The Crime of Sex Trafficking
WHAT IS SEX TRAFFICKING?
Sex trafficking is a crime that involves recruiting individuals, transporting and coercing them into sexual exploitation against their will. This can involve force, fraud, or manipulation, with traffickers controlling victims through violence, threats, debt bondage, or psychological manipulation. Victims may be forced to engage in prostitution, pornography, or other sexual acts for the benefit of traffickers, who profit from their exploitation.
WHERE DOES IT HAPPEN?
Trafficking is an international and domestic crime. U.S.-based trafficking networks & individual traffickers operate within America's schools and neighborhoods, among people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Victims trafficked can be of any age, gender, or background. Listen to the stories of Kate and Jessa, and hear how Keeya fell through the cracks.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
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Become a Bride for Justice
When you choose a veil from Unveil It, your veil becomes more than a beautiful statement—you're making a profound difference. With every purchase, 25% of the proceeds go to the Unveil It Fund, supporting survivors by raising awareness, providing legal aid, and offering critical aftercare. Your love story can help a victim rewrite her story. -
Take Action and Be a Voice for Change
There are many ways you can stand up for justice and empower victims and survivors. Host or attend local awareness events, volunteer with Unveil It at bridal shows, or donate to the Unveil It Fund. Your contribution will support nonprofits that provide essential legal services, survivor care, and education, spreading hope and, illuminate the path to justice. Join the fight and stand in solidarity with victims and survivors.
Traffickers
Sex traffickers can fit many profiles, but they typically share certain characteristics:
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Possess a willingness to exploit others for profit.
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Have a lack of empathy for their victims.
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They can be men, women, and even high school students.
NOTE: In many cases, victims of sex trafficking do know their traffickers. Traffickers often build relationships with their victims before exploiting them. This relationship can take various forms, such as a romantic partner, family member, friend, or employer.
Victims
We make a distinction between sex work and
sex trafficking, which is a crime. While sex workers may choose to engage in sex work, sex trafficking involves the coercion or exploitation of individuals through force, fraud, or manipulation, and it is illegal. Sex trafficking victims can be of any age, but the most vulnerable age group to sex trafficking is typically children and adolescents, particularly those between the ages of 12 and 17 vulnerable to exploitation, lack of life experience, increased independence, with a desire for autonomy.
Key points to understand:
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Trafficking victims have not consented and have no autonomy, or they are minors and therefore are not legally able to consent.
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They may have been coerced under the threat of violence or because they needed resources such as food or shelter making their situations vastly different from those who engage voluntarily.
Join us in the fight to turn victims into survivors!
