Human trafficking is the force, fraud, or coercion of an individual for commercial sex or forced labor in exchange for something of value (money, clothing, food, etc). If a person under the age of 18 is providing commercial sex, they are automatically considered a victim of sex trafficking.
Reset180 Stats
- We have touched the lives of more than 700 victims and survivors
- 98.7% of the survivors we have served are female
- We have served survivors from 7 years old to 66 years old
- 90% of the survivors we have served are U.S. citizens
- The majority of the survivors that we have served have been sex trafficked
- We have visited more than 110 separate illicit massage businesses locations
- We have had 150 grace-filled conversations on sex buyer outreach
- Each day an estimated 558 sex buyers are visiting illicit massage businesses in Fairfax County
- Each victim worker in illicit massage businesses in Fairfax County provide sexual services to 1,200 sex buyers per a year
Common process of human trafficking based on survivors we have served
GROOMING
Traffickers purposely seek out vulnerable individuals that they believe can be easily manipulated. Grooming is the precursor process in which a trafficker gradually gains a person’s trust as they begin to gather information with the intent to exploit them. This takes place on social media and anywhere the individual hangs out, such as shopping malls, bus stops, school, through friends, and more. Every single person has vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
Recruiting
The trafficker begins to isolate the victim and works to fill a need the victim has in their life, creating a dependency between the victim and the trafficker. To do this, they often will buy gifts, provide a feeling of safety, offer a place to sleep, act as a trusted friend, begin a love relationship, or buy them drugs and alcohol. Over time, the victim learns that nothing is for free, and what was offered in kindness is exposed as a scheme to trap them in a life of exploitation.
Trapping
The trafficker begins demanding that all of the “favors” and “gifts” need to be repaid. Gifts are as common as trips to the nail salon, car rides, the safe places they have been offered to sleep, or drugs to numb them out. The victim is controlled and manipulated to provide sexual services as payment. It can begin with requests for illicit images (sexting) that are then used to threaten the victim to provide more. It is not uncommon for a victim to provide sexual services to ten or more customers a night. That adds up to 3,650 rapes per year. If the victim resists, they may be beaten, starved, have their family threatened, and more.
Four most common types of human trafficking according to the work we have done
Pimp
A pimp is a perpetrator seeking to profit from the exploitation of individuals.
Gang
Criminal street gangs engage sex trafficking as a lucrative enterprise while exploiting individuals.
Familial
Familial is the abuse or exploitation of an individual at the hands of someone they are related to.
IMB
Illicit Massage Businesses (IMB’s) are commercial storefronts that exploit individuals while masquerading as a legitimate massage business.
“Understanding our proximity to Washington Dulles International Airport and the fact that human/sex trafficking of children is a $100-million industry in the DC Metropolitan area, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office works closely with Reset180. We also work with our local, state and federal partners to eradicate sex and labor trafficking in Northern Virginia. Reset180 provides critical services to victims of human trafficking in the region and through education and prevention helps combat these horrific crimes.” – Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office
How prostitution and sex trafficking are related.
Is prostitution a choice? Some states are pushing for the full decriminalization of prostitution, however it has been proven that sex trafficking rises significantly in the states and nations that do so. We are in favor of the Nordic (or equality) model that holds the traffickers and sex buyers accountable for their criminal activity, while providing those prostituted with the resources they need.