Invisible Chains by Benjamin Perrin

Genevieve was being sold for sex at various strip clubs six days a week. When she finally told Jackie she was going to leave, he grabbed her by the neck, threw her to the floor, and kicked her. The bruises on Genevieve’s thighs prevented her from working at the strip club for several days.
    With Genevieve firmly under his control, Jackie allowed her to make a short trip home to Montreal. To her parents, Genevieve explained her bruises had come from a fight at a nightclub. Soon afterwards, Jackie sent her to the United States to be sold for sex, ensuring the money was sent back to him. When Genevieve returned, Jackie again agreed to let her take a short trip to Montreal. This time she called the Montreal Police Service. Upon his return to Montreal, Jackie was arrested on multiple charges, including human trafficking. In just three months, he’d earned twenty thousand dollars from selling Genevieve for sex.
    A barrage of “love bombing” by recruiters
    Poverty, the desire for love, and the desire for money, in that order, are the three key vulnerabilities that permit domestic sex traffickers to recruit and control victims, according to those familiar with the techniques. Applied with practised care, the routine proves enormously successful in coercing vulnerable underage girls and women into a life of sexual exploitation.
    When traffickers encounter victims seeking love and attention, they commonly begin relationships by becoming “boyfriends” to their victims. This “falling in love” stage takes place over approximately two weeks. The girls are told they’re beautiful, and they’re taken to fancy restaurants and given lavish gifts. By showering a targeted girl with affection and fulfilling her material desires, the trafficker builds allegiance, eventually allowing him to manipulate her. Street gangs refer to these recruiting tactics as “love bombing.” The greaterthe value of the targeted female on the flesh market and the more sophisticated the trafficker, the longer he can take in “grooming” her.
    This particular exploitation process requires that the girls be sexually inexperienced. For this reason, most are recruited between fourteen and sixteen, with some as young as twelve. The more extreme the poverty that surrounds them, the younger the girls can be recruited. These inexperienced girls think they know more than they do, and very quickly the boyfriend will have them engaging in intercourse. He professes love while introducing other seemingly innocent acts to break down barriers, such as having a girl put on lingerie and dance for him. To create a sense of normality, the “boyfriend” will introduce sex acts that a girl may never have performed.
    At the next stage, the “boyfriend” escorts the girl to parties, where she appears in very revealing clothing. The girl is usually given alcohol or drugs to facilitate the exploitation. Engaging in sex acts with other people present, or being in the same room while other people have sex, represents the next step, breaking down the girl’s sexual boundaries.
    The distance from participating in a voyeuristic or exhibitionistic act to performing with a second male present is short. The “boyfriend” might tell his targeted girl how much he’d like to watch her with his friend—a move that destroys the monogamous relationship based on trust. The party is over. At this point the girl will be driven to unexpected and unfamiliar settings. Strangers—associates of the “boyfriend” trafficker—begin arriving at the door. The girl is told she has to “put up with” uncomfortable touching. She knows she’s about to be prostituted but has no way to escape.
    Street gangs may force the victim to engage in sex acts with their members one after the other. Not surprisingly, studies have found a culture of silence about these “gang bangs.” Degrading and