Runaway Children are at Risk to Become Human Trafficking Victims

Statistics:

• As many as 2.8 Million children run away in the US each year.  
• The National Runaway Safeline estimates that on any given night there are approximately 1.3 million homeless youth living on the streets making them vulnerable to a pimp looking to exploit them 
• In the USA 1 in 3 Runaways will be approached by a human trafficker within the first 48 hours.

What if… 

You are 12 years old. You couldn't take the abuse in your own home any longer, so you ran away? What if once you hit the streets and started scrounging for food all you could find were scraps in the garbage? What if that nice-looking, sympathetic man offered to feed you, to take care of you, and you went with him because, at 12, you didn't know how else to survive?  This is what puts our runaways at risk.

Homeless kids are particularly susceptible to traffickers who will lure them with the promise of food, warmth, and even false love.  The child who is homeless and in need of food and shelter, can be manipulated into "survival sex,"

 

ASHLAND, Ore. — She ran away from her group home in Medford, Ore., and spent weeks sleeping in parks and under bridges. Finally, Nicole Clark, 14 years old, grew so desperate that she accepted a young man’s offer of a place to stay. The price would come later.

They had sex, and he soon became her boyfriend. Then one day he threatened to kick her out if she did not have sex with several of his friends in exchange for money.

She agreed, fearing she had no choice. “Where was I going to go?” said Nicole, now 17 and living here, just down the Interstate from Medford. That first exchange of money for sex led to a downward spiral of prostitution that lasted for 14 months, until she escaped last year from a pimp who she said often locked her in his garage apartment for months.

“I didn’t know the town, and the police would just send me back to the group home,” Nicole said, explaining why she did not cut off the relationship once her first boyfriend became a pimp and why she did not flee prostitution when she had the chance. “I’d also fallen for the guy. I felt trapped in a way I can’t really explain.”  (Polaris Project)

 

Things for your child to consider:

If leaving home seems like the only answer to your situation, ask yourself the questions below.  If you’re still not sure what to do, talk with a friend or call 1-800-RUNAWAY

• What else can I do to improve my situation at home before I leave?
• What would make me stay at home?
• How will I survive?
• Is running away safe?
• Who can I count on to help me?
• Am I being realistic?
• Have I given this enough thought?
• What are my other options?
• If I end up in trouble, who will I call?
• When I return home, what will happen?

 

Home Free:

Free transportation home for runaways is provided on Greyhound in conjunction with the National Runaway Switchboard. A youth who calls the switchboard is eligible for a ticket home if he or she is 12-20 years old, is willing to return home to their legal guardian, the legal guardian wishes them to return home, the guardian has filed a runaway report, and the program has not been used by the youth two times before.

 

1-800-RUNAWAY crisis hotline is available 24-hours a day throughout the United States