By Alexandra Sullivan, Contributing Writer

2021 is a new year, and we’ve advanced many areas in the prevention of human trafficking in the United States, yet a long road is before us. There is still so much we can do to stop these atrocities. 

The first topic that comes to mind is the shocking amount of interstate sex trafficking of minors — up to 199,000 cases in the U.S. every year. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states, “In 2013, the Administration for Children and Families reviewed statistics from several studies and found that up to 90 percent of children who were victims of sex trafficking had been involved with child welfare services, which include foster care.” Another horrifying fact from the National Foster Youth Institute: The average victim entering the sex trade is a female around 12 years old, and many children aren’t recovered until they’re 14. The fact that these crimes are happening within a system that was created to protect children is abhorrent.

One key component is supply and demand, and the United States is in the lead. The means of human trafficking are made up of three things: cheap labor, low prosecution and the fact that sex sells. Thankfully, through social and mainstream media, these crimes have gradually been exposed, such as the case of sex trafficking by Jeffrey Epstein. Through the education of human trafficking for would-be victims, such as what signs to look out for and the lies these criminals will promise them, we can help reduce their supply and demand. 

Though social media and other sites have assisted in the exposure of human trafficking cases, the internet is also an accomplice to predators. The dark web is a modern method that many traffickers use to lure their victims. It allows users to hide their identification using programs like Onion Router and Tor. While the dark web is not bad in and of itself, it is home to 57% of criminal activities, such as human trafficking, illegal drug sales and other illicit activity. The most common of these crimes are child trafficking and the spread of child pornography, especially in the United States. [Editor’s note: For more information about the dark web and its role in human trafficking, look for our blog on the topic being published in mid-March.]

Many international victims are enticed to the U.S. not just through the dark web, but through sites like Backpage and Craigslist. They are smuggled here and taken to “safe houses,” where they are forced into slave labor, prostitution and other illegal activities. With human traffickers using more advanced methods, we must be more careful in our web browsing and advise others to do the same. 

One last thing we can improve during 2021 is research into human trafficking prevention and assistance programs. Such research helps early intervention of potential victims, the psychology to assist existing victims and educate those who wish to end human trafficking. There have been positive causes due to anti-trafficking efforts, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Also, schools such as William James College have dedicated themselves to spreading awareness of the need for specialized health and social services for human trafficking recovery. We must look to their example and further push for services that help human trafficking victims. 

Resources and Further Reading

States' prevention of child sex trafficking in foster care

Sex and human trafficking in the U.S. disproportionately affect foster youth