All children under the age of 18 from diverse backgrounds whether cultural or socioeconomic are the most vulnerable to child and labor trafficking. These children are groomed to perform labor or services through force, fraud, or coercion.

• Children who have suffered from domestic abuse
• Runaways
• Children with special needs such as autism
• Immigrants

• Members of the victims own family
• Friends, boyfriends, or girlfriends and other significant others
• Trusted adults
• Predators who prey on vulnerable youth

o Youth and unrestricted or unmonitored use of the internet and social media
o Youth with current or prior involvement in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems
o Youth with a prior history of sexual abuse
o Runaway and homeless youth
o Transgender youth
o Youth with mental, emotional, or physical disabilities

• Most victimization happens behind closed doors and unfortunately, often go unnoticed
• Youth are often manipulated into taking gifts and/or forms of shelter in exchange for sex
• Many youth are coerced into believing false promises of a better life, money, and fame
• Predators often establish a serious relationships to gain the victims trust and loyalty
• A child’s dependency, whether financial or emotional, is used to guilt trip them into performing sexual acts for monetary gain
• Children are threatened, whether emotionally and/or physically, to enforce obedience and deter the victim from escaping form their captor.

• Most children are either homeless, runaways, or have some involvement with the child welfare system
• Absent frequently from school or family gatherings for no given reason
• There are visible signs of physical and emotional abuse
• The youth frequently goes on long trips or vacations.
• The youth appears exhausted and malnourished
• Answers to questions are often calculated and well-rehearsed
• Their significant other is often much older
• The youth references sexual language they shouldn’t have knowledge of at their age

• For immediate emergencies, call 9-1-1
• SB County CWS Hotline: 1-800-367-0166
• National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888

• Parks
• Bus and train stations
• Social media websites such as Instagram, Facebook, gaming sites, dating sites
• Malls
• Arcades
• False employment opportunities such as modeling or dancing

• Unmonitored and unrestricted youth who browse the internet and social media
• Former or current youth in the child welfare system
• Youth who have experienced sexual abuse in the past
• Youth who are either homeless or have run away from home
• Transgender youth
• Youth with disabilities whether mental, emotional, or physical

Grooming typically happens online and behind closed doors. The perpetrators communicate with minors via the internet or a variety of social media platforms and gaming networks with the sole intent of committing a crime involving the sexual exploitation of a minor. These crimes vary and most commonly include the following:
• Engaging in illegal online conversations – often times using explicit language
• Selling/ trading or engaging in sexually explicit images of a minor
• Sextortion – A crime that involves grooming a minor into providing sexually explicit images and finally luring a minor into a face-to-face sexual encounter

Minors are extremely vulnerable and can fall into dangerous territory with sexual predators, here are the most common warning signs to look for when you suspect a child is being sexually exploited:
• Lying about their age
• Behavior shifts
o Decline in school performance
o Unusually secretive
o Overly compliant
o Soiling or wetting the bed
• Emotional shifts
o Mood swings
o Loss of appetite
o Decrease in confidence
o Self-harm
• Knowledge about sexual activity beyond what they should know at a young age
• The child has an abusive/controlling and typically older significant other
• The child wears baggy clothing to hide any signs of abuse

Any type of work or services enforced by any person under the menace of any penalties in situations where the child has not offered themselves up voluntarily. These children are often under the legal employment age limit and experience forced labor beyond their control.

According to catla.org, common venues and industries for child labor trafficking are as follows:

• Domestic work
• Hotel and restaurant services
• Manufacturing
• Agriculture
• Health and beauty services
• Forced peddling
• Forced selling and/or cultivation of drugs

• Signs of physical and emotional abuse
• Refrain from making eye contact
• Confinement and entrapment
• Unfair wages, less than minimum wage
• Threatened by their trafficker by withholding of documents
• Poor health (health benefits often non-existent)
• Dependent on and fearful of their employer
• Excessive working hours with little to no breaks
• Fearful of any authoritative figures (i.e. police)
• Move regularly to avoid detection

• RAINN
• The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
• Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign
• National Human Trafficking Resource Center
• Love 146
• Cast LA
• Hope for Justice