International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 3 2022 78
The Power of Career Counseling:
Preventing Sex Trafficking
Krystal D. Humphreys
Department of Counseling, Midwestern State University
Wendy Helmcamp
Department of Counseling, Midwestern State University
Janet Hicks
Department of Counseling, Belmont University
Abstract: Human trafficking is quickly becoming one of the world’s largest criminal industries. Many of its victims
are children and adolescents. Traffickers often prey on the vulnerable, promising them a better life. Tactics, such
as grooming, coerce victims into prostitution or other forms of human trafficking. This paper reports research on
generational changes between Millennials and Generation Z that increase susceptibility to sex trafficking. Based on
interviews conducted with school counselors, low personal achievement and poverty may increase a youth’s chance of
being sex trafficked. Because of this, career counseling offers a realistic method for achieving self-sufficiency through
future job opportunities. This article offers information on sex trafficking and details specific career counseling
strategies to prevent youth susceptibility to sex trafficking.
Keywords: human trafficking, victim, children, adolescents, grooming, coerce, susceptibility, career counseling.
Human trafficking is growing at an unimaginable
rate. In 2016, human trafficking was estimated to be
a $32 billion per year industry and is now estimated
to be a $150 billion per year industry (Traffick911,
2019). In 2015, 27 million people were estimated to
be in slavery today, the number is closer to 40 million
(Traffick911, 2019). This rapid increase in numbers
is concerning and indicates that more action must be
taken to prevent this issue. Despite efforts to assist
in the recovery of sex trafficking victims, a dearth of
specific prevention programs exists (Ward, 2018).
The outcome of the research reported here, involving
interviews with school counselors, indicates that
counselors can become part of needed preventive
efforts using Humphreys’s (2017) career-counseling-
related protocols. These enhance personal achievement
by allowing youth to work toward and focus on a life
without poverty and help inoculate potential victims
from the grooming strategies often employed by sex
traffickers.
Human Trafficking Background
Definition
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) (2016), human trafficking is
the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring,
or receipt of persons. For a crime to be considered
trafficking, three components must be present
(UNODC, 2016). The first component is an act, such
as recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt
of persons. The second component is a means, such
as force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse
of power, and giving payments or benefits. The final
component is purpose, which includes exploitation,
prostitution, sexual exploitation, forced labor, slavery,
organ removal, etc. (UNODC, 2016). Victims are
most often recruited into the commercial sex industry
through these tactics (Polaris Project, 2019).
doi.org/10.54208/1000/0003/007

ISSN: 2710-4028 DOI: https://doi.org/10.54208/0003 79
Types of Trafficking
International Sex Trafficking
International human trafficking occurs across
international borders and, at times, may take
advantage of immigrants looking for a better life.
According to the United Nations (2016), almost 80% of
international human trafficking involves some form of
sexual exploitation. Between 14,500 and 17,500 foreign
nationals are trafficked into the United States annually
(ACLU, 2022). World Vision Policy Brief (n.d.) states
that Asia’s red-light district is one of the largest areas
in the world to enslave sex trafficking victims. This
district’s three-square-kilometer area houses over
40,000 working victims and their children. According
to this organization, 95% of the children born in the
red-light district will become prostitutes (SOSI, 2016).
Domestic Sex Trafficking
Although the prevalence of international trafficking
is high, the number of U.S. citizens trafficked within
the U.S. is even greater (ACLU, 2022). Domestic sex
trafficking occurs when citizens of the United States
are trafficked within the country’s borders and can
occur within an individual’s neighborhood, across
cities, or state lines (Polaris Project, 2019). Trafficking
occurs in various places, including schools, strip clubs,
massage parlors, truck stops, movie theatres, sporting
events, nail salons, and malls (Smith, 2014). Internet
sites such as Craig’s List, Facebook, and Backpage.com
have been known to post fake advertisements to lure
victims. In 2018, President Trump signed the Fight
Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) into law, allowing
the Federal Bureau of Investigation to dismantle
Backpage.com (The United States Department of
Justice, 2018). Unfortunately, website owners continue
to find ways to work around this law and find loopholes
to continue sex trafficking in their overseas operations.
Today, multiple pieces of legislation are being prepared
to continue the fight against human trafficking. For
example, the Human Trafficking and Exploitation Bill
(S. 3333) would allow the creation of curricula to train
school personnel to better understand and prevent sex
trafficking (GovTrack.us, 2020).
Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking
United States federal law states that any child under
18 used to commit commercial sex acts is considered
a victim of sex trafficking (United States Department
of State, 2008). Once a victim is 18 years old, however,
law enforcement labels these victims as prostitutes.
This legal definition is unfortunate because up to 70%
of prostitutes were coerced into the industry before
the age of 18 (Kotrla, 2010), and the average age of
enslavement is between 11 and 14 (Ark of Hope, 2019).
This situation creates a confusing and controversial
boundary between what defines a willing prostitute
and what defines a coerced victim. It also leaves victims
dependent upon traffickers for survival as they lack life
skills they need career counseling to have lives free
from bondage.
The Perpetrators
Individual traffickers are often familiar with their victims
and may include family members, acquaintances,
friends, gang members, or pimps (Smith, 2014). They
use tactics, such as grooming, to build trust over time
and lure victims into industries with the promise of a
better life (Humphreys, 2017). Traffickers are patient
and spend months or even years grooming their victims
(Hayes, 2013). Once they have groomed their victims,
they brand them to show ownership and give them
to the “bottom girl,” who prepares them for work in
the sex industry (Humphreys, 2017). Bottom girls are
often previous victims who, over time, become loyal to
traffickers to survive.
Risk Factors
Many risk factors are associated with becoming sex
trafficked. One of the most at-risk populations are
runaways or homeless youth (Humphreys, 2017).
Traffickers often wait outside schools, libraries, or
other facilities where homeless youth may be present
(Alliance for Freedom Restoration and Justice [AFRJ],
n.d.). In interviews conducted by AFRJ (n.d.) for
their outreach program, teenagers reported being
approached by pimps within minutes of sitting on the
steps of the Dallas Texas Public Library. They were
promised food, shelter, and a stable job if they entered
the trafficker’s vehicle.