#TRAFFICBOT ONLINE SERIES#

Our prototype system, TrafficBot, is being developed to provide a comprehensive view of the Internet resources associated with the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Moreover, often posts advertising minors use deceptive and clandestine language to avoid detection by authorities. It is important to note that only a subset of the total number of posts on these sites can be assumed to be indicative of minor sex trafficking. Advertisements and discussions regarding consenting, licit activity is mixed with information about services with underage and/or trafficked persons or otherwise illegal activity. As we have seen, the Internet contains a wide variety of material dealing with EMS. Besides the open material, there are also password-protected “members only” forums on these and other sites.

Open sites believed to host “john board” bulletin board and/or chat rooms where clients of sexual services communicate include and. However, several other sites, including, ,, ,, and continue to host ads for EMS, where underage and/or trafficked persons may be involved. Under pressure, Craigslist quickly removed the ads and began policing the categories under which they were posted.

#TRAFFICBOT ONLINE SERIES#

In a widely publicized series of stories in 2010, the popular classified ads site Craigslist was found to host many ads for prostitution operations fronting as EMS. In particular, the clients (“johns”) share notes about facilities, escort services, and particular experiences and individuals using online bulletin boards (“john boards”) as well as social media, including both private and public forums. The facilities and their services, both licit and illicit, may be the subject of reviews, discussions, and/or third-party directories on the Internet. Besides use of cell phones, some services may employ texting and social media to communicate with their clients. Escort and massage services (EMS) serving as fronts for prostitution and other sexual activities advertise the availability of the trafficked girls and women using online classified sites such as Craigslist and social media such as MySpace. As with licit activities, the use of the Internet in child sexual abuse is increasing with greater use of digital media. All these reasons contribute even more to how and why this problem deserves greater attention. For example, simply to take a minor (in non-custodial context) across state lines is prima facie evidence of kidnapping, but would not necessarily be so in case of an adult. Indeed, the scope of activities that constitute a crime may be considerably broader when the victim is a child. Similarly, the penalties for subjecting children to sexual exploitation presumably are higher than with adults.Law enforcement interventions may be more involved in the case of underage prostitutes (diversion rather than arrest, etc.).

Adults are more likely to be arrested and sentenced (and thus returned to the streets) expeditiously.Accordingly, pimps coach minor prostitutes to claim to be adults, for various reasons: Since they operate in more open environments, the prostituted women and children are often the first to be arrested when law enforcement acts. Besides the core crime of procuring, the pimps may also be prosecuted for child abuse, sexual abuse, imprisonment, slavery, and kidnapping. Combating child trafficking proceeds along multiple fronts. Children are often traded between pimps and/or moved between various locations, both to evade prosecution and to further their disorientation and hence controllability. As with trafficked women, the trafficked children are controlled using a combination of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse (or the threat of abuse) as well as the use of drugs and alcohol to break down their defenses. For example, the FBI’s Innocence Lost Initiative seeks to prevent and combat exploitation of minors, divert minors from prostitution and other associated crimes, and recover children. in prostitution as adults, and be involved in violent crimes later in life.

Trafficbot online