Signs that a Person Might be Trafficked
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime developed a comprehensive list of trafficking indicators to help the public recognize the signs a person may have been trafficked. Some of these indicators are listed below.
See our online course, Human Trafficking: Canada is Not Immune for a full list of indicators.
A person may be trafficked if they:
- Cannot leave their job to find another one
- Do not have control over their wages or money
- Work but do not get paid normal wages
- Have no choice about hours worked or other working conditions
- Work long hours, lives at a work site, or is picked up and driven to and from work
- Show signs of physical abuse or injury
- Are accompanied everywhere by someone who speaks for him/her
- Appear to be fearful of and or under the control of another person
- May have health issues that have not been attended to
- Owe money to their employer or another person who they feel honour bound to repay
- May describe moving or changing jobs suddenly and often
- Are unfamiliar with the neighbourhood where they live or work
- Are not working in the job originally promised to them
- Are travelling with minimal or inappropriate luggage/belongings
- Lack identification, passport or other travel documents
- Are forced to provide sexual services in a strip club, massage parlour, brothel or other locations
- May appear to be malnourished
A trafficked person may be reluctant to seek help because they:
- Are threatened that if they tell anyone, they or their families will be hurt
- May have complex relationships with their traffickers that involve deep levels of psychological conditioning based on fear or misplaced feelings of love
- Do not see themselves as a trafficked person or victim
- May be unfamiliar with their surrounding and do not know who to trust
- Do not know help exists or where to go for it
- Fear law enforcement and other authorities
- Are embarrassed or humiliated
- May be addicted to drugs
- May be in debt to their traffickers
- May be sending much needed money back 'home' and worry about not being able to do this
- Fear being deported if they are from another country
- May have limited English skills