Warning signs
Most victims are never identified. Someone has to notice first.
A variety of flags can indicate trafficking, and not every person will present the same ones. No single indicator proves that trafficking is happening. Seeing one or two is not a conclusion. It is a reason to step back and take another look at the situation.
While anyone can be affected, including both United States citizens and foreign nationals, some populations carry disproportionate risk. Three factors drive most of it: a history of abuse and neglect, social disconnection, and social stigma and exclusion.
Understanding how social determinants of health connect to the highest risk populations is how you get better at seeing this. The indicators below are grouped by what you would actually observe: how a person is treated, what shows on them and in their circumstances, and what it looks like in a young person's life.
How a person is treated
Control is the common thread in trafficking. It usually shows in the relationship between a person and whoever is standing next to them.
- Someone else speaks for themA third party insists on being present, answers questions directed at the person, or holds their documents and money.
- Not free to come and goThe person cannot leave a job, a home, or a situation at will, or needs permission for ordinary movement.
- Scripted or rehearsed answersAn inconsistent story, vagueness about where they live or work, or answers that sound coached.
- Fearful, anxious, or submissiveUnusual fear of law enforcement, avoidance of eye contact, or deference that does not fit the setting.
- No identificationNo ID, passport, or documents in their own possession, or a claim that someone else is holding them.
- A debt that never shrinksMoney owed to an employer, recruiter, or partner where the balance grows no matter how much they work.
What shows on them, and in their circumstances
These are the indicators most often seen in emergency departments, clinics, worksites, and hotels.
- Signs of physical harmBruising, burns, untreated injuries, branding tattoos, or injuries the explanation does not fit.
- Poor health or malnourishmentExhaustion, sleep deprivation, untreated chronic conditions, or repeated sexually transmitted infections.
- Living where they workSleeping on site, overcrowded housing, many people in one room, or housing controlled by an employer.
- Excessive hours, little or no payUnusually long hours, no direct payment, or wages that route to someone else.
- Sudden change in money or possessionsA new phone, clothes, nails, or cash with no explanation, especially in a young person.
- An older controlling partnerA significantly older boyfriend or girlfriend, isolation from friends and family, and secrecy about the relationship.
What it looks like in a young person's life
Recruitment of young people usually begins with attention and generosity, not force. Parents, teachers, and coaches are the front line here.
- Chronic running awayRepeated absences, or returning from a runaway episode with new items and no account of where they were.
- A new older friend or partnerSomeone who is generous first and controlling later, often met online.
- Sudden withdrawalPulling away from school, sports, and friends, with grades or attendance falling off sharply.
- A second phone or hidden accountsDevices or accounts they will not let anyone see, or refusal to let a screen be viewed.
- Money they cannot explainTalk of a job, modeling, or a chance to make money that they cannot describe clearly.
- Any minor in commercial sexUnder federal law this is trafficking, with no requirement to prove force, fraud, or coercion.
Before you act
Do not investigate it yourself.
Do not confront a suspected trafficker, attempt a rescue, or tell the person you think they are being trafficked in front of anyone else. Confrontation puts the victim in more danger, not less, and it can end the only chance to reach them.
Do this instead. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. Otherwise call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733, or call Call to Freedom at 605-759-3565. Write down what you observed, when, and where. Let trained responders take it from there.
You do not need to be certain. Sorting that out is our work, not yours.
For parents and caregivers
Recruitment usually starts with someone being kind.
Parent Connections. Our training series for parents, guardians, family members, and support systems.
Grooming rarely looks like danger at the start. It looks like a person who listens, who notices what a young person needs, and who provides it before anyone else does. By the time control appears, the relationship already feels like the most important one in their life.
Most of it now begins on a phone. How grooming, sextortion and online exploitation actually work, and what we teach young people about spotting it.
That is why telling a young person what you suspect, in front of the wrong people or at the wrong moment, so often fails. Call to Freedom publishes A Parent's Guide to Understanding Human Trafficking and Healing Their Children, written with the grandmother of a young woman who was trafficked, and runs the Parent Connections training series throughout the year.
Common questions
What people ask about the signs.
Is one indicator enough to report?
You do not need a pattern and you do not need proof. If something about a situation does not fit, make the call and describe what you saw. Trained responders sort out what it means.
Who is most at risk?
Anyone can be trafficked, including United States citizens and foreign nationals. Three factors raise risk disproportionately: a history of abuse and neglect, social disconnection, and social stigma and exclusion.
Does trafficking always involve moving someone?
No. Trafficking is about force, fraud, or coercion for labor or commercial sex. A person can be trafficked in their own town, in their own home, by someone they know.
Is a minor involved in commercial sex always trafficking?
Yes. Under federal law, any minor involved in commercial sex is a trafficking victim. There is no requirement to prove force, fraud, or coercion.
What if I am wrong?
Then trained responders find that out, and nothing is lost. The cost of staying quiet is much higher than the cost of a call that turns out to be nothing.
You can never say again that you did not know.
You have read the indicators. That is not a small thing, because identification is where every rescue begins and almost nobody is looking. Bring a training to the place where you work and make a whole room of people able to see it.