35 Helpful Tips For Spotting Illegal Activity, As Shared By People Who Fight Against Human Trafficking

Redditor u/PermanentSeeker shared some of the things they found to be the most important that others posted in the thread. "Some of the most helpful responses were in regards to resources; such as where to report child pornography," they said.

"Overall, though, I think a lot of it was just about paying attention to people around us, and being willing to put ourselves out there to ask if things are okay when we notice a strange pattern. I think a lot of people have a natural hesitancy to intrude on other people's lives, but it seems that a lot of the fight against human trafficking revolves around being unafraid to make sure others are safe."

u/PermanentSeeker sees human trafficking as such a complex problem that it's "difficult to know what could really bring a change." However, they believe that having a more ethical, moral society could help decrease trafficking.

"This would hopefully lead to a more vehement response when wrongdoing is discovered, as well as fewer individuals likely to become perpetrators because of better moral or ethical formation," they said.

"How to get to that point in particular? I'm really not sure. Though, it is easier to combat something as a culture when everyone can see its ugliness. Perhaps additional exposure and news coverage would be a good place to start. More people made aware of the things going on in their own neighborhoods."

According to Brooke, from the Tri-County Human Trafficking Task Force, another strategy that can help spread awareness about trafficking—particularly sex trafficking—is to bring to light the connection between pornography and human trafficking. "The porn industry brings in billions of dollars and, ultimately, sex trafficking is forced or coerced commercial sex," she said. You can read more about the connection right here.

There are a lot of misconceptions about what trafficking looks like. Brooke told Bored Panda that many people think that trafficking incidents look like situations from the movie 'Taken' and involve kidnapping or require transporting people. "Both are myths," she said.

"Kidnapping and using physical force/coercion is only one means by which a trafficker can control a victim," she said, referring to the AMP model (Action + Means + Purpose = Human Trafficking). In short, there are different actions and means by which people contribute to the problem, for different purposes.

"In fact, according to a report of prosecuted sex trafficking cases in the U.S., 59% of coercive tactics used by traffickers were non-physical, compared to 41% of tactics involving physical coercion," Brooke said. "Further, transportation is merely one type of action used by a trafficker."

Bored Panda wanted to get Brooke's opinion on whether she believes that human trafficking could be eradicated entirely. "Until the Lord comes, I think evil will always exist in our world. Therefore, if I'm honest, I don't think we will be able to eradicate human trafficking entirely," she was candid that the problem will always persist in some shape or form. The best that we can do is limit its scope as much as possible.

The Charleston area chair of the Tri-County Human Trafficking Task Force explained that one effective thing that society as a whole could do to eradicate sex trafficking is to stop watching pornography. "According to cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, pornography was the 3rd-most common form of sex trafficking, after escort services and elicit massage businesses," she said.

"A key roadblock to eradicating sex trafficking is that porn is so accessible, 'normalized,' and even praised in our society. Technology has exacerbated the growth of sex trafficking," she warned.

Meanwhile, when it comes to eradicating labor trafficking, an effective strategy, according to Brooke, is to "keep abreast of your local HB Visa applicants and do outreach efforts on employment rights in those communities with high numbers of HB visa workers."

She noted that this is "by far most effectively done in a culturally appropriate manner with in-person translators. Further, it should be noted, that stats show that labor trafficking is more prevalent than sex trafficking. The vast majority of human trafficking victims come from vulnerable populations, and of the approximately 24.9 million victims of forced labor, an estimated 4.8 million—about 19%—are trafficked for sex."

Redditor u/sunshineandshrapnel, aka Grace, who was one of the top commentators in the viral thread about trafficking, kindly helped Bored Panda get in touch with Brooke. Grace still volunteers with the Tri-County Human Trafficking Task Force from time to time. She noted that there are some ethical pornography websites out there that "ensure the actors have signed consent forms and verbal consent throughout."

Redditor u/PermanentSeeker’s thread reached a lot of people on Reddit and beyond. The thread was upvoted over 46.7k times and the author received an entire host of awards.

However, the real value was the information in the thread, shared by the people who know a bit (or a whole lot) about how human trafficking works, how to spot someone in need of help, and how to handle delicate situations.

According to the Polaris project, absolutely anyone can become a victim of human trafficking. No matter their age, race, ethnicity, or gender. However, at the same time, it’s vital to know that some people are more vulnerable than others.

“Significant risk factors include recent migration or relocation, substance use, mental health concerns, involvement with the child welfare system, and being a runaway or homeless youth. Often, traffickers identify and leverage their victims’ vulnerabilities in order to create dependency,” Polaris explains.

Human traffickers use a variety of tactics to control their victims. For instance, they can use their power, wealth, privilege, as well as physical and emotional abuse to get what they want. At other times, they threaten their victims, isolate them from their loved ones, and employ economic abuse against them.

“They make promises aimed at addressing the needs of their target in order to impose control. As a result, victims become trapped and fear leaving for myriad reasons, including psychological trauma, shame, emotional attachment, or physical threats to themselves or their family,” Polaris explains.

Psychologist and wellbeing consultant Lee Chambers, from the UK, shared some of his thoughts about traumatic experiences during an earlier interview with Bored Panda.

"Post-traumatic growth isn't always simple to explain or utilize, but often the adversity we face can create a precedent for what we can overcome, help us to see what we need to be grateful for, and give us an understanding of the support we do have,” he said.

“A big part of opening the door to grow from our struggles is finding acceptance and taking ownership over what you can control and finding healthy ways to express the negative emotion that comes with challenges that test us," the psychologist said.

One of the tactics that Lee used to deal with his trauma when he had to relearn how to walk is journaling.

Lee also opened up about what personally helped him when he had to learn to walk again. "Using journaling and talking about how I felt played a significant part in my recovery when I had to learn to walk again, and gave me the space to grow to become mentally stronger as a result. It is also important to reflect on all the hurdles you've overcome, so you can see what skills and lessons you've learned to apply in the future, and adversity often helps us to see what really matters, and gets us closer to knowing our values and purpose."