School District, San Diego

• Students can be a part of the solution
• See the Additional Resources section of Sex
Trafficking of Minors: What Schools Need to
Know to Recognize and Respond to the
Trafficking of Students for sample curricula
• Choose developmentally appropriate resources based on the age group of the students

In the case of an immediate emergency, call your local police department or 911.
In the absence of an established protocol, educators should contact the NHTRC at 1-888-
373-7888 to seek guidance.
School personnel should not attempt to confront a suspected trafficker or rescue a suspected victim.

• Human Trafficking in America’s Schools http://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/human-traffickingamericas-schools
• Sex Trafficking of Minors: What Schools Need to Know to
Recognize and Respond to the Trafficking of Students http://www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/trafficking.pdf
• National Human Trafficking Resource Center http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/national-humantrafficking-hotline/the-nhtrc/overview
• Polaris Project http://polarisproject.org/
• National Educations to Stop Trafficking (NEST) http://nesteducators.org/