Considerations of Vulnerabilities to being Sex Trafficked

• Students with lower cognitive abilities tend to think in ‘black & white’. Therefore, complex situations that require abstract thinking might make them more vulnerable.
• Students with disabilities might use lower cognitive abilities as they step into a more complex world fueled by changing hormones and dynamic interpersonal relationships – both in person and online.
• Students with disabilities may not be able to verbally communicate their thoughts or feelings about situations.
• Students with disabilities tend to have less power in relationships, which makes them vulnerable to being controlled.
• Students with disabilities may not know how to interpret their intuition when their ‘gut’ is telling them something is wrong.
• Students with disabilities may have trouble discerning who is ‘safe’ and who is not safe.
• Students with disabilities may be easily controlled by people who are supposed to love them, i.e.
  parents, uncles, aunts, cousins, close family friends, boyfriends – all of which could have potential
  for placing a student in a trafficking situation.
• Students with disabilities may not understand boundaries of being touched and giving touch.
• Students with disabilities may not be able to recognize false promises, false love, false affection,
  false gifts, etc.
• Students with disabilities could easily misunderstand ‘fake love’ when seeking out real love.