1. Loverboy Method – Through this method, the trafficker invests time in a relationship with the victim to get close to her and pretends to become her boyfriend. He convinces her to trust him and demands conditional love. (For example,: “If you love me, you’ll do this.”) He wants control and loves money. He is uncertain with details and doesn’t give specific information. After a long time of courting the victim, he moves fast when he knows he has her trust and affection.
We can prevent the Loverboy model by informing people about this recruitment method and organizing prevention activities to raise awareness through trainings, seminars, and/or round tables. It is also important to implement community development programs and involve various important community actors, such as parents, youth, priests, or doctors. Very often the lack of family love, self esteem, or appreciation of encouragement make people more vulnerable to human trafficking. It is critical when raising awareness to also address domestic violence prevention and promote healthy relationships.
2. Recruitment for False Jobs – Often times, traffickers exploit the fact that many people dream of a better life with more money. They create false job advertisements often times with opportunities that seem too good to be true (because they are!). These fake offers usually entice people by requiring little to no previous work experience or knowledge of a foreign language but offer housing and visa or travel procurement and they pay extremely well.
Prevention of this method can be done by informing people to take the necessary precautions when leaving to go abroad or even when accepting a job within the same country. For example – they need to know who their employer is and have their contact information, the address of the workplace and do extensive background research on the company.
People should also look carefully at any document or contract they sign and make sure it is in compliance with what they’ve been told about the conditions and requirements of the job. It is critical that they sign a contract only in a language they know fluently, and not in a language they are unfamiliar with. If anyone is ever asked to sign a contract in a foreign language, they have the right to take that contract with them and have it translated to ensure they know all of their rights, salary, and the contract duration. This will prevent people from becoming victims and signing contracts that unknowingly force them into slavery.
3. Recruitment for Prostitution – Prostitution is sexual exploitation and it can mean human trafficking, even in countries where it is legalized. Even though it is legalized in some countries, this does not mean illegal activities or abuses do not happen regularly or that women are being paid. It happens regularly that after girls accept a lucrative job in prostitution, their ID and papers are taken away from them and they are forced to work as sex slaves in inhumane conditions, without getting paid the money they were promised.
How can we prevent this from happening? By doing prevention campaigns on prostitution and by watching documentaries with testimonies of victims that went through it.
4. Recruitment for Video Chat – Typically, girls that are initially recruited for video chat are later forced to create pornografic material or go into prostitution. Many times people start with video chat and end up being forced to enter prostitution through manipulation and threats that their video chat movies will be sent to the girls’ families.
Be very careful. What can at first seem like an attractive job offer could turn out to be human trafficking.
