(NewsNation) — A three-week operation carried out by West Texas Police led to the discovery of 70 missing children between the ages of 10 and 17, including victims of sex trafficking and physical and sexual abuse. Many of them had run away from home.
The figure is staggering, but it reflects what researchers have known for some time: Young people who run away from home are particularly at risk of being trafficked.
Anyone seeking assistance can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline by calling 1-888-373-7888 or texting 233733. The National Runaway Safeline can be reached by calling 1-800-runaway. Both offer online chat options. Information about a missing or exploited child can be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or online at Cybertipline.org.
One study found that 35.8% of surveyed homeless minors reported a history of sex trafficking. LGBTQ youth reported a higher incidence of trafficking experiences than their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts, according to the Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development.
“The concept of feeling connection from somebody else, feeling acceptance from somebody else is a hard thing to turn away, especially when the only other option is to be sleeping on the street for the night,” said Jeff Stern, chief engagement officer of the National Runaway Safeline.
Some of the scenarios that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has identified as risk factors that could lead a young person to run away or become homeless are:
- Physical or sexual abuse
- Mental health struggles
- Bullying
- Online enticement
- Difficulties around gender identity and sexual orientation
Quantifying the number of young people without safe and stable housing is a challenge.
Definitions of homelessness vary by agency and there’s no consistent methodology for conducting a youth count, according to the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Homeless young people also might not be connected to formal support systems and in some cases, don’t want to be found.
In other cases, the stigma of being labeled a runaway might affect the attention devoted to a missing person case, Stern said.
“I think there’s certainly a stigma that you’re talking about as well, that if you’re running away you might be a problem child,” Stern said. “Do you want to come back? Should we be worrying about you if we’re the law enforcement, for example? Should you be our priority?”
The reasons a child or teen might run away are complex and varied. Rarely is it a decision they make lightly, and it can oftentimes put them at risk, Stern said.
Of 641 runaway and homeless youth surveyed by the Modern Slavery Research Project:
- 19% were forced to trade sex for basic needs
- 81% were forced to sell drugs
- 91% had been approached by someone offering an opportunity for income that was “too good to be true”
Traffickers included parents and other family members, intimate partners, friends, employers and strangers who target victims through online job listings, commission-based sales scams and social media posts.
Often, victims of trafficking are recruited in places where young people frequently gather, according to the Modern Slavery Research Project. That includes parks and shopping plazas, bus stops and train stations and government assistance offices.
“These people could be offering safety, a means to get off the street, personal connections, money, or some kind of survival,” Stern said. “Whether it’s trading for money, to get food, to get a place to sleep, etc., these are all things that play into why people who are young and on the streets are particularly vulnerable, and traffickers know this.”
Traffickers not only sense that vulnerability — they prey on it, and the pandemic appears to have escalated the situation.
“We’ve seen an increase in mental health issues that people are reaching out for. We’ve seen an increase in the number of youth under the age 14, under the age 15, who are reaching out and a pretty appalling and concerning increase in under 12.”
Groups including the National Runaway Safeline and the National Human Trafficking Hotline work to prevent those situations and link people with resources and support.
“It takes some real maturity to figure out, ‘I’ve gotta get out of here. But what is the right way to handle this?'” Stern said. “It’s incredibly challenging. It’s hard work but it’s very worthwhile.”