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robotnique t1_je36yqb wrote

Reply to comment by dashingthrough in Attempted Kidnapping by EllieAntsRAwesome

The truth is that there is a lot of unwarranted hysteria about sex trafficking. You get these weird rumors passed around suburbia that sex traffickers are sneaking about and marking the cars of single women in shopping malls and other absurd things. And if you take the time to research the trafficking that largely occurs, it almost never involves snatching somebody off the street.

And I was replying to somebody who said that things "didn't add up" and I was trying to explain why they might feel that to be the case.

OP was the victim of a violent crime, and luckily was not a further victim of a worse crime. I'm certainly not lecturing her nor even directly addressing her.

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borg359 t1_je484vx wrote

You took the time out of your day to write a comment downplaying sex trafficking. That’s the issue you’re tackling today.

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dman7456 t1_je4wc35 wrote

Misinformation about sex trafficking is dangerous. It has historically been used as a cover for draconian laws and enforcement against sex workers, who are often charged with sex trafficking crimes for as little as letting a fellow sex worker use their apartment. I went to a long talk on the subject by a former sex worker a few years ago.

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eponinesflowers t1_je52gcu wrote

No, I work for an anti-trafficking organization and they are absolutely correct. We receive a lot of tips that have no correlation to trafficking, such as “I saw two men with children, they must be involved in trafficking” or similar vaguely suspicious situations with no concrete trafficking indicators. It is dangerous and harmful to spread misinformation about trafficking, and it redirects resources for trafficking victims and survivors towards non-substantive reports, making it more difficult for people who are experiencing trafficking to get the help that they need

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borg359 t1_je6dun9 wrote

It what you’re doing is also harmful. Instead of pointing out what real sex trafficking may look like, you’re basically telling people that your suspicions are false and it’s likely not sex trafficking. The exact opposite of what raising awareness of sex trafficking should look like.

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eponinesflowers t1_je6jm8a wrote

Thank you so much for telling me that I don’t know how to do my job and that I’m not aware of what trafficking recruitment patterns look like. I love how you have a problem with professionals in the anti-trafficking field providing information about what trafficking actually looks like.

How many trafficking victims and survivors have you personally spoken with? How much trafficking data have you taken and/or analyzed to determine what are legitimate trafficking patterns and what is misinformation? How many talks have you attended that discuss trafficking misinformation and disinformation? I would love to hear what expertise you have in this field, since you’re so quick to dismiss my experiences and patronize me

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borg359 t1_je6kmcp wrote

But you didn’t actually say what real trafficking looks like. That’s my point. All you did was discourage the possibility that it could be sex trafficking.

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eponinesflowers t1_je6lcd6 wrote

I addressed in another comment that the vast majority of sex traffickers recruit potential victims by coercing them into a romantic/sexual relationship and then force them into engaging in commercial sex against their will. It is very rare for traffickers to abduct strangers off the street and force them into trafficking. There is a ton of information online from legitimate sources that are working to combat trafficking, I can’t do all of the work for you.

But you didn’t actually answer any of the questions that I asked you

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borg359 t1_je7514c wrote

Well your questions were irrelevant to my point.

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eponinesflowers t1_je75ttl wrote

They were extremely relevant to the conversation at hand, I asked how much experience you have in anti-trafficking work since you were denigrating my experiences as someone who works in the field. You quickly dismissed my points and told me that I don’t know how to raise awareness for trafficking, so I figured you must have some knowledge about trafficking awareness due to your willingness to criticize how I broach the topic

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borg359 t1_je7mmvk wrote

You’re still missing the entire point of my original comment. Anyway, have a good day.

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eponinesflowers t1_je7pgvb wrote

And you’re still being condescending to me instead of actually explaining your point, which includes how you know the best tactics for trafficking awareness.

Thank you, you too

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borg359 t1_jecb5d7 wrote

I don’t know the best tactics for trafficking awareness, that’s the whole point of my original comment. Coming on here and saying “it’s likely never sex trafficking” does not help raise awareness, if anything it does the opposite. I never said I was an expert, but apparently you are, but you took the time to chid OP and remind everyone that it’s likely not sex trafficking. Thanks.

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