Sex traffickers use a variety of methods to “condition” their victims including starvation, confinement, beatings, physical abuse, rape, gang rape, threats of violence to the victims and the victims’ families, forced drug use and the threat of shaming their victims by revealing their activities to their family and their families’ friends.
The National Runaway Switchboard, a 24-hour hotline, says that one of every three teens living on the street is lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. Most runaways don't need the conditioning required to be in prostitution. Runaways are taught everything they need to know about sex through sexual experiences with an adult or older child. At the time, children feel safer on the street than at home.
Between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away each year. To understand more about teen runaways, contact the National Runaway Switchboard by calling 1-800-RUNAWAY or http://www.nrscrisisline.org/
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Call 1-800-RUNAWAY if you are a teenager who is thinking of running from home, if you have a friend who has run and is looking for help, or if you are a runaway ready to go home through our Home Free program. Call if you are a teacher looking for information to pass along to your students about alternatives to running from home. Call if you care about a youth and want information on how you can help someone who may be at risk of running from home.
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