Abolition: the action or an act of abolishing a system, practice, or institution. (Oxford English Dictionary)

Boyfriend: in the context of human trafficking, a term used by a girl to describe a man with whom she is romantically entangled and by whom she is controlled, both emotionally and physically. A “boyfriend” uses his control to coerce and manipulate a girl to defend his often violent actions, to sell herself for sex, use drugs, and to take part in other illegal activities.

Buyer: a person who solicits sex from prostitutes. Also referred to as a “date,” “trick” or “john.”

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE): The practice of a person, generally an adult, achieving sexual gratification, financial gain or advancement through the abuse or exploitation of a child’s sexuality. (Hidden in Plain View)

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC): When a child is sexually abused in exchange for financial or other economic gain. May or may not involve monetary payment. (Hidden in Plain View)

CSEC: an acronym for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (see above), also referred to as “CSEC”

Date: a person who solicits sex from prostitutes. Also referred to as a “buyer,” “trick” or “john.”

Debt-bondage: an illegal practice in which traffickers tell their victims that they owe money (often relating to the victims’ living expenses and transport into the country) and that they must pledge their personal services either for labor or commercial sex to repay the debt. (WGBH.org)

Exploitation: 1. the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work 2. the action of making use of and benefiting from resources 3. the fact of making use of a situation to gain unfair advantage for oneself (Oxford English Dictionary)

Human Trafficking: coercing others into forced labor or sexual exploitation. Victims can be children, teenagers, men, or woman. (ACF Fact Sheet, Human Trafficking)

Illegal Organ Harvesting Trade: the exchange of human organs, including kidneys, livers, eyes, skin, and blood, for cash or other forms of payment (Newsweek: “Not Just Urban Legend”)

John: a person who solicits sex from prostitutes. Also referred to as a “trick” or a “date”.

Legal Age of Consent: the age at which an individual is determined by the law to be legally old enough to consent to sexual relations. In the United States, the age is at least 16 years old in every state. (New Oxford American Dictionary)

Panderer: a person who manages the transaction of prostitution, including that of minors. Also referred to as a “pimp.”

Pimp: a person who manages the transaction of prostitution, including that of minors. Also referred to as a “panderer.”

Player’s Ball: An annual event established in the 1970s by the national pimp community to honor pimps for their achievements. It also serves as a place to buy, sell, and trade women and children. In 2003, the Player’s Ball was held in Decatur, GA. (Hidden in Plain View)

Recruiter: Anyone who entices, manipulates, or coerces a minor into being commercially sexually exploited. Recruiters can be male adults, female adults, or children. Male recruiters are usually between 18 and 35 years old, usually attractive and approach the girls as potential boyfriends. Female recruiters are usually victims of exploitation themselves, between 18 and 35. Pimps use children to recruit other children so that the pimp is harder to arrest. (Hidden in Plain View)

Runaway episode: when a child 14 and under, or an older child who is mentally incompetent, unexpectedly stays away from home for one or more nights. Also applies when a child 15 and over unexpectedly stays away from home for two or more nights. (Hidden in Plain View, p. 16)

Sex Tourism: international or domestic tourism for the purpose of engaging in commercial sexual relationships with residents of the visited area. (Cambridge Dictionary)

Sex Trafficking: when “a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion,” or when the person induced to perform such acts is less than 18 years old. (ACF Fact Sheet, Sex Trafficking)

Statutory Rape: occurs when one of the individuals engaging in consensual sexual relations is under the legal age of consent and thus not old enough to consent to the behavior as defined by the law. (Juvenile Justice Bulletin: “Statutory Rape Known to Law Enforcement”)

Stockholm Syndrome: named for an infamous 131 hour hostage situation in which the hostage victims became attached to their captors. It refers to the paradoxical attachment that victims of abuse often feel to the abuser. Often times, it is difficult to treat victims of CSEC or prosecute their pimps because the victim is unwilling to “betray” them despite having been betrayed themselves.

Throwaway episode: when a child is either asked to leave home or is prevented from returning home by a parent or other household adult. No alternative care is arranged, and the child is gone overnight. (Hidden in Plain View, p. 16)

Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report: an annual report released by the US State Department that addresses the issue of human trafficking in both a global perspective and by country. The report provides analysis of the issue and recommendations for the future.

Trick: a person who solicits sex from prostitutes. Also referred to as a “buyer,” “john,” or “date.”

TVPA of 2000: the first comprehensive law to address the protection of commercially and sexually exploited minors in the history of the United States. The law clarified the definition of CSEC to include any victim of sex trafficking younger than 18 years of age, making the crime a felony that mandated long jail sentences for offenders. The law has also been a guide for ensuing statutes addressing the sex trafficking trade and ignited the fight to end CSEC through legislative channels. (Juvenile Justice Bulletin: “Effects of Federal Legislation on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children”)

T-Visa: a visa offered by the US to victims of human trafficking and their immediate families allowing them to remain in the US in exchange for assistance in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases. (Department of Justice Release, 2002)