5 key signs to spot a human trafficking victim

“You have to understand something, three years ago I was a suburban housewife with three children living a normal life.”

That’s what a woman in her mid-40s told me as she exited the aircraft. We had just flown her halfway across the country to remove her from a human trafficking ring.

Since 2021, when I founded a non-profit air transport that rescues trafficking victims free of charge, I have been astonished by the horrors of human trafficking. Trafficking occurs every day in just about every city in America. It is no longer just a crime that happens overseas. It is all around us in cities of all sizes in the U.S. Rather than being kidnapped, most survivors of trafficking are manipulated by traffickers into exploitative situations through psychological threats, tricks, and defrauding. Most survivors also knew their traffickers — whether as a romantic partner, a family member, or an acquaintance.

Wherever I speak to groups to bring awareness to human trafficking, I educate them on the dire statistics here in our own backyards. For traffickers, each human life — man, woman, boy, girl — is about a $200,000-a-year commodity. Victims are raped between eight and 12 times per day. That’s the price of bondage in the U.S.

Because of the knowledge I have about human trafficking, I am hyper alert when I’m in public. One afternoon, I was taking out the garbage, and as I walked down the driveway, I noticed a pickup truck parked in the street right outside my house. It was a decked out F350 and inside was a hefty older man and a young 16–17-year-old girl. Her makeup was excessive, and she had a suitcase on her lap. The man was texting on the phone. I pretended not to notice them as I pulled the garbage cans out to the front of the house. Once back inside my house, I called 911, and they sent a patrol car, but the guy had already left. The cops had already been searching for that man up and down the main street of that area, but were unable to find him.

Regular people going about their daily routines may not notice the tell-tale signs of human trafficking. In addition to physically rescuing victims from these appalling traffickers, my mission is also to bring awareness to people who may not know that a victim is right in front of them.

With that in mind, I want to share some signs that may point to a human trafficking situation:

Physical injuries

Bruises, burns, or scars can be signs of a potential trafficking situation. Traffickers often leave visible marks of abuse since they typically use force to control their victims. Injuries tend to be left untreated because seeking medical care could risk them getting caught.

Malnutrition and Poor Hygiene

Physical signs like extreme thinness, dry skin, or brittle hair can be red flags for human trafficking. Victims may be sick often, display visible injuries, or be constantly tired. They may have sunken cheeks or a frail appearance. Traffickers prevent victims from easy access to food or medical care. Victims may have dirty clothing, poor hygiene, or just an overall look of being disheveled.

No identification

Identification documents such as passports or driver’s licenses will be confiscated by a victim’s trafficker to prevent them from escaping. As we began partnering with rescue organizations, I quickly realized that transportation was the missing link in their recovery scenarios. When trafficking survivors are recovered, they need to be taken to a safe house far away from where the trafficking took place. For their safety and security, they need to be placed in a completely new environment.

Trafficking survivors usually are off the grid at a very early age. They don’t have any identification, which makes commercial travel impossible; they don’t have any family to help them, and they don’t have financial resources. Survivors often have no belongings with them, just the clothes that they are wearing. For every survivor we transport, we create a backpack with new clothes, toiletries, and other necessary items, a journal, a Bible, a deck of scripture cards, and a letter written by one of our prayer team members to the survivor. Usually, the backpack is the first thing that survivors can call their own in quite a while.

Unusual fear of authorities and other people

Most victims will keep their distance from authority figures. They may refuse to look at law enforcement, medical professionals, or service providers due to scare tactics from traffickers. If an individual appears to be confused about simple details like what day it is or addresses, it could mean they are in immediate danger and need your help to intervene. Human trafficking victims are usually controlled by one individual who is often referred to as their “manager.” This individual may appear to be a romantic partner or employer as a front, but behind the scenes, they are using threats or force to maintain control. Their victims are constantly monitored, and the “manager” is in charge of dictating their every movement, their communications, as well as their personal decisions. Victims will generally not speak independently or may entirely avoid answering questions directly.

Tattoos

Branding victims with tattoos is one method that sex traffickers use to identify an individual as their property. These marks may be names, symbols, barcodes, or phrases like “Owned By” to display ownership and make it harder for victims to escape or hide. The neck, wrists, or chest are common areas where you may see these tattoos since they are highly visible. These branding marks are meant to deter others from interfering with the victim’s exploitation.

If you see two or more of these signs, the best thing to do is call 911. Do not attempt to confront, take photos, or get involved, especially if the individual is accompanied by an older person or suspicious person. Traffickers are armed and very dangerous. The victims are their “property,” and they will fight to retain them. There is also a Human Trafficking hotline, but it is only operational during the week. While they are a good resource, they are not law enforcement. Call 911 and describe the situation. They will know what to do.

There is an Auschwitz-level trauma that happens to children and young people who are human trafficking victims, if they survive at all. I have heard shocking stories that are simply hard to believe, such as parents pouring acid on their children’s bodies because they snitched their parents out to the police, or several teenagers being thrown into a retaining pond and executed in the middle of the night. These gruesome crimes are happening all around us.

It was a simple presentation during a Bible study that first made me aware of the scourge of human trafficking. And I felt God clearly tell me that night to get involved in this fight. Since then, I have watched Him work miracle after miracle to get our rescue mission up and running.

God’s wrath is coming for these heinous criminals. Proverbs 16:4 plays through my mind when I hear the background stories of these precious children: “The Lord works out everything to its proper end — even the wicked for a day of disaster.” He will, and is, actively avenging these little ones. But He needs all of us to be watchful, praying that our eyes are open to the victims who may be having coffee just two tables away.