The Myth That Keeps Kids Unsafe: What Human Trafficking Really Looks Like

Most people think human trafficking looks like a stranger grabbing someone off the street. That myth is exactly what puts kids at risk and keeps survivors silent. Julie Schwenzer sits down with Theresa Flores, a human trafficking survivor and the founder of the SOAP Project, to define trafficking in plain language and separate facts from the stories we see on TV.We talk through the real definition of human trafficking: force, fraud, or coercion used to compel commercial sex or forced labor, with someone else profiting financially. Theresa explains how trafficking can happen without anyone being physically “kidnapped,” and why the money component matters when we’re trying to understand what is trafficking and what is not. We also unpack how manipulation, blackmail, and control can trap someone even when it looks “voluntary” from the outside.Then we get painfully practical about where trafficking shows up in daily life. Theresa shares why familial trafficking is so common, why many exploited kids have a history of earlier abuse, and how LGBTQ youth who are kicked out can be pushed into survival sex. We also challenge the dangerous idea that minors are “bad kids” who choose this, and we put responsibility where it belongs: on traffickers and buyers.If you want clear human trafficking education, realistic prevention insights, and a conversation that centers survivors with honesty, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone who still believes the kidnapping myth, and leave a review so more people can find this work.To learn more about The SOAP Project visit:https://www.SOAPProject.orgThe SOAP Project 803-566-SOAP (7627)