Human Trafficking Training Lesson Three: Grooming "The goal of the grooming process is to establish a relationship of trust by nurturing and pretending to care for their victim and then casually move them into the life of sex trafficking. " What is Grooming? The Use of Grooming The grooming process is the most commonly used form of deception employed by traffickers. Grooming is a process a trafficker uses to "mentor" a young victim into human trafficking. The grooming process can range anywhere from between 30 to 60 days. During this time traffickers will work diligently to establish a relationship with their target victim. How a Trafficker “Grooms” His Target for the Life of Trafficking
In-person grooming often entails the trafficker posing as a “boyfriend pimp.” This means that over the next 30 to 60 days the trafficker will perform all of his “boyfriendly duties” such as taking his victim out on “dates,” buying his victims clothes and shoes, taking his victim for rides in his car, and tell his victim how much he loves and cares for them. The trafficker will play his role as a “boyfriend” so well that his victim will truly believe that their “boyfriend” really does love them. We have all seen a good romance in which a girl meets the man of her dreams and falls madly in love. This storyline is absolutely no different than the one a trafficker uses. The trafficker will do everything possible to get his victim to believe that they are living out a fairy-tale romance and little by little, day by day his victim will fall more and more in love with him making it that much easier for the trafficker to lure his victim into the world of sex trafficking. Online Grooming The most important thing to remember when it comes to online grooming is that the person behind the computer is most likely not who they say they are. Because you cannot see the face behind the screen, a predator can adopt the role of any person they want. They can be a 14 year old girl pretending to have problems with her parents or they can be a sixteen year old high school football player suffering from a heartbreak. There is no limit on the lies a predator will make up to lure in his or her victim. They will work diligently to gain trust from their victim by pretending to have the same problems with school, family, and friends. By doing this, it puts them at the same level of their victim and builds stronger bonds of trust. Predators are using the vulnerability of young people to manipulate them in different ways. They become a young person's "best friend" and make them feel comfortable enough to meet them in person. Online predators and traffickers find their victims by pretending to be in that same teen stage of learning -- navigating the new and often exciting issues of young adult life. A common type of crisis predators use is the "ups-and-downs-of-relationships-between-teens-and-parents." Predators see tremendous opportunities to bond with a teen over how they both "hate their parents." Some predators even know how to do a search within websites to find certain phrases that identify easy targets. Phrases like "I hate my life,"and "I hate my mom," allow predators to skip over millions of teens to find the ones who are most vulnerable. Predators know that helping a teen talk through a crisis of love, relationships and sex creates an incredibly strong bond of closeness. Predators pretend to be going through the same kinds of crises and provide the teens opportunities to talk each other through them. "Friending" on social network sites gives predators access to phone numbers, names of schools and photographs. Everything the target says online becomes what the predator uses to gain a common experience resulting in closeness.
VIDEOS Video Name: What I’ve Been Through is Not Who I Am Time: 2:04-2:48, (short version) 2:04-5:02 (long detailed version) Summary: Explains the Grooming Process of Traffickers
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