Love Captured Experiment

Understand

Human trafficking can hide in plain sight, disguised as a love story. Contrary to popular misconceptions, sex trafficking rarely begins with kidnapping by a stranger. Instead, sex traffickers often are an intimate partner, grooming their victims by using love to manipulate them into cooperating in their own exploitation.

Did you see a love story or a trafficking story? Understand the signs so you can take action.

Arranging a sale

Traffickers use texting to advertise victims, negotiate prices, and arrange meetings with buyers.

Financial Control

The trafficker takes control of the victim’s money or forces them to earn money in exploitative ways.

Ignoring Concern

People who are trafficked may disregard warnings from others due to manipulation by traffickers.

Isolation

Traffickers relocate victims to motels, or steal their phones, to cut off contact from their support networks.

Buyer

Buyers, or "johns," purchase sexual services, exploiting victims who have been coerced into the sex trade.

Drink Spiking

Drink spiking and drugging is used to incapacitate victims, making them vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

Gift Giving

Traffickers use gifts like clothing or jewelry to build trust during the grooming process, creating psychological bonds that make it easier to manipulate victims.

Non-Consensual Sexual Photos

Sexual images are used as blackmail, threatening to share them publicly to deter victims from seeking help.

Physical Dominance

Intimidation or violence is used to instill fear and assert authority, ensuring victims remain compliant.

This isn’t a complete list of trafficking signs. Other signs of trafficking that hide in plain sight include:

Sudden withdrawal from social life
No access to I.D. or passport
Unexplained wealth despite no clear employment
Constantly accompanied by a controlling older partner
Signs of physical abuse, malnutrition, or exhaustion
Hidden or suspicious tattoos/brands
Fearful behavior, flinching, avoiding eye contact
Expressions of shame, self-harm, or suicidal thoughts
Social media shifting to explicit content
Dressing inappropriately for the weather
Multiple phones or social media accounts

If you see signs of human trafficking, don’t intervene—call 911 for immediate danger. Otherwise, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, text 233733, or visit humantraffickinghotline.org. Additional hotlines are available through the U.S. Department of State.

Act

By unmasking these false love stories, we can protect victims and hold traffickers accountable. Help ensure victims are identified and rescued, and legal action is taken against traffickers.

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