Human trafficking is among the most misunderstood crimes that affect society today. The root of the misunderstanding is complex and often difficult to counter. Conflicting representations of human trafficking exist on every media platform, whether it’s a movie depicting glamorized versions of victims or the latest TikTok that presents human trafficking as solely a kidnap or abduction scenario, both the public and law enforcement officers have a lot of information (factual and inaccurate) to sift through in order to form a fact-based, well-informed opinion. Add to that the fact that at a patrol level, officers are constantly moving from call to call, responding to in-the-moment needs and concerns. It’s no wonder that despite the fact that almost every police officer has had some sort of training on what human trafficking is, they are still not seeing it, even when officers come face-to-face with potential victims or offenders. Officers are problem solvers, and, in the case of human trafficking investigations, the lack of knowledge on what to do to “solve the problem” stymies not only police response, but officers’ ability to correctly recognize it. Not knowing how to effectively solve the problem creates a cycle of inaction. And while the misrepresentations of human trafficking in the media are plentiful, the information on how to solve or even tackle a human trafficking investigation is scarce.

In 2000, the U.S. Federal Government passed anti-human trafficking laws, seeking to help eliminate human trafficking by defining the crime to include the use of force, fraud, or coercion to make victims perform sex acts or various types of forced labor and servitude. Since then, individual states have implemented their own anti-human trafficking laws, some of which are better than others, so that law enforcement could effectively target the criminals committing these acts. But 2000 was a long time ago, and things have changed. Although traffickers still use and rely on street-based transactions to move their product (human beings), the predominant platform, at least for sex trafficking, has become overwhelmingly digital.

According to a survey published in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Justice, 75 percent of local police departments have less than the equivalent of 25 full-time police officers.¹ Cities like Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; and Chicago, Illinois, just to name a few, where the number of sworn officers are in the thousands, have had a decent handle on how to go about initiating human trafficking investigations for some time. They have the staffing to dedicate entire units to the crime. Not that these agencies couldn’t use more people—the United States’ shortage of police officers is an entirely different and problematic subject—but, in general, departments with more officers at least have the most basic tool (personnel) to investigate human trafficking. But what about the 75 percent that have less than 25 officers? How can departments with limited staff even begin to investigate a complex and cross-border crime like human trafficking?

Challenge 1: Digital Trafficking Evolution

All officers, regardless of jurisdiction, know about prostitution—a sex worker gets caught and the police try to get her to flip on her pimp who also happens to be a drug dealer. The part about how pimps abuse their victims was not part of the equation. Prostitution was a crime, and one where many investigators had the moral mentality to either subconsciously or consciously demonize the victim. That’s not to say that the police ever wanted to have a skewed sense of the crime or victims, but prostitution was (and is) a crime in the United States, and there are no connotations of a typical “prostitute” that would elicit empathy or understanding. The mindset was that the prostitute was the criminal and the only crime worth acknowledging was the accompanying drug trafficking that the prostitute would have some knowledge of. Not to mention, many U.S. states didn’t pass anti-human trafficking laws until many years after the federal government.

Enter Backpage. For those unfamiliar, Backpage was an internet-based platform where sex buyers could browse and search for their next victim. Back in the days of Backpage, traffickers could post pictures of their “product” and wait for a buyer to reach out. The helpful part for investigators was that the site was completely open—there was no requirement to register with an email, pay for a subscription, or prove the user was not a police officer by tracking postings and usage. On one hand, investigators could search for any posting in their area and be able to identify victims by matching the photos in a posting to anyone known or encountered in the area. Through a series of lawsuits and investigations, Backpage, along with other similar sites, were eventually shut down. In the wake of the shutdown of these sites arose sites far more difficult for investigators to maneuver. Today, many sites require user verification, and this presents new difficulties for law enforcement. Many sites also require credit cards on file to make it past the homepage, and many have the technology to exclude any prepaid cards. Some platforms require a multiple-step verification process. Many are invite-only. Large-scale brothel and massage parlor operations require anyone interested in their “services” to fill out an application that includes a background check and photo ID. The element that allowed investigators to initiate sex trafficking investigations has been hugely impacted by an ever-evolving sea of apps and platforms.

Challenge 2: Inaccurate Portrayals of Trafficking

In addition to the constantly changing array of apps hindering investigations, the police have to combat years of inaccurate media portrayals. The media’s output on human trafficking has been, at best, a double-edged sword. It has provided the public with both the information on the crime and, at the same time, the means to commit it. It has provided investigators with a tool for solving the crime and, at the same time, the red tape and scope often stop any potential investigation before it begins.

Most people have grown up with a socialized idea of what a prostitute is and what a pimp is. Think hard on those two labels and what comes to mind? Is it a drug-addicted woman, who runs the streets and willingly engages in sex for money? Is she lazy with loose morals or a criminal? Is she just as bad as the dealers she buys from? What if she’s underage? Was she raised wrong or just a “bad” kid? Is she worthy of our time and empathy? “She” is who most people commonly associate with being a prostitute—but not all victims of human trafficking identify as female. What about the pimp? Is he a criminal too or is he a gregarious person who always has lots of money and women and respect? The perception of human trafficking victims, perpetrators, and the crime itself in the media has not evolved to accurately reflect the reality of the crime. It’s typical for a victim to be shown as a tall, attractive, eastern European woman who could easily be a professional model. She’s being controlled by a seedy, foreign trafficker, who has a large, lucrative sex trafficking business, and is known for his violence. Law enforcement of some type, whether local or federal, gets involved and arrests or kills the trafficker and his associates. In the mix, said trafficking victim may or may not have a questionable relationship with a law enforcement officer who just wants to “rescue” her. Sound familiar? It’s the story line of every typical show or movie about sex trafficking.

The issue with these portrayals of human trafficking victims and perpetrators is that they run counter to the true nature of victimization, perpetrators, and the crime. This misinformation helps traffickers to continue to hurt victims by creating a false understanding of the crime among the public. The public plays a huge role in the identification and reporting of suspected human trafficking. Investigators rely on an informed public to say something if they suspect a crime is occurring or has occurred; however, if the public is looking for the stereotypical victim from any given cop show or the scary trafficker in the latest action blockbuster, they will miss the criminals operating in their own towns and the victims suffering in plain sight. The reality is that victims of sex trafficking in the United States come from all over, including small towns and large cities. They are of every gender, race, class, religion, and ethnicity.

Overcoming the Challenges

Taking on the Digital Marketplace

While officers have an open door to troll any app to understand the basic functionality of it, so do the traffickers. It’s a hard concept to fully grasp, but traffickers have had access to nearly every household in the United States. The applications on individuals’ phones have provided traffickers with an easy, seemingly anonymous tool to recruit new victims. And, while responsible parents monitor their children’s use of applications, keep in mind it’s not just Instagram and Snapchat that traffickers use—the police would have a much better handle of the crime if the applications were so limited—any application that allows the user to interact with another user is a springboard for traffickers. There are also innumerable dating apps, making the playing field for traffickers far and wide, and making the scope for investigators, at first glance, completely overwhelming. Keep in mind, traffickers aren’t presenting themselves as people that are looking to victimize someone. They exploit other people’s need for connection as a means to draw in, groom, and isolate their victims.

Keep in mind, traffickers aren’t presenting themselves as people that are looking to victimize someone. They exploit other people’s need for connection.

Along with the availability numerous digital trafficking platforms has come the incredibly lucrative business of “content providing.” With content providing, buyers can pay for whatever their hearts desire by means of an internet-based site or app. Sites like OnlyFans have become billion-dollar entities that provide the platform for “content providers” to share their material, as well as a marketplace for buyers to get their product. Although there are many providers on OnlyFans and other platforms like it who freely choose to provide content, there is a false perception idea that it’s not victimizing anyone because it’s solely internet-based and, there is no actual physical contact between the provider and buyer. Traffickers post their victims on these sites the same as any other available platform. The dynamic between trafficker and victim isn’t lessened simply because there is no specific expressed intent by the platform itself to be the connection between buyer and victim. Victims are no less exploited on these sites than on any other.

Police play an important role in providing balance for the assumption that content providing doesn’t aid in victimization. School resource officers, by nature of the job they do, tend to have a good grasp on the latest trending social media apps. Having officers informed on social media apps, in a world where so many of youths’ dream jobs are to be professional “influencers,” is invaluable. The best part, especially for smaller departments or those that don’t have the money to send their officers to digital forensic classes, is that many of the apps are free to join and most content providers will use more than one platform.

Spreading Truth

It’s easy when looking at the misrepresentations and an endless array of social media apps for officers to become discouraged when conducting human trafficking investigations. Like many other social issues throughout history, the lack of proper understanding can have serious consequences and the depiction of the people involved in the crime can both inspire society to force action and change as well as invoke an attitude of blame and disinterest. Remember, though, the police can use the media too. Almost every department uses some form of social media. Agencies can make posts informing the public about trafficking via social media as a part of their monthly, weekly, or even daily round of information sharing. Reposting human trafficking arrests from other towns and jurisdictions or sharing informative videos that the attorney general’s office has on their website is a good start. Police agencies can create posts using information from the Polaris Project or the Blue Campaign or reach out to any local nonprofit anti-human trafficking group and offer to host or send an officer to their next meeting. Sharing how the police work with others to combat human trafficking is key to generating more leads and information.

The more the public can see the police take action to help victims of human trafficking, the more apt they consciously work to become more cognizant of the problem. And just as people have been inculcated around false images and portrayals in the media surrounding prostitutes, victims, pimp, traffickers, johns, and buyers, a routine effort from local police departments to put out correct information about human trafficking will help to re-educate the communities to adopt a more accurate frame of reference.

Another angle of the media influence and society’s misinformation relates to a key root of sex trafficking: the buyers. The demand for commercial sex, in this context meaning the sex (in person and digital) that one can purchase through a multitude of different means, is largely responsible for the supply. People have grown accustomed to being able to get whatever they want—including sex. Sex is just a click away. The amount of pornography readily available dulls the moral quandary that should be present when thinking about buying sex. Its availability has also created issues for today’s children, providing them with a false sense of what is normal and expected. Sex is natural and nothing to be ashamed of; however, in no uncertain terms, it should be freely entered into by all parties involved, without threat, coercion, violence, or fear.

One Case at a Time

For the average member of the public, learning about the truths of human trafficking and how that information is handled by society can lead them to have better informed discussions and make more conscious decisions on how and what they consume.

For the investigator tackling human trafficking, one practical tip is don’t solve it all. Instead, focus on one case at a time. They cannot be afraid to “get their hands dirty” delving into social media and internet sites—the internet won’t break.

Police agencies must learn to use social media to their advantage to educate the public and teach them what indicators to look for, which will, in turn, lead to tips for investigators. Investigators can start out simple when drawing in public input— for example, pick a known location in town or a suspected trafficker and reach out to any of the locals suspected to be engaging in trading sex for things of value and start a dialogue. The things people will share when asked are amazing. Investigators can seek these parties’ guidance on how to identify victims moving forward.

To identify past or current victims, investigators can do a deep dive into any missing or previously missing juvenile cases and find out where they were and to whom they were talking. They all have social media, and the police can subpoena and search the records without the need for the juveniles to disclose. It can also help to troll the sex websites and see who is advertising in the community.

If an investigator or team is still uncertain on where to begin, reach out to another law enforcement officer with some experience in it. They may be several towns or cities away, but they are out there. Something as simple as setting up a John sting using one of the many internet-based sites out there can help to reinvigorate the most senior officer, as well as show the community the need for more action It’s not possible to erase all to negative stereotypes about human trafficking in the media or make any of the social media platforms less likely to be used by traffickers, but the police can use the same media and applications to offer factual information about human trafficking and provide balance.

The police cannot solve all human trafficking, but they can dig in, one case at a time, and begin to build investigative practices that will lead to cases, and investigating those cases will positively impact their communities. The problem with accepting that the scope of human trafficking is so wide and overwhelming is that it leads to people feeling that they cannot have any effect on it and therefore, subconsciously or consciously, officers don’t begin to investigate. Nothing will ever get done without an investigator driving the information. They may not solve all human trafficking, but rather, their own misconception that they can’t effect positive change against it. The police and the public need to meet the traffickers and buyers on their court, with the same fervor as they seek to victimize, and seek to uncover this oft-missed crime, one case at a time. d

Note:

¹Shelley S. Hyland and Elizabeth Davis, Local Police Departments, 2016: Personnel (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2019).

Please cite as

Catarina Parache, “Human Trafficking and the Media: The Dual Challenges of Misinformation and Social Media,” Police Chief Online, July 26, 2023.