By: Linda A. Smith Samantha Healy Vardaman Melissa A. Snow

The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: America’s Prostituted Children 39
she is both unable and unwilling to provide the level of information law enforcement requires to pursue an
investigation. These same tactics exacerbate a potential victim’s vulnerable state and protect the traffi cker.
Traffi ckers use and encourage cultural attitudes which view prostituted children not as victims but as
delinquents. This serves to isolate the victim as traffi ckers tell them that seeking help is a waste of time
because no one would believe them since they are “just prostitutes.” A study on the demand for sex
traffi cking conducted by Shared Hope International found that traffi ckers often provided drugs to their
victims to both sell and take, further marginalizing and criminalizing the minor. The goals of traffi ckers
are three-fold: keep the victim under control; make money; and lower the child’s credibility in the eyes
of law enforcement and the community so she is not believed when disclosing information about the
exploitation.
Pimp-control hierarchy.
Facilitator
(taxis, advertisers, porous security,
corrupt authorities, etc.)
Traffi cker/Pimp
Partner/Traffi cker
in Training
Bottom Bitch/Girl
Victims
Law enforcement agents report that the youth they see victimized through domestic minor sex traffi cking
are usually exceptionally vulnerable and have low self-esteem. Though traffi ckers seek out youth with
existing gaps in their support network or low self-esteem, they also create and expand these vulnerabilities.
There are certain common tactics that traffi ckers employ in order to break down a child’s sense of control,
worth, and autonomy.
Manipulation
While every tactic used by a traffi cker/pimp has some element of manipulation, the subtlety of the
manipulation is often overlooked by both the victim and responders to sex traffi cking, thus it is worth
examining as a separate and purposeful tactic. Traffi ckers/pimps utilize manipulation to gain and maintain
control over their victims. One example is a traffi cker’s method of maintaining internal controlover
his “stable” (the children or adults being prostituted by him). Traffi ckers commonly use emotional
manipulation, such as favoring one girl over the others with frequent changes to the favored position, as