By Linda A Smith Samantha Healy Vardaman Melissa A Snow

The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: America’s Prostituted Children 39she is both unable and unwilling to provide the level of information law enforcement requires to pursue aninvestigation. These same tactics exacerbate a potential victim’s vulnerable state and protect the trafficker.Traffickers use and encourage cultural attitudes which view prostituted children not as victims but asdelinquents. This serves to isolate the victim as traffickers tell them that seeking help is a waste of timebecause no one would believe them since they are “just prostitutes.” A study on the demand for sextrafficking conducted by Shared Hope International found that traffickers often provided drugs to theirvictims to both sell and take, further marginalizing and criminalizing the minor. The goals of traffickersare three-fold: keep the victim under control; make money; and lower the child’s credibility in the eyesof law enforcement and the community so she is not believed when disclosing information about theexploitation.Pimp-control hierarchy.Trafficker/PimpFacilitator(taxis, advertisers, porous security,corrupt authorities, etc.)Partner/Traffickerin TrainingBottom Bitch/GirlVictimsLaw enforcement agents report that the youth they see victimized through domestic minor sex traffickingare usually exceptionally vulnerable and have low self-esteem. Though traffickers seek out youth withexisting gaps in their support network or low self-esteem, they also create and expand these vulnerabilities.There are certain common tactics that traffickers employ in order to break down a child’s sense of control,worth, and autonomy.ManipulationWhile every tactic used by a trafficker/pimp has some element of manipulation, the subtlety of themanipulation is often overlooked by both the victim and responders to sex trafficking, thus it is worthexamining as a separate and purposeful tactic. Traffickers/pimps utilize manipulation to gain and maintaincontrol over their victims. One example is a trafficker’s method of maintaining internal controloverhis “stable” (the children or adults being prostituted by him). Traffickers commonly use emotionalmanipulation, such as favoring one girl over the others with frequent changes to the favored position, as