Anyone who owns or has access to internet accessible devices (including video game systems, tablets, PCs or mobile devices) is at risk for being manipulated into online or in-person exploitation.

As children become older and want more independence, they may take extraordinary, and sometimes dangerous, risk to “fit in” or to remain “in love.”

Children who are in the custody or care of child protective services already carry several risk factors, and often a history of abuse or neglect. Perpetrators manipulate those with lower safety nets to exploit due to these vulnerabilities.

Children who struggle with stability in their home lives or at school often seek security and comfort. Some people exploit this in children and seek to develop a trusting relationship which is stronger than the one within their family. This trust is then used to exploit the child.

When families are vulnerable to threats of being reported to authorities due to their legal status, exploiters may take advantage of the children in these families.

Lack of family support, rejection from peers and support networks, or barriers in their living area isolates LGBTQIA+ youth. Nearly 40% of homeless youth in America identify as LGBTQIA+. As such, survival base exploitation impacts LGBTQIA+ youth at an incredibly higher rate.

Nearly 70% of survivors of CSEC and human trafficking identify they had been victims of disclosed or previously undisclosed sexual abuse as a child.  The impacts on self-worth, value and at times survival tactics increases the vulnerability of individuals to further exploitation.