Sarah is a young woman who has had a difficult life. She struggles to make ends meet, and past relationships have left her heartbroken.

One day, while out with friends, she meets Mark. He showers her with gifts, cares for her, listens to her, texts and calls her every day.

Over time, Sarah falls deeply in love with Mark. Mark makes her feel like he is the only one she can trust, that her friends and family could never love her or take care of her the way he does.

He tells Sarah that he does so much for him, and that the least she can do is contribute to their finances more. He pressures her into creating pornographic content to sell online. He promises that they will make enough money to enjoy an amazing life together.

But she hates creating the pornographic content and is deeply uncomfortable while Mark controls all of their income. She wants to break things off, but Mark gets aggressive and violent.

Sarah feels trapped.

This scenario illustrates the “Loverboy Method” of trafficking, also known as “Romeo Pimping”. A trafficker charms, isolates, and manipulates a victim through a romantic relationship in order to exploit a victim for commercial sex.

Daniela, a 15-year-old high schooler, receives a message on Instagram:

– Hello, my dear. I came across your profile, and I have to say, you are so beautiful! I actually run a modeling agency and we would love to work with you.

Daniela looks through the woman’s account, amazed at her number of followers and how beautiful she was, how luxurious her posts were. Daniela  replies, asking where the agency is. She tells her where it is and asks if she could come in so that they can take some Polaroids. Later that week, Daniela takes the train to the address. When she arrives, she sees the woman and another man with a camera. Daniela feels excited about the potential of a modeling career.

They start with a few photos, but the woman tells Daniela that she has to change into better clothes to get the right shots. She has Daniela change into very revealing clothes for the next few photos. Afterwards, another man came into the studio. The woman instructs Daniela, that he has a lot of contacts in the industry, that if she made did what he wanted, she could have a glamorous lifestyle too. The woman pressures Daniela into having sex with him. She tells her that this is the way she can succeed. The woman tells Daniela that she has more contacts with high fashion brands, and that making them happy could make her modeling dreams come true.

This scenario illustrates sex trafficking through promises of a career or of making the victim’s dreams come true. Here, the trafficker uses Instagram to lure a young victim, which has become more common with the use of social media.

Scenario One: Vincent is an 11-year-old boy. His parents struggle to pay rent and last night their landlord threatened to kick them out. At night, his mother sells sex, but his parents argue about the money not being enough. They tell Vincent that he can help their family and his siblings. They force him into commercial sex.

Scenario Two: Gemma is a ten-year-old girl. Her younger sister Rosa is very sick. Their mother says that it would be impossible to pay for her medicine unless they had more money. She tells Gemma that they can pay for Rosa’s medicine if Gemma helps her mother make money online. Gemma’s mother creates child sexual abuse material of Gemma, telling her that it’s okay because she is her mother. She sells the material online.

It is important to note that traffickers may not always be strangers. They can be friends, neighbors, partners, or family members. Scenario 1 illustrates familial sex trafficking through prostitution. Scenario 2 shows how children may often be exploited for child sexual abuse material consumed online.