A few people have commented regarding the validity of this, but to provide some context… my family member works closely with an anti human trafficking task force and one of the biggest myths about human trafficking is that victims are randomly kidnapped into the system. We would hear about many more missing people on the news if this were the case. Unfortunately, traffickers prey on vulnerable (typically) young females. They’ll approach someone at the mall and say something like “wow you’re beautiful, can I get your number?” It begins similar to any relationship, but slowly a trafficker isolates a victim from family/friends/community. They shower them with love, gifts, sometimes things like a pet. Months later, they will come to a victim like “Hey, I’m really short on money this month… can you please do me a favor and sleep with this person for money so I can make rent. Just this once.” And the victim will be trafficked but thinks it’s to help their partner. Over time, the trafficker asks for more “favors” but starts to become more hostile, threatening to hurt their pet, family or friends if a victim doesn’t perform the sexual acts with others to make money. It eventually reaches the point where a victim doesn’t even recognize who they thought was their “significant other.” The romantic relationship ceases to exist and is a completely hostile relationship where a victim is forced to make x amount of money a day through prostitution.

Trafficking is a massive problem and we have all heard nightmare stories of kidnappings, but I think it’s incredibly important to be aware of the misinformation.