To ensure congregate care supports rather than derails healing, programs must prioritize flexibility, individual dignity, and mutual trust. How these spaces are set up can either deepen a survivor’s sense of safety or reinforce the dynamics of control they are trying to leave behind.

The Limits of Congregate Care

Residential models for trafficking recovery care are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Healing is not a linear process, and it certainly is not universally experienced. For some survivors, the presence of others in close quarters provides comfort, a sense of belonging due to shared experiences, and daily support. For others, being constantly surrounded by people, especially strangers, can feel overwhelming, or even triggering. Many survivors are able to navigate their own healing journey without participating in structured residential care programs, especially when they are able to access external resources in their own community.

Programs that offer non-residential options, such as scattered-site housing and transitional access to therapeutic care, avoid these damaging assumptions that all survivors need or want communal living. When survivors are given the opportunity to choose how and where they heal, it opens doors for meaningful engagement in systems of care. A survivor’s participation in trafficking recovery care should affirm their agency and ability to make good decisions, not another space where control is removed.

Centering Survivor Perspectives

Many congregate care programs are designed by leadership and staff who do not live in them or have lived experience with human trafficking. Even with the best intentions, this distance from the survivors’ reality can result in care environments that feel overly structured, inflexible, or disconnected from their needs. Survivors are often expected to adapt to systems that were not designed for their real needs for support, leaving them feeling dismissed or disempowered when their experience in the program doesn’t align with what program staff believe is best for them.

Programs thrive when survivors are invited into the design, which is often best accomplished by including survivor leaders in the development process. This means not only listening to their feedback on current practices but also allowing their expertise to shape policies, routines, and expectations. Survivor-informed environments are more adaptive, more respectful, and ultimately more effective. Centering the voices of survivor leaders communicates to survivors entering the program that they can and should be active participants in their own healing journeys.

Making Structure Work

Clear programmatic structure is often considered a key element of trauma-informed care, and when implemented thoughtfully, it can be highly impactful for survivors as they build stability. Survivors can benefit greatly from predictable routines and straightforward expectations, especially as they move out of survival mode and the chaos of trafficking situations. However, structure alone is not enough to create safety. When rules are rigid, unexplained, or inflexible for personal needs, they can result in control rather than support.

After a trafficking experience, survivors are constantly evaluating whether they can trust their environment and whether their needs are going to be acknowledged and met. A primary question for many survivors is whether they are free to say no at all. In these circumstances, effective structure in trafficking recovery programs must balance consistency with individual autonomy, making sure that survivors feel supported while helping them establish helpful rhythms and stability. These programs create space for the setbacks inevitable in non-linear healing and are responsive to the evolving needs of survivors over their time in the program.

Supporting the Whole Person

Trafficking survivors bring their full selves into congregate care settings — their sense of identity, personal history, cultural backgrounds, family roles, and spiritual beliefs. For these programs to be truly supportive, they must do more than treat the symptoms of trauma and meet survivors’ basic needs. They must create space for the complexity of each individual survivor. Healing happens most effectively in environments where survivors are seen not only as people who have experienced harm, but also as parents, community members, and cultural individuals with deep personal identities.

• Parenting Support

Many trafficking survivors are also parents, but few congregate care models are designed to accommodate their children or pregnancy. Survivors are often forced to choose between receiving critical services or remaining with their kids — an impossible decision that undermines both healing and family stability.

To address this gap, congregate care programs should:

• Include parenting resources in their core services, such as access to childcare, parenting education, and trauma-informed supports specific to the needs of mothers and children.
• Offer housing options that support family living.
• Train staff to respond to the needs of both survivors and their children, with special attention to the ways trauma can affect parenting, attachment, and child development.
• Develop policies that support, rather than penalize, the additional pressures and complexity of parenting as a trafficking survivor.

• Cultural Inclusion

Inclusion also extends to cultural identity. When programs fail to reflect the racial, cultural, or ethnic diversity of the survivors they serve, it sends an implicit message about who belongs. This can be as subtle as not providing appropriate hair or skin care, or as obvious as being the only person of their background in the program or on staff.

Care that affirms cultural identity should include:

• Representation in staffing and leadership whenever possible, which helps survivors feel understood and welcome in the program.
• Access to culturally appropriate food, hygiene items, and language support.
• Respect for diverse family structures and customs, allowing for flexibility in routines, celebrations, and communication styles that vary across cultures.
• Program content that respects multiple cultural perspectives, such as materials, media, and activities that are not rooted in a single cultural narrative.
• Willingness to adapt and learn, recognizing that no program can be perfectly representative but all can be teachable and responsive.

• Faith & Spiritual Autonomy

Many congregate care programs have foundations in certain religions or faith traditions. For some survivors, spirituality is a vital part of their healing. For others, especially those who experienced spiritual abuse or manipulation during exploitation, faith may be a source of pain or distrust.

Programs can support spiritual healing without coercion by:

• Always making faith-based activities optional, ensuring that participation is never a condition for receiving services or progressing in the program
• Creating space for exploration, questions, or distance from religion.
• Respecting each survivor’s personal beliefs without pressure to conform, including those with no religious beliefs or those practicing less-represented faiths.
• Equipping staff to navigate spiritual care with humility, including recognizing the difference between offering support and imposing belief.
• Providing access to spiritual or cultural leaders when requested.

Building Lasting Healing

Congregate care can play a meaningful role in a survivor’s healing journey, but its true success lies in how well it prepares survivors for long-term independence. Programs should build toward this from the start by teaching practical skills, increasing autonomy, and offering continued support after exit. When programs center survivor voices and foster trust, they create more than temporary shelter. They offer a foundation where survivors can build stability, reclaim identity, and move forward with confidence.

To learn more about survivor experiences in congregate care, watch Safe House Project’s webinar Inside the Experience: Understanding Life in Congregate Care Settings.

<p>The post Inside Congregate Care for Human Trafficking Survivors first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

Leadership shapes how staff interact with survivors, how teams function under pressure, and whether programs provide consistency or chaos. In trauma-informed spaces, the tone set by leadership often determines how safe a survivor feels and how well staff are able to function in their roles over time. Trust is built not only through compassionate direct care but also through the systems that support it. When leaders operate with clarity and accountability, they build organizations where both staff and survivors can thrive.

Why Leadership Matters in Survivor Care

After experiencing betrayal and misuse of authority in exploitation, many trafficking survivors pay close attention to the power dynamics of the spaces they enter. Their ability to heal often depends on whether their environment feels safe, predictable, and support.

Organizational leadership plays a direct role in creating those spaces. Programs where leaders are disengaged or inconsistent risk mirroring the instability that survivors experienced during trafficking. In contrast, programs led by people who are intentionally present and supportive create a different dynamic, one marked by mutual respect and trust.

Effective leadership:

• Sets the emotional tone for staff teams
• Creates operational consistency that survivors can rely on
• Builds trust by following through on commitments
• Helps staff feel equipped and empowered

Additionally, trusted leadership must shift the focus from controlling outcomes or being the spotlight; rather, its defining characteristic should be about how leaders show up and create space for their team to succeed.

Trusted leaders:

• Are present and proactive, especially in moments of stress or conflict
• Listen to their team’s concerns without defensiveness
• Follow through on their promises and expectations
• Share power rather than make decisions alone
• Model accountability when mistakes are made

This level of integrity in leadership is strongly felt through organizations. Staff know that they can trust their leaders to support them, and that sense of trust spreads outward to the survivors in their care.

Creating Consistent Support Structures for Staff

Direct service anti-trafficking staff are regularly exposed to complex trauma, moments of crisis, and high emotional intensity. This work is meaningful, but also exhausting. Without adequate support from leadership, even the most dedicated and qualified staff will burn out.

Leaders can help mitigate this by:

• Creating a regular check-in schedule outside of performance evaluations
• Encouraging meaningful rest practices and healthy boundaries
• Responding early to signs of burnout or overwhelm
• Providing supervision that is both practical and emotionally supportive
• Creating room for feedback, reflection, and innovation

When staff feel supported, they are more likely to be able to adjust their work practices to protect their well-being and remain effective in their role in the long term.

Building Consistency Survivors Can Rely On

After a trafficking experience, inconsistency can feel dangerous to survivors. Unpredictable schedules, sudden staff changes, or unclear communication can active trauma responses. For a survivor, this can feel like confirmation that safety is still out of reach.

Leadership that prioritizes consistency helps survivors experience changes as safe and manageable. This may look like:

• Clearly communicated expectations for both team members and survivors
• Stable staff teams and transparent communication when changes are made
• Boundaries that are upheld and reinforced across the team
• Programs that don’t change abruptly or without prior explanation
• Follow-through on rules, resources, and next steps

This steadiness helps survivors feel grounded and included in their own healing process, allowing trust to grow. It also gives staff a strong framework in which to make confident, thoughtful decisions in the daily rhythm of the program.

Leading Sith Humility & Accountability

Truly effective organizational leaders depend not on perfection, but on humility and integrity. They are willing to acknowledge their limitations, admit when they are wrong, and accept feedback from all staff members without defensiveness.

Humility in leadership creates:

• Psychological safety for staff to speak openly and share ideas
• Openness to feedback and opportunities for growth or improvement
• Less fear of failure, which encourages innovation and learning
• Reduced power imbalances based on organizational hierarchy

Leaders who say, “I got that wrong, let’s try again,” are often more respected and effective than those who attempt to maintain an image of perfection. This kind of leadership invites collaboration, which is an essential building block for highly impactful organizations.

Preventing Burnout From the Top

Staff burnout is one of the most significant challenges in anti-trafficking work. The emotional intensity, exposure to secondary trauma, and high-stakes decision-making take a toll on even the most committed staff. Over time, without strong support systems, this exhaustion can lead to high turnover, disconnection, and diminished quality of care for survivors.

Burnout may be common, but it is not inevitable. Leadership plays a critical role in creating cultures where staff well-being is protected and sustainability is prioritized. When leaders are proactive in identifying signs of fatigue and responsive in meeting those needs, they help teams remain grounded and resilient.

Leaders can prevent burnout by:

• Setting clear and realistic expectations for workloads and working hours
• Encouraging time-wide wellness practices
• Allowing flexibility where appropriate
• Celebrating small wins, not just major milestones
• Investing in professional development and well-being support

Beyond creating instability in a program, staff turnover can be detrimental for survivors. When staff leave frequently, it disrupts important relationships between survivors and staff, creating gaps in service provision and often forcing survivors to build trust from the ground up.

Putting Values Into Practice

Most anti-trafficking organizations list values such as dignity, empowerment, and compassion as central to their mission. These values are often included on websites and in annual reports, staff training, and fundraising messaging. However, these values hold power only when they are consistently practiced.

The most effective leaders live out these values in how they lead their teams, build programmatic systems, and make decisions. Value-driven leadership is exemplified in:

• Decision-making that reflects the mission, not just metrics
• Staff voices being included in shaping both policy and practice
• Organizational priorities that reflect care for both survivors and the people serving them
• A culture that expects accountability for what is said and what is done

Mutual trust and respect grow when leaders represent the values of the mission, strengthening the foundational purpose of the organization and magnifying its impact.

Leading the Way to Long-Term Change

Leadership in anti-trafficking organizations is not just about guiding strategy or managing operations. It is about cultivating a culture where trust, safety, and integrity become the foundation for everything else. Survivors need more than well-designed programs — they need environments where stability is modeled and relationships are built with care. That kind of culture begins at the top.

The work of ending trafficking and restoring freedom will never be sustained by policy or programming alone. It will be led by people who recognize that real change is slow, relational, and deeply human. Those who lead with integrity pave the way for care that lasts.

For more information on building resilient, highly impactful programs through trusted leadership, explore:

• • Safe House Project’s webinar From the Top Down: Trusted Leadership in Anti-Trafficking

• Addressing Staff Burnout: A Strategic Framework for the Anti-Trafficking Field

<p>The post Trusted Leadership in Anti-Trafficking Work first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

What Increases a Child’s Risk of Being Trafficked?

Any child can be at risk of trafficking, but some factors significantly increase vulnerability to being targeted, such as:

• Living in an unstable home environment, like those affected by neglect, addiction, frequent conflict or change, poverty, or homelessness
• Experiencing emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
• Feeling socially isolated, disconnected from peers, or unable to seek support from adults
• Lacking access to consistent emotional support or supervision
• Spending large amounts of time online without adult guidance
• Identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community
• Spending time in foster care or the juvenile justice system
• Having cognitive or physical disabilities

These vulnerabilities are not always easy to see, and a child may appear to be doing well on the outside while struggling internally. Many trafficked children continue to attend school and extracurricular activities while being exploited.

What Does Trafficking Look Like?

Most human traffickers take advantage of these existing vulnerabilities to gain control over their victims, rather than physical force or abduction. In fact, kidnapping cases make up a very small number of the total human trafficking cases in the U.S. each year, especially in child sex trafficking cases. Traffickers are far more likely to be a family member, romantic partner, authority figure, or another trusted person in the child’s life.

Instead, traffickers commonly use tactics like emotional manipulation and psychological abuse to isolate their victims from their support systems and create dependence on the trafficker for approval, affection, and other emotional needs. A cycle of abuse and affection creates trauma bonds, which can make it incredibly difficult for the victim to recognize what is happening to them and seek help. 

Traffickers may use the following strategies to connect with and exploit children:

• Grooming is a process by which a trafficker builds an escalating relationship with a potential victim to manipulate and exploit them. It often involves gaining a child’s trust, identifying and meeting a specific emotional or material need, and gradually introducing control, secrecy, or abuse. Other manipulation tactics like guilt-tripping and gaslighting are often used during the grooming process to make the victim doubt their experience and hesitate to tell someone. Grooming can happen in person or online, and may include flattery, love-bombing, extravagant gifts, attention, promises of safety, or meeting basic needs like food or shelter. Over time, the trafficker will use this emotional relationship and dependence to isolate the child and introduce sexual exploitation.

• Online relationships are an increasingly common method that child traffickers use to build relationships with children. Traffickers may pose as another child or a young adult to gain the child’s trust, often through shared interests, flattery, and emotional support. Once a relationship is formed, they use manipulation, secrecy, and coercion to pressure the child into sending explicit pictures or meeting in person. Some traffickers exploit children entirely online through threats, sextortion, or blackmail, while others arrange meetings to begin in-person abuse or exploitation. These tactics target a child’s need for connection and are often hidden through fear and shame.

• Coercion & isolation are often used by traffickers to maintain control over their victims and prevent them from seeking help. They may use threats, emotional manipulation, or addiction to create fear and dependence. Younger children might be told not to trust their parents or warned that their loved ones will be hurt if they speak out. Older children and teens are often manipulated through romantic interest, blackmail involving explicit images, or the introduction of drugs and alcohol. Traffickers may also control their victims’ access to food, housing, or money, using these basic needs as leverage.

How Can I Keep My Child Safe?

Children are most at risk of being targeted by human traffickers when they have a limited support system and little adult supervision. By taking steps to understand what trafficking is and how your child might be vulnerable, you are already well on your way to protecting your child. Continuing to build trust, fostering open communication, and teaching your child how to recognize unsafe people and situations is a powerful next step. Trafficking is preventable, and you are your child’s first and most important line of defense.

Talk Openly & Start Early

Having ongoing, age-appropriate conversations with your child can reduce their risk of being targeted by a trafficker. From a young age, teach your child about body safety, consent, boundaries, and what healthy relationships look like. Let them know that no topic is off-limits and that they can talk to you or another trusted adult about anything, even if it feels scary or uncomfortable.

• Ages 3-5:  Teach your child the correct names for their body parts and explain the difference between safe and unsafe touch. Simple illustrations like the “swimsuit rule”, in which no one should be allowed to touch or ask the child to touch areas covered by a swimsuit, can be helpful for children to understand physical boundaries without sexual context. Make sure to point out other safe adults in the child’s life, since traffickers often tell their victims not to say anything to their parents.

• Ages 6-9:  Reinforce the importance of their own and others’ personal boundaries. Teach your child the difference between fun surprises and unsafe secrets to help them recognize when to ask for help. Continue building their network of safe adults as they enter school and other activities, and make sure they know that it’s okay to talk to these adults in an emergency or when they are afraid or uncomfortable.

• Ages 10-13:  Begin having open, honest conversations about sex, consent, and body autonomy as your child enters pre-adolescence. Encouraging your child to ask questions can help remove the discomfort children feel about sex and establish open channels of communication if they need them later. Talk about the risks of pornography, sexting, and online grooming. Discuss where and how traffickers might approach them, both online and in person. Set digital safety guidelines together and ensure that their devices include contact information for trusted adults.

• Ages 14-18:  As your child gains independence, focus on helping them develop a strong sense of identity, self-worth, and decision-making skills. Encourage them to reflect on their relationships and online interactions, and continue having intentional conversations about boundaries, consent, and staying safe. Make sure your child knows that they can continue relying on you if they feel uncomfortable or unsafe as they enter adulthood.

For additional tips and guidance on protecting your children, download Safe House Project’s OnWatch: Protecting Our Children guide.

Be Aware of Online Activity

The internet is one of the most common tools that traffickers use to reach children. Social media, gaming platforms, and messaging apps allow traffickers to start conversations, build trust, and groom children, often without the knowledge of parents or guardians.

Talk to your child regularly about what is and isn’t appropriate to share online. Discuss the dangers of sexting, sextortion, and talking to strangers. Encourage them to tell a trusted adult if someone online is asking personal questions, sharing explicit content, or trying to meet in person.

Use monitoring tools and parental controls when appropriate, but focus on building trust with your child first. Imposing tools that children view as restrictive or invasive may push them to engage in more unsafe digital activity, so make sure to have collaborative conversations with your child about why monitoring is needed. Invite your child to participate in setting healthy boundaries for themself online. Keeping devices in shared family spaces and maintaining an open-door policy for digital conversations can help prevent secrecy.

For more tools and tips for safe online activity, explore Safe House Project’s Online Safety Guide.

Know the Warning Signs

Many children who are being trafficked do not show obvious signs, but there are common red flags that could indicate a problem:

• Unexplained absences from school or activities
• Running away or frequently sneaking out
• Older, controlling “friends” or romantic partners
• New or expensive items that they cannot explain
• Withdrawal, anxiety, or sudden personality changes
• Physical injuries, substance use, or overly sexualized behavior for their age

If something feels wrong, trust your instincts. Open a careful conversation, make sure they know that they can come back to talk to you, and seek help from professionals if needed.

Be Proactive

The most powerful protective factor for any child is a strong, trusting relationship with a safe adult. Traffickers often prey on isolation, so building emotional connection can significantly reduce a child’s vulnerability. Make time to engage in your child’s world by asking questions, staying involved, and being present.

Communities play an essential part in protecting children as well. Learn how to recognize and report trafficking through Safe House Project’s free OnWatch Training. Share prevention resources with schools, youth groups, and parent networks, and advocate for trafficking awareness and survivor support programs.

If you ever suspect that a child might be at-risk or in danger, it is always a good idea to report it. Contact your local law enforcement or child protective services, or use Safe House Project’s Simply Report app to submit a tip.

<p>The post How Can I Protect My Child from Trafficking? first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

The risks of online exploitation are expanding as quickly as the technology that enables it, and protecting children and youth requires informed, united, and proactive action.

A New Frontline in Online Exploitation

Phones, tablets, and gaming systems have blurred the line between physical and digital spaces. A child’s bedroom or classroom, once the safest spaces, can now be the setting for predatory contact. For some young people, especially those in foster care, the juvenile justice system, group homes, or those experiencing homelessness or social isolation, online spaces can feel like the only place they belong. That sense of connection, however, is exactly what traffickers exploit.

Online recruitment and grooming are rarely obvious. They often begin in ordinary conversations on social media, in group chats, or through multiplayer games. But the consequences, when these interactions escalate to abuse, extortion, or exploitation, are not limited to a child’s online life. Many victims carry deep emotional or psychological scars, driving too many to seek relief through risky behaviors, self-harm, or even suicide. This damage can reshape lives in permanent or long-standing ways.

How Predators Adapt

The digital environment has allowed predators and traffickers to scale their operations and mask their intentions in unprecedented ways. Many blend familiar grooming tactics with advanced technology, including:

• Platform hopping to move conversations from public social media to encrypted apps like WhatsApp or Telegram
• AI manipulation to create sexualized images, impersonate peers, or use chatbots to pressure youth into harmful actions
• Identity exploitation by posing as friends, classmates, or members of shared interest groups
• Gender-specific grooming, with praise and validation often used to target boys, and isolation tactics, love bombing, and threats used to target girls
• Large-scale criminal networks operating across states and countries, making identification and prosecution difficult

These strategies are highly effective in environments where children or youth are unsupervised online, or where caregivers, parents, or guardians are unaware of how quickly a seemingly harmless interaction can turn dangerous.

Barriers to Protection

The systems originally designed to keep children and youth safe online are struggling, and often failing, to keep pace with the advancement of technology and digital access. Laws like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act are decades out of date, written before the rise of modern social media and offering limited protection against today’s dangers. Recommendation algorithms, increasingly addictive and intuitive, intensify risk by steering young people toward escalating explicit content. For children, this can normalize unsafe behavior and lower defenses against predators. 

Turning Awareness Into Action

While the risks of online activity are serious, there are practical steps that families, communities, and organizations can take to protect themselves and those around them.

• Increase visibility and transparency. Use technology that flags explicit content, unusual conversations, or sudden changes in online behavior. Pair these tools with open, nonjudgmental conversations about what children are seeing and experiencing online.
• Integrate digital safety education. Schools can incorporate online safety into existing health or life skills programs. Community organizations can host workshops for parents, teachers, and mentors. National initiatives such as Gavin’s Law, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s No Escape Room, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Know2Protect campaign demonstrate how interactive and age-specific training can prepare both youth and adults to identify and prevent exploitation.
• Build a culture of shared responsibility. Lawmakers can update outdated legislation and require greater transparency from tech companies. Platforms can commit to removing harmful content quickly and limiting features that enable grooming. Caregivers, parents, and guardians can model healthy digital habits and remain engaged in the online spaces their children use. Educators, coaches, and mentors can watch for warning signs and be a trusted source of support.

When every adult who interacts with youth understands their role in online safety, and when young people know how to recognize and respond to threats, communities become more resilient to exploitation.

Shaping a Safer Digital Future

The digital world will undoubtedly remain central to how children and youth learn, connect, and explore. The responsibility before us is to ensure that these spaces are safe, supportive, and free from exploitation. Meeting this responsibility requires decisive action on several fronts: updating laws to reflect the realities of modern technology, holding companies accountable for the safety of their platforms, and investing in prevention through proactive education, transparency, and community engagement.

Online threats are growing, but so can our capacity to respond. When communities work together — across families, schools, governments, and industries — we can minimize the risks, disrupt systems of exploitation, and build digital environments where young people can socialize and thrive without fear.

<p>The post Online Danger Zones first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

Every year, millions of people are victimized by human trafficking across the globe, including hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children in the United States. While public understanding of human trafficking has grown significantly in recent years, misconceptions about traffickers still shape the way many people view the crime. However, effectively combating human trafficking requires clear information about who traffickers are, how they operate, and the methods of control they use.

Common Misconceptions About Human Traffickers

Media portrayals often suggest that traffickers are strangers who abduct people and transport them across international borders. While this image is widespread, it does not reflect the reality of the vast majority of trafficking situations. Most victims are exploited by someone they know in their own community, including family members, romantic partners, friends, peers, or employers. These existing relationships often allow traffickers to gain the trust of their victims before escalating to exploitation.

Most survivors report being trafficked in their own neighborhoods or homes, and many never cross state lines or travel between cities while being exploited. Despite the general perception that trafficking victims come from other countries, about 94% of identified survivors in the U.S. are citizens exploited by other citizens.

When the general public believes that trafficking victims are only young women and children, many survivors who don’t fit this profile are left without opportunities to be identified. Instead of focusing on a single demographic, traffickers look for existing vulnerabilities that they can use as methods of isolation and control. Trafficking survivors represent all ages, genders, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds in the U.S., but people are more frequently targeted when they experience systemic and social challenges like poverty, homelessness, past abuse, social isolation, and addiction.

Types of Trafficking Relationships

Just as trafficking survivors do not fit a single stereotype, human traffickers vary in age, gender, race, and occupation. Some operate independently, while others are part of small groups or organized criminal networks. Despite these differences, traffickers consistently seek to exploit others for commercial sex, services, or labor for their own financial profit.

Traffickers often rely on existing relationships to gain access to and maintain control over their victims, including:

• Family Members or Guardians — A significant percentage of trafficking victims, especially minors, are exploited by relatives, including parents or grandparents. At least 40% of child sex trafficking survivors are trafficked by a family member or guardian, and many are exploited in the foster care system by foster parents or siblings. These cases are extremely difficult to identify because the abuse frequently occurs in private homes and may be disguised by family dynamics.

• Intimate or Romantic Partners — Traffickers regularly pose as romantic partners to build trust and emotional dependence before the exploitation begins. This grooming process, called “boyfriending”, can take place over weeks or even months as the trafficker initially showers their victim with love, attention, and gifts before manipulating them into commercial sex or labor.

• Friends or Peers — Some victims may be recruited into a trafficking situation by a friend or peer, sometimes by someone who is being exploited themselves. This commonly occurs in schools, community groups, or online platforms and takes advantage of trusting relationships, which traffickers exploit to gain control.

• Employers — Traffickers may use their position as an employer to force their victims to engage in commercial sex or labor under the threat of harm, withheld wages, or unsafe working conditions. Many traffickers also restrict access to food, medical care, housing, or basic necessities. In some cases, victims are trapped through debt bondage, in which their trafficker uses repayment of a loan to exert control, often while manipulating the terms of the debt to ensure that the victim will never be able to pay it off.

• Gang Members or Organized Crime Networks — Trafficking can be part of a broader criminal enterprise, through which victims are forced to engage in sex or labor exploitation alongside other illegal activities. Sex trafficking may be disguised as prostitution involving a pimp. Victims under this form of control regularly face multiple layers of control, including threats of violence, forced participation in other crimes, substance abuse, and dependence on traffickers for protection.

Methods of Control

Many traffickers use physical, emotional, and/or psychological abuse to establish power. These methods may differ between trafficking situations, but many rely on the trauma bonds created through cycles of abuse and rewards to keep victims compliant, silent, and trapped in exploitation. Common forms of trafficking abuse include:

• Physical Violence — 92% of sex trafficking survivors report experiencing at least one form of physical violence, and on average, report more than 6 of the 12 forms of violence.

• Sexual Violence — 82% of sex trafficking survivors report being raped, with 68% reporting forced unprotected sex. 29% say they were forced to recreate violent scenes from pornography.

• Mental Health Problems — 98% of sex trafficking survivors have at least one serious psychological issue while being trafficked, and on average, report 12 mental health problems. These conditions frequently include clinical depression and anxiety, complex PTSD, dissociative disorders, personality disorders, depersonalization disorders, and mood disorders. At least 42% of survivors have attempted suicide at least once. Traffickers regularly take advantage of existing mental health problems or emerging conditions to exert further control.

• Substance Abuse — 84% of sex trafficking survivors report abusing substances during exploitation, with 28% saying that their trafficker forced them to use substances to keep them compliant. Many survivors did not use drugs or alcohol before their trafficking experience.

• Financial Abuse — 39% of sex trafficking survivors report that their trafficker withheld their pay from them or had extensive control over their money.

• Homelessness — A lack of housing is a leading risk factor for trafficking victimization. Between 25% and 40% of youth who experience homelessness also experience sex trafficking, and traffickers approach 22% of these victims on their first night of homelessness

• Psychological Manipulation — Traffickers regularly use tactics like gaslighting, guilt-tripping, love bombing, and trauma bonding to establish emotional control over their victims. Love bombing through excessive displays of affection, giving extravagant gifts, and other grand gestures can foster positive bonds with the victim, while gaslighting and guilt-tripping can wear down their self-confidence and trust in their own perceptions, making it easier for the trafficker to manipulate them.

• Economic Dependence — Traffickers often target people experiencing economic hardship or unemployment, promising opportunities to make money or lessen their debts. They frequently and increasingly control their victims’ access to financial resources, phones, documentation or personal identification, and their ability to work independently to restrict their opportunities to leave.

• Exploitation of Hope — Promises of love, a better life, job opportunities, or independence are an extremely common and effective tactic for traffickers to coerce their victims into exploitative activities. Children and youth being promised love by their romantic partner or people experiencing homelessness or unemployment are especially vulnerable to this tactic.

The control inherent to a trafficking situation is often so strong that leaving exploitation is incredibly difficult for survivors. Many survivors say that they tried to leave multiple times, but were forced to return to their trafficker because they had no safe place to go, no way to buy food or basic necessities, and no way to protect themselves from being found by their trafficker. Most survivors also face severe and co-occurring physical, mental, and behavioral health conditions, as well as addiction, which require comprehensive and immediate support. Without access to emergency services and long-term restorative care, 80% of survivors are revictimized.

How You Can Help

Human trafficking happens in every community, from rural towns to large urban centers and from private homes to city streets. All of us can educate ourselves and those around us to be aware of the signs of trafficking and report suspicious activity. Traffickers depend on stereotypes, myths, and ignorance to keep their victims hidden. By recognizing that both traffickers and survivors can be anyone, we can overcome the culture of silence around human trafficking. Together, we can build proactive communities to combat human trafficking, bring traffickers to justice, and restore hope, freedom, and a future to every survivor.

To learn more about what human trafficking looks like, take our free OnWatch training.

To report tips about human trafficking and connect survivors to emergency support, download our Simply Report app.

<p>The post Who Are Human Traffickers? first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

Survivor stories have become a powerful tool in raising awareness about human trafficking. Through nonprofit campaigns, documentaries, and public speaking events, these narratives can inspire change, influence policy, and help dismantle stigma. For survivors themselves, storytelling can also serve as a way to reclaim agency, identity, and voice.

However, when these stories are shared without proper care, preparation, or respect, the impact can shift from healing to harmful. Even well-meaning efforts to spotlight survivor experiences can result in retraumatization, misrepresentation, or emotional harm, especially when ethical practices are not in place.

Organizations, media professionals, and advocates all share a responsibility to protect the emotional safety and agency of the individuals whose stories they help tell.

Recognizing the Risks

Public storytelling involves revisiting deeply personal and painful experiences. Without trauma-informed support and clear boundaries, survivors may feel overwhelmed or exposed. Some have reported being unprepared for the emotional toll of interviews or events, while others say they felt like props used to inspire donations or sympathy rather than people with autonomy and complexity.

When survivor stories are edited without input, repurposed for broader appeal, or stripped of nuance, the result is often an erosion of trust. Even unintentional choices, such as altering timelines or framing narratives to generate a specific emotional response, can cause significant psychological and emotional stress for survivors. These experiences highlight the need to move away from extractive storytelling and toward collaborative, survivor-centered engagement.

Building Ethical Storytelling Practices

Ethical storytelling starts with one key principle: stories should be told with survivors, not about them. This means giving survivors control over how their stories are shaped, where they are shared, and whether they are shared at all. Several best practices help ensure storytelling remains safe and respectful:

• Ongoing, informed consent: Survivors must understand how their story will be used and have the right to change their minds at any point. Consent should never be treated as a one-time formality.
• Emotional preparation and training: Many survivors have never participated in interviews or public speaking before. Media literacy coaching and boundary-setting can help survivors feel safe and confident.
• Support throughout the process: Emotional check-ins, grounding strategies, and access to trained support people can make storytelling more manageable and less overwhelming.
• Respect for narrative boundaries: Survivors have the right to decide which parts of their story to share and which to keep private. They should never feel pressured to provide details for the sake of audience impact.
• Transparency and accountability: Survivors should be aware of the goals of the project, the intended audience, and who may benefit from their participation. Open communication builds trust and allows for meaningful collaboration.

A Field-Wide Commitment

Ethical storytelling honors the humanity, agency, and insight of trafficking survivors. It keeps survivor well-being central throughout the process, from initial conversations to final publication. When survivors are supported to share their stories in ways that feel safe and empowering, storytelling becomes a meaningful part of healing and a powerful tool for change. These stories have the potential to build trust, deepen understanding, and challenge harmful stereotypes, strengthening the anti-trafficking movement by reinforcing our commitment to meaningful and survivor-led impact.

<p>The post Ethical Storytelling: Why Survivor-Centered Media Representation Matters first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

Safe House Project is working to change both the misconceptions about who may be trafficked and the vulnerabilities of certain communities with the goal of preventing trafficking before it starts. Survivors of human trafficking will have many needs along their road to recovery, but often, healing begins with a safe place to live. Through our nationwide network of partnering safe house programs, Safe House Project offers more than just a roof and four walls; we aim to help all survivors heal through trauma-informed care and a range of tools available for whatever needs they encounter. 

WHO CAN BE TRAFFICKED?

Traffickers often prey on the vulnerabilities of populations that are impoverished, homeless, disenfranchised, and/or underserved. These groups are perceived by traffickers to be easier targets, as they are motivated to gain and keep a job, are easily manipulated by the threat of being made homeless, and generally have fewer resources and access to social support. Often, victims are often left financially destitute from their trafficking experience, making it easier to re-exploit them if they encounter economic barriers after exit.

Furthermore, these vulnerabilities often act as magnifiers for one another. For example, LBGTQ+ individuals have a higher risk of being trafficked due to increased discrimination and a common lack of social support. A study by Covenant House showed that one-third of all unhoused LGBTQ+ youth staying in Covenant House shelters had been involved in a trafficking situation. Another University of Pennsylvania study showed that, of the 300 participants who were survivors of trafficking and had experienced homelessness, 22% were approached by their trafficker on the first night of homelessness. 49% also reported experiencing sexual abuse in childhood.  For many people, trafficking is not the first time they have been victimized.

Although human trafficking is often assumed to be sex trafficking of young women and children, there are many other demographics engaged in both sex and labor trafficking, which may include anything from drug dealing to manufacturing operations. A Loyola University study by Laura T. Murphy reported that 19% of the runaways and homeless youth staying in Covenant House shelters reported being in a trafficking situation; 14% reported sex trafficking, 8% reported labor trafficking, and an additional 3% reported both sex and labor trafficking. A more surprising statistic shows that homeless veterans have been experiencing a rise in labor trafficking since at least 2020, at which point 36% of Veterans Affairs staff reported encountering a veteran who had been trafficked.

HOMELESSNESS AND RECRUITMENT

Recruitment in Shelters

Homeless shelters are some of the most vulnerable places for potential victims of human trafficking. They are largely utilized by people who are struggling financially and have little social support, few employment opportunities, and a general lack of resources. They may also face discrimination – especially if they are of an ethnic minority, are part of the LGBTQ+ community, et cetera – and feel they have no one to help them. Furthermore, many previously trafficked individuals will seek refuge at homeless shelters during an exit from a trafficking situation. These shelters, by necessity, must have publicly available addresses and be open to all people, leaving residents vulnerable to traffickers and recruiters. 

Traffickers and their recruiters may approach victims in several ways. They may simply offer an individual something they want – more comfortable or private living conditions, food, prohibited substances, or even an intimate relationship. Recruiters often form friendships with fellow residents, creating an emotional bond before leading them into a trafficking situation. A victim attempting to exit a trafficking situation will often return to their trafficker due to manipulation, trauma-bonding, or economic hardship. These emotional and psychological bonds are a primary factor in the difficulty that survivors face in leaving exploitation.

Survival Sex & Other Trafficker-Victim Relationships

Survival sex is defined as any sexual activity exchanged for basic necessities such as food, shelter, safety, money, et cetera. Unfortunately, it is extremely common among people experiencing homelessness; An Am J Public Health study reported that 28% of street youths and 10% of shelter youths indicated engaging in survival sex while they were homeless. Provided a participant is not a minor, survival sex can sometimes be voluntary, but it is always exploitative of the individual’s circumstances and may very easily develop into sexual victimization and/or trafficking. Furthermore, it is believed that survival sex is a severely under-reported type of trafficking, as many victims perceive it as necessary or even “normal” for their situation.

Another common trafficker-victim relationship, specifically in sex trafficking, is the “sugar-baby” dynamic. This describes an older individual – a “sugar daddy” or “sugar mama” – who engages in a romantic relationship with a youth or young adult, on whom they initially dote and shower extravagant gifts, money, or basic necessities. These gifts are often used later as a means of control or manipulation as the relationship becomes abusive. Loyola University, in partnership with Covenant House, reported that 6% of all youth interviewed and 20% of youth involved in the sex trade indicated having been in a “sugar” relationship. While considered to be underreported in all demographics, one severely underrepresented group is heterosexual cisgender men, 8% of whom reported sexual exchanges with older women.

HOMELESSNESS AND ACTIVE TRAFFICKING SITUATIONS

Shelters and Group Homes

Unfortunately, some shelter and housing operators may force residents to work in order to stay at the shelter or home. This includes labor beyond typical chores, often for very long working hours, and is unpaid. Victims are often threatened with returning to the streets in order to control them. This control may be even stronger for individuals with further concerns with being homeless, such as escaping violence or having a mandate from criminal justice or parole systems to stay. This type of trafficking situation is usually labor trafficking, although some incidents of personal sexual servitude to housing staff have been reported.

Worker Housing

In both sex and labor trafficking, a trafficker is often in control of a victim’s housing situation and threatened with homelessness if they do not comply. In labor trafficking situations such as traveling work crews, vacation rentals have become increasingly common for their ease of use through platforms like Airbnb and VRBO, and attract less police and staff scrutiny than hotels. In other cases, an employer may own the property or rent housing for workers. In any case, housing is commonly very overcrowded and even damaged by sheer overuse. Other signs include cameras in odd places that are used by the trafficker to monitor the victims, the whole group relying on the employer for transportation, and lack of activity by residents as they are commonly forbidden from leaving the premises during off-hours.

OUR ROLE:

In 2024, 48% of survivors served by Safe House Project were either homeless or currently in a temporary shelter. Housing and shelter requests are by far the most needed and asked-for service by survivors. However, the lack of availability of suitable shelters and their limited funding presents significant challenges in quickly connecting survivors in crisis to temporary secure housing.

In order to provide more safe places for survivors to turn to, we must spark change in the way shelters, homes, and programs are structured and increase resources, training, and technical assistance for coordination between housing and service providers.

1. UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS: Many shelters and homes have restrictions on who may be admitted, leaving underrepresented survivors without a safe place to go. New housing opportunities should prioritize underserved populations, such as male survivors, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities.
2. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (DV) SHELTERS: Because so many trafficking survivors don’t know how to define their experiences or are unaware of the existence of trafficking-specific safe homes, many turn to domestic violence shelters in crisis. While DV shelters have eased the strain on safe houses, they are often not equipped or trained to support survivors in healing from the complex trauma they have endured. The long-term solution must be to increase the number of safe houses for survivors of trafficking, but DV shelters can also increase the intake of trafficking survivors and the training they receive to support immediate stabilization until they can find a more suitable placement in trafficking-specific restorative care. 
3. LANDLORDS & RESIDENTIAL MANAGEMENT: Property managers often see signs of trafficking at their properties but may not recognize them as such. In addition to their own observations, other residents may report unusual activity that can be identified as potential trafficking. Landlords and others in residential management positions should receive training in identifying and reporting suspected trafficking. 
4. DONATIONS AND GRANTS: Expanded legislation and funding can encourage the creation of safe housing solutions for survivors. Grants and donations through both government and private avenues can implement requirements of certain standards such as trauma-informed care, cultural sensitivity, acceptance of underserved survivors, and more.
5. INCREASE AFFORDABLE HOUSING: Ensuring that affordable housing is accessible to all community members can significantly decrease their vulnerability to being targeted by a trafficker. Various housing initiatives implemented by cities have proven effective at reducing homelessness and housing insecurity in their communities, which can inform large-scale implementation as a preventative measure.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Trafficking is happening everywhere around the world, even in your community. Educating yourself is the first step toward action to help survivors. By raising awareness, you can become a safe resource to those in your own community and be a part of eradicating human trafficking.

Take the OnWatch Training today to learn the signs and symptoms of human trafficking at www.training.www.safehouseproject.org/.

SAFE HOUSE PROJECT:

At Safe House Project, our goal is to help all survivors get the help and support they need to begin their healing journey. You can support our mission of ending human trafficking by making a donation today, and be a part of offering all survivors a safe place to go.

<p>The post The Link Between Homelessness and Human Trafficking first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

Every year, millions of people across the globe are exploited through human trafficking, including hundreds of thousands in the United States. This crime involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to manipulate people to participate in forced labor or commercial sex for their trafficker’s financial benefit. Human traffickers prey on many types of vulnerabilities, often including poverty, homelessness, social isolation, immigration status, or unemployment to gain and maintain control over their victims.

Understanding the different forms of human trafficking in the United States is critical to identifying and preventing this crime and ensuring that survivors are able to find freedom and healing.

Sex Trafficking

The most common type of human trafficking in the U.S, sex trafficking occurs when individuals are manipulated or convinced to engage in commercial sexual activity through force, fraud, or coercion. In cases involving minors, proving force, fraud, or coercion is not required — any commercial sexual activity with a person under 18 years old is considered sex trafficking under U.S. federal law.

While women and girls make up the large majority of sex trafficking victims, people of any gender may be targeted. Men, and boys, as well as nonbinary and transgender people, have increasingly been identified as sex trafficking victims in recent years. In 2024, nearly 1 in 10 survivors that Safe House Project served were male, nonbinary, or transgender.

In the U.S., most victims of sex trafficking are exploited by someone they know in their own community. Traffickers are most often a family member, intimate partner, guardian, friend, employer, or acquaintance, rather than a stranger.

Common types of sex trafficking include:

• • Pimp-Controlled Trafficking — Victims are exploited by an individual (referred to as a “pimp”), who controls and financially benefits from their involvement in commercial sex. This type of sex trafficking can take various forms and is often incorporated into other types of trafficking, such as online trafficking. Many victims are exploited in public places, such as truck stops, motels, street corners, or through escort services . This form of trafficking is often disguised as consensual commercial sex or prostitution, and “pimp culture” has long been glamorized in certain types of media.

• Familial Trafficking — Victims are exploited by a parent, guardian, or other relative through commercial sex, often originally as a child. This form of trafficking regularly begins as an escalation of existing abuse and may be motivated by a trafficker’s financial need to pay for rent, drugs, or alcohol. Victims of childhood familial trafficking are at high risk of experiencing other types of sex trafficking as adults.

• Online Trafficking — Victims are exploited through the production of pornography, camming activities, or advertisements on websites, social media platforms, or messaging apps. Many other forms of sex trafficking include an online element, especially as an initial introduction to exploitative activities. Sexting and sextortion, which occurs when someone blackmails another person with intimate or nude pictures, is commonly used as a grooming technique by traffickers to bring a victim further under their control.

• Brothels & Illicit Massage  — Victims are exploited by traffickers operating under the guise of legitimate businesses, such as a legal brothel, massage parlor, or escort service. This type of sex trafficking often involves traffickers acting as employers and may be mistaken for consensual commercial sex or prostitution, especially in places where these activities are not criminalized.

• Gang-Controlled Trafficking — Victims are exploited through the influence and control of a gang, who may force their victims into commercial sexual activity as a form of income generation. This type of sex trafficking often intersects other criminal activity, such as illegal drug distribution, theft, or violence. Many victims of gang-controlled trafficking are targeted due to their proximity or relation to gang members or drug addiction.

Labor Trafficking

Labor trafficking occurs when individuals become involved in work through force, fraud, or coercion. These work situations are often abusive, dangerous, and in violation of laws protecting workers’ rights. Many victims are undocumented workers, migrant laborers, or individuals with limited social connections, making them highly vulnerable to exploitation.

Perpetrators in labor trafficking cases often withhold wages, confiscate passports or other identification, and threaten victims with deportation or physical harm if they attempt to leave. Many victims are trapped through debt bondage, in which a trafficker offers them employment, travel assistance, or housing, only to later claim an excessive debt for providing these services. These debts are designed to be impossible to repay, as traffickers manipulate wages, inflate costs, or charge interest to ensure that their victims remain trapped in servitude.

Common types of labor trafficking include:

• Agricultural Trafficking — Victims are coerced or blackmailed into labor on farms and agricultural fields, often as migrant workers. They may face extreme conditions, including severe weather, unsustainable hours, low or no pay, and lack of access to services. Many workers are trapped through debt bondage, limited opportunities for other employment, a lack of access to legal protections, or the theft of identification documents.

• Domestic Servitude — Victims are exploited as housekeepers, nannies, maids, or caregivers, usually in private residences. This type of labor trafficking may be disguised as normal domestic services, but involves a level of control, coercion, or fraud preventing the victim from leaving of their own free will. Many victims live at their place of work and are considerably isolated from their support networks.

• Factory & Sweatshop Exploitation — Victims are forced to work in factories or sweatshops under harsh conditions, including excessive hours, unsafe environments, dangerous machinery, and threats of discontinued employment. This type of exploitation thrives in places where job opportunities are few and far between and options for making money are severely limited. In addition, children make up a significant number of victims exploited through this form of labor trafficking.

• Construction Exploitation — Victims are forced, coerced, or deceived into working construction jobs, often through false promises of high pay. They may experience very unsafe working conditions, insufficient training, a lack of proper safety equipment, and restricted access to services. Many victims live in employer-controlled housing with their activities monitored, and may be unaware of their legal rights as workers. Some labor traffickers falsify their employment documents to evade labor laws and keep workers trapped in exploitative situations.

• Restaurant & Hospitality Exploitation — Victims are exploited as workers in restaurants, hotels, and motels, and are very difficult to identify due to the fast-paced and hidden nature of these jobs. Many victims are lured with false promises of good wages, regular work hours, and stable employment, but are trapped by withheld wages, unsafe conditions, or debt bondage. The high turnover rates in these industries make it easier for traffickers to conceal their activities and continue their exploitation.

Addressing Human Trafficking

Understanding the different forms of human trafficking is essential to recognizing, preventing, and ultimately eradicating this widespread crime in our communities. Dispelling myths and increasing awareness about what human trafficking looks like ensures that more victims can be identified and provided with the necessary support to regain their freedom.

Efforts to combat human trafficking require a multi-faceted approach, including prevention, survivor protection, and prosecution of traffickers. Organizations like Safe House Project work to bridge gaps in care by providing emergency services, safe housing, and training programs to educate communities on how to identify and respond to trafficking situations. By learning to recognize human trafficking in our daily lives, we can create a society where survivors are empowered to heal and thrive and where traffickers face real consequences for their actions.

Ultimately, the fight against human trafficking is one that demands collective action. Through education, advocacy, and survivor-centered solutions, we can dismantle the systems that enable exploitation and build a future where every person is free from human trafficking.

<p>The post What Kinds of Human Trafficking Are There? first appeared on Safe House Project.</p>

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