Terminology Used in Trafficking

Human Trafficking Defined

Human trafficking is the abuse and enslavement of a person so that another can profit or otherwise benefit from the victim’s labor, services, or sex acts.

Child trafficking survivors identified in the USA have included:

Adolescent and pre-teen youth living in group homes who were forced into prostitution
Boys and girls who ran away from home and exchanged a sex act for a place to sleep or something to eat
Youth raised in gangs who were forced to sell drugs or steal in order to avoid violence or personal danger
Children from developing countries who were brought to the USA to work in a relative’s store and go to school, but were instead forced into domestic slavery
Disabled young people who were forced to peddle and sell trinkets on the street for the benefit of their traffickers
Youth in detention or immigration facilities who exchanged a sex act for protection from bigger, stronger youth or staff

Specific Terminology Used in Prostitution and Sex Trafficking

Automatic — When a victim continues to follow the “pimp rules” even when his or her pimp is incarcerated or out of town. All money made while a pimp is away is turned over to pimp upon his or her return.
Bottom — A trafficker/pimp who has multiple victims under his or her control will force one victim to help supervise and control the others, conducting tasks like booking hotel rooms or posting advertisements online. The “bottom” helps the pimp enforce the rules over the other victims, but the “bottom” is also under the control of the pimp and often endures the worst abuse.
Branding — When pimps tattoo or carve their name or symbols on a victim to signify ownership.
Brothel — A place where sex is sold. It might be a strip club, private home, or the back of a business. There are often security measures in place to control the victims and screen out law enforcement.
Catch a case — Getting arrested or charged with a crime.
Choosing — When a victim is rumored to be leaving his or her current pimp for another pimp.
Choosing up — The process by which a new pimp takes “ownership” of a victim. Victims may be “transferred” from one pimp to another because they broke a rule of “the game” or because they chose to leave one pimp for another.
Circuit — A series of cities along which people in prostitution are moved. One example is the East
Coast Corridor connecting the cities of Montreal to Miami (and many cities in between).
Daddy — What pimps often require victims to call them.
Date, Trick (verb) — An encounter in which a sex act is exchanged for something of value. A person in prostitution is said to be “with a date” or “dating” or “turning a trick” or “with a trick.”
Folks, Family — A pimp.
Getting your coins — Making money by selling a sex act.
Lot Lizard — Derogatory term for a person who is being prostituted at truck stops.
Madam — A female pimp.
Mama — What some transgender traffickers require victims to call them. (This term can also have a positive connotation in the transgender community and does not automatically indicate that a youth is being trafficked or exploited.)
I. — How pimps refer to each other.
Pimp — A person who controls and sells a person for sex.
Quota — An amount of money that victims must make for their trafficker every night. Quotas vary based on location, day of the week, local events, and other factors.
Renegade — Someone involved in prostitution on his or her own and has no trafficker.
Runway, Kiddie Track — Areas where young children, usually aged 11-16, are forced to engage in street prostitution by their trafficker.
Seasoning — When a pimp breaks down victims through violence and torture to force them into a trafficking situation.
Stable — A group of victims under the control of a single pimp.
Square — People who are not involved in prostitution, commercial sexual exploitation, or human trafficking.
Squaring up — When a survivor leaves a trafficking situation.
“The life”, “The game” — The subculture of pimp-controlled sex trafficking which includes unique rules, language, and a power hierarchy.
Track, Stroll, Blade, Loop, Turf — Areas where people engage in street prostitution.
Trick (noun), John, Buyer — Person who buys sex from someone.
Turn out (noun) — A person who is new to CSEC or prostitution.
Turn out folks — A victim’s first pimp.
Walking the line — Street prostitution.
Wife-in-law, Wifey — What women/girls are required to call the other women/girls in their stable.

Language Frequently Used for Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking in Online Advertisements

Just visiting, new in town — Signifies that person in prostitution is transient or is a potential victim of child trafficking.
Barely legal, teen, playmate, fresh, clean — Indicates that person advertised is a potential victim of child trafficking.
Drugs and disease free (DDF) — Indicates that person being advertised is not drug-involved or is young.

Human Trafficking Defined

Human trafficking is the abuse and enslavement of a person so that another can profit or otherwise benefit from the victim’s labor, services, or sex acts.

Child trafficking survivors identified in the USA have included:

Adolescent and pre-teen youth living in group homes who were forced into prostitution
Boys and girls who ran away from home and exchanged a sex act for a place to sleep or something to eat
Youth raised in gangs who were forced to sell drugs or steal in order to avoid violence or personal danger
Children from developing countries who were brought to the USA to work in a relative’s store and go to school, but were instead forced into domestic slavery
Disabled young people who were forced to peddle and sell trinkets on the street for the benefit of their traffickers
Youth in detention or immigration facilities who exchanged a sex act for protection from bigger, stronger youth or staff

Specific Terminology Used in Prostitution and Sex Trafficking

Automatic — When a victim continues to follow the “pimp rules” even when his or her pimp is incarcerated or out of town. All money made while a pimp is away is turned over to pimp upon his or her return.
Bottom — A trafficker/pimp who has multiple victims under his or her control will force one victim to help supervise and control the others, conducting tasks like booking hotel rooms or posting advertisements online. The “bottom” helps the pimp enforce the rules over the other victims, but the “bottom” is also under the control of the pimp and often endures the worst abuse.
Branding — When pimps tattoo or carve their name or symbols on a victim to signify ownership.
Brothel — A place where sex is sold. It might be a strip club, private home, or the back of a business. There are often security measures in place to control the victims and screen out law enforcement.
Catch a case — Getting arrested or charged with a crime.
Choosing — When a victim is rumored to be leaving his or her current pimp for another pimp.
Choosing up — The process by which a new pimp takes “ownership” of a victim. Victims may be “transferred” from one pimp to another because they broke a rule of “the game” or because they chose to leave one pimp for another.
Circuit — A series of cities along which people in prostitution are moved. One example is the East
Coast Corridor connecting the cities of Montreal to Miami (and many cities in between).
Daddy — What pimps often require victims to call them.
Date, Trick (verb) — An encounter in which a sex act is exchanged for something of value. A person in prostitution is said to be “with a date” or “dating” or “turning a trick” or “with a trick.”
Folks, Family — A pimp.
Getting your coins — Making money by selling a sex act.
Lot Lizard — Derogatory term for a person who is being prostituted at truck stops.
Madam — A female pimp.
Mama — What some transgender traffickers require victims to call them. (This term can also have a positive connotation in the transgender community and does not automatically indicate that a youth is being trafficked or exploited.)
I. — How pimps refer to each other.
Pimp — A person who controls and sells a person for sex.
Quota — An amount of money that victims must make for their trafficker every night. Quotas vary based on location, day of the week, local events, and other factors.
Renegade — Someone involved in prostitution on his or her own and has no trafficker.
Runway, Kiddie Track — Areas where young children, usually aged 11-16, are forced to engage in street prostitution by their trafficker.
Seasoning — When a pimp breaks down victims through violence and torture to force them into a trafficking situation.
Stable — A group of victims under the control of a single pimp.
Square — People who are not involved in prostitution, commercial sexual exploitation, or human trafficking.
Squaring up — When a survivor leaves a trafficking situation.
“The life”, “The game” — The subculture of pimp-controlled sex trafficking which includes unique rules, language, and a power hierarchy.
Track, Stroll, Blade, Loop, Turf — Areas where people engage in street prostitution.
Trick (noun), John, Buyer — Person who buys sex from someone.
Turn out (noun) — A person who is new to CSEC or prostitution.
Turn out folks — A victim’s first pimp.
Walking the line — Street prostitution.
Wife-in-law, Wifey — What women/girls are required to call the other women/girls in their stable.

Language Frequently Used for Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking in Online Advertisements

Just visiting, new in town — Signifies that person in prostitution is transient or is a potential victim of child trafficking.
Barely legal, teen, playmate, fresh, clean — Indicates that person advertised is a potential victim of child trafficking.
Drugs and disease free (DDF) — Indicates that person being advertised is not drug-involved or is young.