"Not all those working in prostitution at truck stops are trafficking victims. Sometimes, women offering commercial sex at truck stops are there independently and are not under the control of a pimp. However, just as is the case in street prostitution and escort services, victims under the control of a pimp have been found in a number of trafficking cases at truck stops. Women providing commercial sex in fake massage businesses are also often at high-risk for sex trafficking. Prostitution becomes trafficking when the victim is a minor, or when a controller uses force, fraud and/or coercion to maintain control over the victim and to cause him/her to engage in commercial sex. For lists of common means of control." (Polaris).
This prevalent form of trafficking affects every region in the world, either as a source, transit or destination country. Women and children from developing countries, and from vulnerable parts of society in developed countries, are lured by promises of decent employment into leaving their homes and travelling to what they consider will be a better life. Victims are often provided with false travel documents and an organized network is used to transport them to the destination country, where they find themselves forced into sexual slavery and held in inhumane conditions and constant fear. (Interpol)
