It's Not What You Think

Sex trafficking rarely begins with the victim being kidnapped or forced into prostitution. Instead, pimps will pose as someone who is romantically interested in their victim, and manipulate them into joining the sex trade.

They do this by threatening to sell nude pictures the victim has already given them, by isolating them from their friends and family, and by making their victim financially dependent on them.

Sex traffickers rarely use violent force or kidnap random people off the street because it is much easier to get caught that way. By becoming a person their victim cares about, it is easier to get away with their crimes. (Source: Dr. Rachael Herrington - Assistant Professor of Psychology at Drury University)

They Prey on the Young

Sex traffickers do not just target young adult women. In fact, the average age of entry into prostitution is 12-14 for girls and 11-13 for boys. (Source: The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, 2009)

Victims are Falsly Accused of Crimes

There have been cases of victims being unwillingly brought over their home country's borders and being wrongly classified as an "illegal immigrant" if they are found by law enforcement.

In these cases, the victims are arrested and usually sent back to their homeland - and back into the hands of sex traffickers. (Source: US Department of State 2012 Trafficking in Persons Report)

I-44 Confusion

The people who have been run down on I-44 are not necessarily would-be victims of sex trafficking. In fact, the claims being made that they are being followed by sex trafficking victims is harmful to those that have actually been targeted.

As said before, sex traffickers rarely try and run college-aged women off the road and kidnap them; it is too easy to get caught this way.

The process of grooming (training, via manipulation, a young person to place all of their trust in their trafficker/abuser and rely on them) is much more common. This process is common in the Ozarks, but it is not linked to the I-44 scares. In fact, as of late August 2018 (when most of the claims on Facebook about being targeted were made), there were no police reports filed that related to these incidents. (Source: KSPR article)

You Are Most Likely to be Targeted by a Sex Trafficker if...

You are a woman

You are a member of the LGBTQ+ community

You are a runaway

You are a past victim of abuse

You are addicted or used to be addicted to drugs

You suffer from mental illness

Sex Trafficking Stats by State

Sex trafficking numbers by state (Source: National Human Trafficking Hotline)

(The first set of numbers refer to all trafficking cases reported; this includes labor trafficking, sex trafficking, and undefined trafficking cases). For information on location, gender, and age, you can visit the National Human Trafficking Hotline Website.