Having nudes online is scary, but there is hope to “Take It Down” using this app from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
INTERNET and SEX TRAFFICKING
WARNING SIGNS: Children
Children believe there is no problem surfing and befriending anyone who asks or who wants to play games online with them. Predators know this and, to mislead everyone, they use false identities, may change their sex claiming to be a young male when they are instead an older female, use anonymous pictures like a pet or favorite animal or flower, send postings claiming they sympathize with whatever problems their targeted child has posted, and/or that they too “love” whatever activities the child has announced they are “in to.”
Children communicating with an online predator and who are listening to their advice may:
Withdraw from family and friends
Get upset when they cannot be online
Become secretive or obsessive about online activity
Change screens / turn off computer when someone enters the room
Download and watch pornography
Regularly upload sexualized photos / videos
Won’t tell who is receiving their uploaded pictures / videos
Arrange to meet their online ‘friend’ in a public place and they tell you about it
Leave / sneak out of the house at odd hours
WARNING SIGNS: Online Predator
Praises every post you make
Claims to be involved in the same activities as you
Claims to ‘love’ the same things as you: same music, animals, colors, same famous people
Always agrees/concurs with your thoughts about issues you care about
Encourages you to trust them instead of your friends and/or parents
Claims to love you
Wants you to keep secrets between you and them, to not tell anyone about “you and them”
Asks for/pressures you for nude photos once they feel they have your confidence
Starts to make you feel guilty if you do not share ‘every part of you’ with them, says you don’t love them enough and hints that you will loose them
Once you provide nude images they become threatening, say they will share what you gave already with all of your friends unless you give them more
May insist on money instead of more images
May insist on an in-person meet-up “to see if you are really who you say you are”
Starts blaming you for the break-up of your ‘relationship’
SEX TRAFFICKING
WARNING SIGNS: Victims
Unexplained absence from class
Overly tired in class/at home
Less appropriately dressed than before
Sexualized behavior improper for age
Brags to friends about making/having a lot of money
New displays of expensive clothes/accessories/shoes
Significantly older boyfriend/girlfriend – for both girls and boys, all combinations
Talks about wild parties/invites other students to attend parties
Specially marked/new tattoos (a name, symbol of money, barcode)
WARNING SIGNS: Trafficker/Pimp
Excessively jealous/controlling/moody/violent
Significantly older than their young companion
Promises things too good to be true
Encourages victim’s engagement in illegal activities [to achieve goals/dreams]
Buys expensive gifts/owns expensive items/very open about financial matters
Vague about his/her profession
Encourages inappropriate sexual behavior/pushy or demanding about sex
Makes the victim feel responsible for his/her own financial stability
Member of organized crime, gangs
Trusted positions with corrupt people
Diplomatic personnel
FOSTER CARE and SEX TRAFFICKING
WARNING SIGNS: Youth Experiencing Sexual Exploitation within Foster Care
Listen to the Child, Listen to the Youth – GIVE THEM THEIR VOICE
Child is subdued, devalued, silenced; especially if by the caregiver
They have been told, “You should be grateful for a home, grateful that I took you in.”
Child is hypervigilant, feels they don’t belong
Child becomes fearful: of environment, of people, of losing their home
Child’s voice and behavior may become loud and rebellious (a backlash for the silencing)
Persistent telling of lies; taught to them when the truth was/is silenced, especially when talking about an abusive family member
Repeated ‘leaving’ from their placement home; many underlying “Push-Pull” factors
Youth living in office buildings, on the streets, couch surfing – basic needs are not met = enhanced vulnerabilities, feelings of non-worth, being ‘defective’, friends are all the wrong people
Children threatening parents if they look at their phones
Foster youth refusing to participate in family activities = increased vulnerabilities for youth
Find stilettos, false eyelashes, Gucci bags, etc. in children’s closets
LANGUAGE DOs and DON’Ts
Take care to not label Children and Youth in damaging ways.
Use the expressions, “Youth experiencing commercial sexual exploitation.” or “Youth experiencing the foster care system.”
Helps to avoid pigeon-holing them as victims
Emphasizes their value as a human being
Be aware of your ‘own bias or balance’ about where the youth is coming from or what they have experienced
Avoid using “AWOLing,” for youth who have left their placement
AWOL implies either ‘youth choice’ or ‘youth rebellion’
They may be running from abuse
They may have just needed a break
Having two families who care for them is one way to support them when everyone needs a break
For the FAMILY and FRIENDS of YOUTH EXPERIENCING SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
Don’t be afraid to tell a family their child is in trafficking
The Bio family and/or the Foster Family may
Deny the possibility
Be offended you would believe such a thing about their child/foster child
Be embarrassed they were lied to and didn’t notice
Yes, it will probably end your relationship with them, but…
YOU WILL SAVE A LIFE
Trauma-based training for Foster parents, Foster families, and BIO families is necessary to truly care for children and youth who have experience with sexual exploitation and/or sex trafficking.
Foster Care Sources: Speakers for the Wisdom International community event “The Nexus Between Foster Care and Sex Trafficking,” 2022.01
For more information or for referrals, please contact us at Wisdom International.