protecting your child from traffickers

Central Virginia Justice Initiative

Protecting your older children from sex traffickers

You drilled them about stranger danger, but now they're older. While cases of abduction for the purpose of sex trafficking exist, more often a trafficker (pimp) will use the pretense of romance to lure and groom a pre-teen or teen.

The key to their safety is prevention and awareness. Traffickers will hunt online for potential recruits. They'll assume false identities on social media and gaming sites. They'll use personal information shared publically to select a target. Youth who write about their dissatisfactions: parents/guardians, living arrangements, or life, are prime targets. Photos shared publically may prompt a trafficker to respond in the form of a flattering comment, a request for further communication, or a fraudulent job offer. Traffickers will lure a potential recruit. This can be online or face-to-face. It may be a test to see how far the teen will stray. A party invitation might be during school hours or a request to meet up might be after midnight. If the teen responds to the request, the trafficker will take it to the next step. Traffickers will groom their potential recruits. This is the process the trafficker uses to create an emotional attachment, often by initiating a romantic relationship. The trafficker may be older or the same age. Sometimes a peer belongs to a gang and the peer's role is to romance the potential recruit. Sometimes the initial contact with the potential recruit pretends to be a friend, someone previously recruited by the trafficker. A trafficker may give gifts or supply necessities freely, or alcohol and/or drugs to a teen to create a dependency for the purpose of leverage. This leads to the next step. Traffickers will use coercion, emotional manipulation, threats or violence to gain compliance. "Do this or else." It may be a threat to share photos, videos or secrets with friends or parents. It may be emotional manipulation tied to the romantic relationship: "If you love me, you'll do this," or, "I'm in a bind and I need money ASAP and this is how you can help." Shame, threats, fear of or actual violence are tools used by the trafficker to wield power and control. Learn about human trafficking from the experts and share what you learn with your teens. Don't be afraid to share experiences from your own life when you were vulnerable and someone sought to groom, coerce, or emotionally manipulate you. They'll be more apt to be open about their own experiences. Central Virginia Justice Initiative (CVJI) is a faith-based, 501(c)(3) operating since 2014 to fight human trafficking in Fredericksburg and surrounding counties through awareness and education. CVJI is a member of Planning District 16 Human Trafficking Task Force and an advisory member of the Virginia Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Since 2018, CVJI has provided crisis support and case management to adult survivors of human trafficking, transportation to safe housing, emergency supplies-backpacks, and through our partnerships with other non-profits, access to medical, counseling and legal assistance. You can contact us at 1-866620-2889 or JusticeCVA@gmail.com If your pre-teen or teen is or has experienced sexual assault or sex trafficking, contact our community partner Rappahannock Area Council Against Sexual Assault at 540-371-1666 24/7 to talk with someone. Central Virginia Justice Initiative is hosting Fundraiser for Hope at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the Fredericksburg Country Club. See our website events page for more information and a link to register. https://www.centralvajusticeinitiative.com /events

Michele Trampe, Executive Director of Central Virginia Justice Initiative

by kathleen lewis

Kathleen Lewis is the Communications Director of CVJI and a resident of Spotsylvania.

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