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On November 3, It's Happening Right Here, a documentary on human trafficking by Operation Underground Railroad, was released in select theaters.

The documentary touched upon a variety of important issue relating to human trafficking and work to fight against this form of modern-day slavery.

Grooming, online targeting, and tactics of human traffickers

It's Happening Right Here shined a light on how human traffickers often rely upon the internet, using grooming methods to find new victims.

Grooming can happen over a period of months; traffickers strike up faux friendships with their targets, many of whom are kids. In doing so, traffickers then work to gain trust and secure leverage, the latter often happening via sextortion.

Sextortion involves predators building up enough rapport to get the individual to send compromising photos of themselves. Then, after these photos are sent, the targets (many of whom are often children) become subjected to blackmail.

Human traffickers ultimately aim to fill needs and/or suss out vulnerabilities within their targets.

Efforts from law enforcement

It's Happening Right Here also showed body camera footage of police officers capturing and arresting traffickers in real time. Many of these traffickers spent weeks or months targeting whom they thought to be underage children.

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Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson also spoke about the importance of a greater law enforcement presence in tackling human trafficking. Swanson stated every community nationwide needs a division dedicated to fighting this crime.

Stories from survivors

It's Happening Right Here gave a voice to women and girls who survived human trafficking. Survivors warned this issue is a lot more prevalent than most people believe.

Survivors also spoke about the buyers who sexually assaulted them while they were trafficked. One standout from a woman noted the buyers looking like regular men, rather than stereotypical creeps.

Another survivor mentioned being as young as ten years old during her time undergoing trafficking. She also said once she began puberty, the buyers of human traffickers lost interest in her.

The bottom line

Human trafficking exists. Sadly, it is not going away, but it's becoming more prevalent. Raising awareness remains more imperative than ever.

Parents need to know how to keep their children safe, especially in the age of the internet.

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According to Polaris Project, the internet is the main recruiting location for human trafficking. Traffickers rely on social media, direct messages, and even video games to make contact with their targets.

Communities across the nation are employing more efforts to educate people about human trafficking. Hopefully, this trend will persist as the fight against human trafficking continues.

Anyone who wishes to report what they believe to be human trafficking can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline via phone at 1 (888) 373-7888 or by text at 233733.