PRAXIS Journal: Everything you think you know about human trafficking is probably wrong

By Avery Closser

Have you ever been in a rest stop or airport bathroom and noticed a subtle flyer taped to the back of the door that reads: “GET HELP. If you are a victim of human trafficking, call this number”? If you identify as a woman, then your answer is probably yes. If you are a man, you might have a different answer. Victims of human trafficking are often transported along the same trade routes as other commodities, both licit and illicit ones, which is why these hotline numbers are posted along popular travel routes. It may seem unlikely, though, to find a trafficking victim in a rest-stop bathroom. We might wonder, wouldn’t their abductor be more careful than to take them somewhere in public? Or wouldn’t it be obvious to us that they were in trouble? The answer to both questions is no. Human trafficking, or modern slavery as it is often called, is highly pervasive and invisible. It is extremely difficult to detect and monitor, and most traffickers carry on with impunity. Human trafficking awareness campaigns are often trumped by pop culture depictions, like in the 2009 film Taken, which portrays a father, played by Liam Neeson, rescuing his daughter from an international organized crime group attempting to sell her into a sex trafficking ring. Another prominent example is the recent sensational case of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, both of whom were convicted for trafficking minors for sex.  While this case underscores many features of human trafficking, (including proving that women can be responsible for trafficking other women, contrary to popular belief) it is highly unlike the vast majority of trafficking schemes. It is crucial to understand the enormity and complexity of these crimes to begin to conceptualize how to put an end to them.