Sex Trafficking Lawsuit
Every day, predatory sex traffickers harm millions in the United States and around the world. If you were compelled to perform commercial sex acts against your will, filing a sex trafficking lawsuit against those responsible can help you take back your life and obtain the justice you deserve.
Sex Trafficking Lawyer
The nationwide law firm of Bernstein Liebhard LLP is committed to holding businesses and individuals accountable when they profit from or enable sex trafficking. If you were sold for sex, even with your initial consent, you were a victim of sex trafficking. Filing a sex trafficking lawsuit won’t only help you take back your life, it could prevent others from being similarly exploited in the future.
Our firm is now offering free, no-obligation, and COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL legal reviews to the victims and survivors of sex trafficking. To contact a member of our legal team, please fill out our online form or call (888) 994-5118.
How Sex Trafficking Works
Human trafficking is a $32 billion business.
The International Labour Organization estimated that 40.3 million people around the world were victims of human trafficking in 2016. This includes an estimated 4.8 million women and girls, as well as men and boys, trafficked in the commercial sex trade. Nearly a quarter of those victimized by sexual enslavers were children.
Sex traffickers target their victims in a variety of ways.
It doesn’t matter if your pimp was a family member or romantic partner; you were married to or had children with them; you were lured into commercial sex by the promise of modeling work, acting or dancing; or initially gave your consent. If you were compelled through fraud, threats, debt bondage, or manipulation into performing sexual acts for money, YOU WERE TRAFFICKED.
In the United States, any child under the age of 18 induced into commercial sex is considered a trafficking victim, even if their participation wasn’t compelled through fraud, threats, debt bondage or other means of coercion.
The use of social media to recruit victims and advertise commercial sex has allowed trafficking to thrive. Many other legitimate businesses, including hotels and motels, truck stops, casinos, night clubs, cruise ships, and resorts, frequently ignore the signs of sex trafficking, permit the sale commercial sex on their premises, and profit from victims’ exploitation.
Sex Trafficking at Hotels and Motels
Hospitality-based businesses offer a level of privacy and anonymity that’s very attractive to sex traffickers, as well as their customers.
In fact, nearly 74% of sex trafficking reports logged with the National Human Trafficking Hotline between 2012 and 2016 occurred at hotels and motels. Cruise ships, casinos, resorts, and even theme parks are also frequently used by traffickers to conduct business.
There are many tell-tale signs that sex trafficking is taking place at a hospitality venue. It’s not unusual for victims to show signs of physical abuse, wear revealing clothes, or avoid eye contact or interaction with others. In many cases, they won’t have bags or luggage when checking into a hotel, and their pimp will control access to their money or ID.
Frequent visitors to their room, repeated requests for clean towels, and denying entry to housekeeping staff are also strong indicators that a hotel or motel is being used from commercial sex.
Sex Trafficking at Truck Stops
Easy access to major highways, a constant flow of truckers and other motorists, and remote locations make truck stops like Pilot, Love’s, Flying J, and Travel Centers of America an ideal venue for sex trafficking.
Traffickers frequently move their victims from one truck stop to another in order to evade law enforcement. Homeless and runaway children are especially vulnerable to pimps operating out of these businesses.
Signs that a truck stop is being used for commercial sex include:
- Vehicles that seem out of place, such as RVs or vans, especially if they remain in the truck section of the parking lot for extended periods of time.
- Individuals who are unable to speak for themselves. In many cases, sex trafficking victims are unwilling to answer simple questions like, “Does your family know where you are?” or “Do you know where you are right now?”
- CB chatter about a “commercial company” or “buyer location.” Sex traffickers are known to use these terms when advertising the availability of commercial sex via a CB radio.
- Traffickers have few qualms about beating their victims in public. Any abuse or violence could be a sign that the truck stop is being used for commercial sex.
- Individuals who linger at the truck stop for no apparent reason, especially teenage girls or boys, are often the victims of trafficking.
- Massage parlors may operate in or near the truck stop.
Social Media Platforms and Sex Trafficking
Social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as dating apps like Tinder and PlentyOfFish, provide sex traffickers with a cheap and easy way to advertise their services. These predators also turn to social media to recruit victims, with 8% of trafficking survivors reporting they first made contact with their controller online.
While technology companies have the ability to develop algorithms to detect sex trafficking red flags in advertisements and online posts, they continue to look the other way and allow pimps to exploit their social media platforms.
Begin to Reclaim Your Life. Learn More About Filing a Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Today.
Any business that enables, ignores, or profits from sex trafficking deserves to be held accountable.
You can begin doing that today, by filing a sex trafficking lawsuit. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is ready to help you speak out, take down the entities that supported your exploitation, and obtain the financial compensation you need to move forward and rebuild your life.
All of our attorneys work on contingency, so you won’t have to pay any legal fees unless your case is successful and we win financial compensation on your behalf.
If you’re ready to start reclaiming your life, please call (888) 994-5118 to arrange for your free, no-obligation, and COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL sex trafficking lawsuit review today.
- dhs.gov (N.D.) “What is Human Trafficking” https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking
- International Labour Organization (N.D) “Forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking.” http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang–en/index.htm
- polarisproject.org (N.D.) “The Facts” https://polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/facts
- HumanTraffickingHotlne.org (2018) “National Hotline Cases Occurring in Hotels and Motels” https://humantraffickinghotline.org/resources/national-hotline-cases-occurring-hotels-and-motels
- dhs.gov (N.D.) “Human Trafficking and the Hospitality Industry” https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/hospitalityindustry
- HumanTraffickingHotline.org (N.D.) “Truck Stop Based” https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sex-trafficking-venuesindustries/truck-stop-based
- Phys.org (2019) “Study Details Link Between Social Media and Sex Trafficking” https://phys.org/news/2018-10-link-social-media-sex-trafficking.html
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