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IF YOU ARE BEING VICTIMIZED, WHAT CAN YOU DO? WHERE CAN YOU GET HELP?

If you are in immediate danger, call 911. 

Reach out to the human trafficking advocate in the Kosciusko County Sheriff's department at 574.265.2249.

Contact Beloved: Not Forgotten at 574.265.7966, you can call, text, or communicate via email by reaching out to [email protected].

 

 

 

ARE YOU BEING VICTIMIZED?

  • Are you afraid of your boyfriend/girlfriend?
  • Does your partner make you cry often? Does he/she bully you?
  • Does your partner threaten to leave if you don't listen?
  • Does your partner try to control you and your actions? Do they control your schedule and activities?
  • Do they try to keep you away from friends and family?
  • Is he/she violent towards you? Hits you or hurts you in other ways?
  • Does he/she pressure you to do things that make you feel uncomfortable/uneasy?
  • Does your partner lose his/her temper easily, act jealous or possessive?
  • Is your partner sexually demanding? Pressure you to perform sex acts that are uncomfortable for you or hurt you?
  • Do they always blame you?
  • Do they embarrass you in front of friend and family?
  • Does your partner talk down to you and make fun of you?
  • Are they always "checking up" on you?

Information taken from: A PREVENTATIVE APPROACH TO RAISING AWARENESS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING WWW.JENNATWAR.COM

 

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RISK FACTORS

Persons trafficked for sex have generally experienced trauma at an earlier age that contributes to their vulnerability. The most prevalent risk factors for sex trafficking victims generally, and sex-trafficked youth particularly include:

  • Family backgrounds strife with violence, neglect, substance abuse, or conflict
  • Desperation due to poverty, unemployment, underemployment, or homelessness
  • Chronic runaways
  • Involvement with child welfare system
  • A need to be loved or feel a sense of belonging
  • Access to the internet

Any number of these risk factors combined increases the risk of a person being sex trafficked. All youth are vulnerable, but youth who are frequent or chronic runaways are particularly vulnerable. In fact, a frequent runaway youth may experience all of these risk factors: homelessness and poverty while surviving outside the home; violent/abusive family background; involvement with the child welfare system—often the circumstances that caused them to be frequent runaways.1

[1] Information taken from the Office of Indiana Attorney General’s Office, The 2016 Indiana State Report on Human Trafficking.

 

KEY INDICATORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Recognizing key indicators of human trafficking is the first step in identifying victims and can help save a life. Here are some common indicators to help recognize human trafficking:

  • Does the person appear disconnected from family, friends, community organizations, or houses of worship?
  • Has a child stopped attending school?
  • Has the person had a sudden or dramatic change in behavior?
  • Is a juvenile engaged in commercial sex acts?
  • Is the person disoriented or confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?
  • Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?
  • Is the person fearful, timid, or submissive?
  • Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep, or medical care?
  • Is the person often in the company of someone to whom he or she defers? Or someone who seems to be in control of the situation, e.g., where they go or who they talk to?
  • Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?
  • Is the person living in unsuitable conditions?
  • Does the person lack personal possessions and appear not to have a stable living situation?
  • Does the person have freedom of movement? Can the person freely leave where they live? Are there unreasonable security measures?

Not all indicators listed above are present in every human trafficking situation, and the presence or absence of any of the indicators is not necessarily proof of human trafficking.