By Katlyn Miller, Development Associate - Manager of Communications & Media Strategy
Although human trafficking is a serious issue, it is not spoken about nearly enough. This lack of dialogue results in misinformation and misconceptions about human trafficking. We’re here to debunk some of these common myths about human trafficking.
Sex trafficking is the only type of human trafficking.
There are actually two umbrellas of human trafficking: sex and labor. The reason many people only know about sex trafficking is that it is often portrayed in movies, TV shows, and other media outlets. However, labor trafficking is just as prevalent and important to spread awareness of.
Human trafficking survivors are mostly young white women.
Survivors can be of any background, race, age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, and any other identity. There is no “look” to human trafficking survivors. Traffickers can prey on anyone, and they can be anyone, too.
Labor trafficking only happens to undocumented immigrants or people in less advantaged communities.
While these two groups of individuals can be targeted by traffickers, undocumented immigrants and less advantaged communities are not the only people who are survivors of labor trafficking. Just like sex trafficking, survivors of labor trafficking can come from any background, regardless of their citizenship or socioeconomic status.
Human trafficking does not happen in the United States.
Human trafficking is a widespread issue; it knows no boundaries or borders. There are survivors of human trafficking in nearly every community in the world, including the United States. Human trafficking happens in even the most affluent communities, despite common misconceptions.
Human trafficking and smuggling are the same.
This is an extremely common misconception. Human trafficking involves force, fraud, and coercion to exploit someone to participate in labor or commercial sex. Human trafficking can happen anywhere, even without crossing state or national borders. Smuggling is a voluntary act in which someone asks another person to help them cross borders without being noticed. In other words, smuggling involves choice and international travel while human trafficking allows no choice and does not require any travel or transport to be considered trafficking.
However, it is possible for smuggling to become human trafficking. For instance, say Person A asks Person B to smuggle them from one country to another. If Person B holds a “debt” over the head of Person A—i.e. “Since I brought you here, you have to work for me; have sex with me; etc.”—or threatens Person A if they do not obey, this would be an example of human trafficking.
Depictions of human trafficking in movies is accurate.
In many movies and TV shows, human trafficking scenarios are depicted as kidnappings in foreign countries or young girls hidden in basements. While these situations certainly can be a reality for some survivors, media tends to sensationalize the imagery to make human trafficking seem unfathomable and unreal to viewers. In reality, human trafficking it a very serious issue happening every day.
Many traffickers use manipulation tactics to gain the trust of their victims before trafficking them. Oftentimes a person’s trafficker is someone who was very close to them, not a stranger kidnapping them from the street. While this does happen, traffickers are often someone the survivor knew.
If a human trafficking survivor is in public, they’ll try to seek help.
It’s important to note that survivors seeking help and telling their stories takes a lot of courage. Some survivors may ask for help when in public, and others may be too frightened to do so. There are many different reasons a survivor may not reach out for help in public. Remember: traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion to continue manipulating and abusing survivors.
The survivor may fear physical retaliation from their trafficker, or they may fear legal action being taken against them—such as arrest or deportation—if they were to go to authorities for help. They may feel an attachment to obey their trafficker through mental, emotional, and/or physical abuse. There are many obstacles that can interfere with a survivor’s ability to seek help.
We hope these explanations helped debunk any misconceptions or myths you may have heard about human trafficking. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, feel free to check out our Human Trafficking and Resources pages.