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A report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2012 estimated that men accounted for 25 percent of trafficking victims globally. Further, the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons estimated that 27 percent of all victims detected globally were children, and that of those, one in three were boys.
Experts admit that real numbers can be much higher because many male victims are unwilling to speak out, silenced by fear and common stereotypes like “men supposed to be strong.” Often the focus on male victims is in the context of labor trafficking, but they’re also sex trafficked.
Youth advocates say that many male youth victims who identify as gay, trans, or otherwise queer are more vulnerable to exploitation. People tasked with protecting them often don’t see they need help. According to a 2017 HHS report focused on enhancing the identification of trafficking victims, of those victims who self-identified and self-reported, 14% identified as LGBTQ+.
In many states, there are no programs or shelters focused on helping exploited males, and local government agencies often don’t know the scale of the problem. We know thousands of male trafficking victims face the same trauma and exploitation as females but could be largely overlooked. Learn more about the first shelter in the United States that will house sexually abused men between the ages of 18-24.
Collective Liberty teamed up with the Jefferson County DA’s Office to present our Advanced Human Trafficking Institute in Beaumont, Texas, to local and federal law enforcement from the Beaumont area and members of the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force.
Collective Liberty CEO Rochelle Keyhan, ADA Kim Duchamp, Detective Chuck Duchamp, and Detective Joseph Scaramucci discussed law enforcement and prosecutorial best practices to ensure that quality cases are built against traffickers without the need to arrest victims, holding the proper people accountable.
The use of technology and data from partners like ShadowDragon and Kaseware and our proprietary data, OSINT, SOCMINT, was emphasized and utilized to target traffickers and build intelligence to target traffickers. Officers and agents left with the resources and knowledge to effectively combat human trafficking.Learn More >>
Trafficking Indicators in Amazon warehouses:
Thomson Reuters reporters talked to more than a dozen former workers in Amazon warehouses in Mexico. They found that many had to work overtime beyond legal limits while others were let go without severance, forced to resign, or laid off after falling ill with COVID-19. Most recently, New York Times reported similar workers’ exploitation cases in Amazon warehouses in New York: “Amazon’s model for managing people — heavily reliant on metrics, apps, and chatbots — was uneven and strained even before the coronavirus arrived. Amid the pandemic, Amazon’s system burned through workers, resulted in inadvertent firings and stalled benefits, and impeded communication, casting a shadow over a business success story for the ages”.
We know the lack of concern for the human cost to our supply chains is vast, but it is not limited to Amazon. Labor exploitation dates back decades in various US industries, including meatpacking, agriculture, and garment factories. Watch our Facebook Live and learn more about how this happens and what we should do to change the systems!
2 individuals found dead at Costa Mesa massage parlor, in a strip mall with a rocky past It comes as no surprise that an establishment with a history of investigations and multiple legal actions would have suspected human trafficking, and now, tragically, the site where two bodies have been found. To create lasting change, it is necessary for various systems, including code and criminal sectors, to work together, close illicit businesses, and support potential victims. Los Angeles has been the main port of entry for trafficking victims of illicit massage businesses for years which is why we have worked with LA’s sheriff department, local service providers, and policymakers to share critical best practices, including the importance of collaboration amongst relevant players in a region to stop tragedies like this.
Potential victims arrested in Rhode Island: 11 in custody after police raid 6 massage parlors in prostitution sting We cannot arrest potential victims and then expect their cooperation in criminal cases. These arrests also limit survivors’ options; these victims often cannot obtain housing, livable wages, and other basic needs with arrests and convictions on their records.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled in a Houston case that Facebook is not a “lawless no-man’s-land” and can be held liable for the conduct of pimps who use its technology to recruit and prey on children. According to a 2020 report by the Human Trafficking Institute, more than half of all online victim recruitments in sex trafficking cases that occurred in 2020 took place on Facebook, “making it by far the most frequently referenced website or app in public sources connected with these prosecutions, which was also true in 2019,” the report found.
Sign up for our bi-weekly Human Trafficking Newsletter to stay informed about the latest in the fight against trafficking. It covers local and national human trafficking news, including arrests of traffickers, illicit massage parlor cases, and rings the alarms on victims’ arrests. We keep you informed on what is going on across the country and give you insight on best practices in each case.Learn More >>
