A friend of mine is the director of El Paso CARES, a non-profit dedicated to combating sexual exploitation, abuse, and human trafficking through community education and assistance to those engaged in sex work, and yesterday, I received an email from her with a brief and wonderful message highlighting some of the significant accomplishments of the organization this year. The email also contained crucial information about the issues related to exploitation that I want to share to increase awareness.

She wrote, “We have seen so many wonderful stories in the lives of others this year: graduation from career training, new safe solid employment, job promotions, new safe housing, victim compensation from violent crime, medical care, counseling, and mentoring for adults and children, all resulting in improved physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.”

I have been supporting her efforts for years and am currently partnering with EPCARES. If you want to know more about what EPCARES does and how to make a contribution, you can visit their website: https://www.epcares.net/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/epcares

---

What is exploitation? Exploitation involves being groomed, forced, or coerced into doing something that you don’t want to do for someone else’s gain. It is a complex and hidden issue. Exploitation can happen anywhere, including El Paso.

Common forms of exploitation include:

Criminal exploitation – being forced to take part in criminal activities such as transporting or selling illegal items (e.g. drugs); participating in theft, violent crime, or grooming and exploiting other people.

Debt bondage – present in many forms of exploitation. People may accumulate ‘debts’ during exploitation, such as payments for transport and accommodation, or ‘free’ drugs and money. People may be forced to carry out work, favors, or criminal activities to pay off their debts and may be threatened with violence if they do not.

Drug trafficking – being forced to transport or sell drugs.

Financial Exploitation – being deceived or coerced into handing over monetary funds or assets to others through scams, fraud, blackmail, or through accruing debts.

Labor exploitation – being forced to work for little or no pay, often in poor conditions. People experiencing labor exploitation may have limited freedom and may be forced to live with other workers.

Radicalization – the process through which people come to support increasingly extreme political, religious or other ideals. This can lead them to support violent extremism or terrorism.

Sexual Exploitation – sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse where people in exploitative situations and relationships are manipulated, coerced or forced into participating in sexual acts in order to receive things such as gifts, money or affection.

Exploitation may be taking place even if someone seems to be making their own choices or the activity they are taking part in appears consensual – the person’s vulnerability and the situation’s exploitative nature can take away their freedom and capacity to make their own decisions. People may feel trapped and unable to escape their situation or tell others what is going on. People involved in exploitative stations must always be considered victims and offered appropriate support.

Where Can This Take Place? locations near to major roads and railways, bus networks, isolation in rural areas, agricultural industries, Hotels and Air BnB’s, Elderly Population, seasonal employment, adult night clubs, school campuses, parks, anywhere.

Grooming is a central part of how people are exploited. It involves building a connection with someone to coerce or deceive them into being involved in an exploitative situation.

• this could be a friendship, romantic relationship or a relationship of dependence in which the groomer provides something that is valued, such as money, gifts or acceptance

• once they have gained the person’s trust the groomer will try to isolate them and make them feel reliant and dependent

• coercion, intimidation, force and blackmail may be used to establish power and control

• people may not recognize that they have been groomed and may not view their relationship as exploitative

• grooming can happen to anyone of any age and gender

• it can take place face-to-face, via the telephone, the internet or social media – this includes social media sites, instant messaging and photo-sharing apps, and online gaming platforms. Online grooming has become a significant form of exploitation

Signs that someone is being groomed include

• becoming secretive

• isolating from existing friendships and social groups

• developing new friendships, including with friends met online

• meeting friends in unusual places

• developing a strong attachment to a particular individual, who may appear dominant and controlling

• having an older boyfriend or girlfriend

• acquiring new items such as clothes or mobile phones, without explanation

• having access to drugs and alcohol

• expressing new and strongly-held ideas, values or beliefs

Factors that can increase vulnerability to exploitation

• Being in foster care

• Being involved with a gang

• Factors that, in combination with other circumstances, may heighten someone’s vulnerability, for example a communication difficulty (this could be due to Speech, Language and Communication Needs, not having the region’s language or having a sensory impairment), having a learning disability, neurodiversity, experiencing mental or physical health difficulties, experiencing drug or alcohol misuse or experiencing financial difficulties.

• Experiencing domestic violence – either as the subject of violence or as a witness

• Experiencing past trauma or adversity, including experiences of neglect, abuse, and violence.

• Experiencing peer pressure

• Experiencing times of transition and change

• Feeling socially isolated

• Running away and Homelessness or Insecure Housing

• Living in an unsafe or unstable home environment

These experiences can have the following impacts

• increasing the level of risk people are exposed to in their daily lives

• the thought processes and behaviors developed to cope with difficult experiences can create or intensify vulnerability (for example, using drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism)

• exposure to challenging experiences may lead people to view exploitation as a normal, expected, or unavoidable part of life

People who are being exploited may not recognize that they are victims.

• they may have normalized their experiences of exploitation, especially if it’s taken place over a long time.
• they may feel dependent on their abuser or the exploitative situation or feel affection towards their abuser – this is often a consequence of being groomed.
• they may feel that they’ve willingly taken part in a situation or activity – for example they may have gained something from the situation and do not recognize that they have been exploited in return.
• they may be reluctant to engage with you, recognize that they are being harmed, or understand the importance of trying to leave – this can be due to the coercive and traumatic nature of the exploitation they have experienced.

Assumptions about people who are in an exploitative situation can include:

• assuming someone has deliberately put themselves at risk and is to blame for their involvement in a situation that has caused them harm
• assuming someone has become involved in an exploitative situation because of ‘lifestyle reasons’ and out of choice.
• being unwilling to believe that someone has been exploited, even if they disclose information that suggests this.
• assuming that continued communication with someone who’s causing harm is evidence that the person is not being harmed or coerced and is acting freely
• assuming someone is streetwise and capable of looking after themselves
• assuming someone is being difficult and does not want to receive support.

These views can lead people to overlook someone’s welfare, care, and support needs, downplay the risk of further harm. and avoid acting on information that indicates someone is being harmed.

Trauma and Adversity experienced during childhood and later life can have huge impacts on people’s lives and contribute to vulnerability around harm, abuse, and exploitation.

These experiences can have significant and life-long impacts on physical, psychological, and social development. They can increase the likelihood that people will take part in risk-taking and health-harming behaviors, and that they will become a victim or perpetrator of violence, abuse, or exploitation.

Traumatic experiences can also occur in adulthood, and have similar impacts on health, wellbeing and vulnerability to harm, abuse, and exploitation.

You can become more professionally curious and respectfully uncertain by following the points below:

1) Be alert to question in your mind why someone is behaving in a certain way. Consider what these behaviors could indicate.

2) Find out more about someone’s personal circumstances. Consider their behavior in light of what you may know about them and their situation.

3) Question the motives of anyone who is with the person. Why are they there? What is their relationship to the person? Do they appear controlling? Do they dislike leaving the person alone? Even if they appear kind and supportive, could this be a way of hiding their role in harming the person?

4) Recognize when someone is reluctant to provide a full or accurate account of events or is pretending to cooperate to avoid raising suspicions.

5) Ask questions with compassion, gently challenging what you believe may be untrue.

6) Notice if you or someone else starts to doubt that someone is a victim – consider the reasons for these doubts. Is it fear, inconvenience, expense? There is no price too high to reach out and help another human being.

7) Think vulnerability and exploitation – be intentional and actively aware of how anyone you come across may be vulnerable and could be experiencing exploitation.

How to Respond To someone You Are Concerned About:

Be Aware and Be Prepared – Educate yourself on signs of abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking and organizations and resources in the community that can help.

Be Safe and Trustworthy – Being consistently a safe place eventually may help a victimspeak up about their situation and request help.

Be Collaborative and Empowering – Encourage others in moving forward as they are ready and in the order and manner they want to, empowering them to find their way.

Be a Light in the Darkness – your genuine love and concern and caring responses will be noticed and provide initial steps of healing even during their experience of abuse, exploitation, or human trafficking.

Reporting Information

Texas – Online Report to www.iwatchtexas.org or call 844-643-2251

National Human Trafficking Hotline – Call 1-888-3737-888 or Text 233733. https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en

https://www.preventingexploitationtoolkit.org.uk

Children involved? Additionally report to www.missingkids.org

---

Thank you for reading.

• Ed’s Notes