How To Recognize Grooming?

Are you or someone you know being groomed for the sex trade? We may wonder how so many women and teens become involved in sex trafficking and how does it even start. The pimp/ trafficker knows what girls to choose and how to get them involved by “grooming” them. Grooming can even happen with middle class girls, though many girls who have been in foster care seem to be more vulnerable it can happen to anyone. We thought we would share the six stages of grooming to offer a better understanding, as well as know what to look for if it is possibly happening to ourselves, friend’s or loved ones. A trafficker or pimp will sometimes have a younger man or women work for them and befriend or act as a boyfriend to use in grooming.

Six Stages of Grooming:

1. Targeting the Victim

• The pimp or trafficker finds women with noticeable vulnerabilities, emotional neediness, low self-esteem and economic distress.
• Social media apps make this even easier and allows pimp/trafficker to present as someone else.

2. Gaining Trust and Information

• Gaining information on the victim is key for the trafficker.
• The trafficker gains this information through befriending the victim, as well as talking with the victim’s friends and family. Traffickers often mix well with others and know how to socialize well with others to gain even more trust so that family and friends’ are unsuspecting.

3. Filling a Need

• The information that the trafficker gains is used to fill a need. This makes the victim dependent on the trafficker for ie. the trafficker will act the victims boyfriend, buying jewelry.

4. Isolation

• The trafficker forms an attachment with the victim and is able to distance the victim from family and friends where applicable. 
• The trafficker uses manipulation and control.

5. Abuse Begins

• Trafficker tells the victim that everything that he or she has given the victim needs to repaid whether the trafficker has bought the victim food, jewelry, a phone, rent etc.
• The trafficker demands sex for the payment. 

6. Maintain Control

• Trafficker maintains control of the victim through threats, violence, fear and blackmail. At some points the trafficker will get the victim addicted to drugs and will control them by giving them drugs in exchange for sex. 

It is very difficult for the victim to leave the relationship because now a trauma bond has been formed.

Some info obtained from fighttoendexploitation.org