ADULT COURSE DESCRIPTION
WALKING WISE: SEXUAL EXPLOITATION EDUCATION
Our 12-part course provides twelve contact hours, divided into three sections: The Groomers, The Vulnerable, and The Predators—each containing four lessons. Participants will review course content, watch interviews with survivor leaders and advocacy experts, and respond to 10 questions to earn CME/CE credit upon the completion of each lesson.
PART 1: THE GROOMERS
Course Description
Groomers possess the skills to deceive victims, their families, and entire communities. The process is subtle and involves forming a relationship with a vulnerable person with the intention of future sexual assault or inducing the victim to participate in a crime.
PART 1: LESSONS
- #1 Myths & Reality
- #2 Trustworthy vs. Unsafe Adults
- #3 Grooming Process
- #4 Pornography Link
Grooming is an illegal act, but prosecuting such cases is challenging due to the difficulty of proving criminal intent without a sexual assault occurring. Education for adults, adolescents, and youth will empower communities to recognize forms of manipulation and report grooming before offenders have the chance to commit sexual crimes.
Learning Objectives
- Examine common sex trafficking myths and understand how these misconceptions enable society to overlook the tactics of force, fraud, and coercion that predators use to exploit victims in the commercial sex trade.
- Discuss how young people can recognize inappropriate behaviors of unsafe adults to identify the key traits of trustworthy adults.
- Describe the grooming techniques used by sexual predators and traffickers to manipulate their targets.
- Examine how viewing pornography can harm young brains, normalize sexual exploitation, and contribute to the expansion of the commercial sex trade.
PART 2: THE VULNERABLE
Course Description
Children and adolescents are naturally vulnerable to sex offenders and human traffickers due to their cognitive immaturity and limited life experience, which affects their decision-making abilities.
PART 2: LESSONS
- #5 Sextortion Scheme
- #6 Male Victims
- #7 Runaways as Targets
- #8 Rural Risks
A youth’s inherent obedience and financial dependence on adults can also make them easy targets when living with or in proximity to a sexual predator. Particularly vulnerable populations include individuals from marginalized communities, such as LGBTQ+ youth, undocumented immigrants, and those with a history of trauma or abuse. Providing education enables adults and adolescents to understand how human traffickers prey on at-risk populations and empowers them to recognize and respond to manipulation, intimidation, and coercion.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss how the use of electronic devices and online platforms can increase an individual's vulnerability to sexual predators and traffickers in the commercial sex trade.
- Examine how societal factors contribute to the overlooked sexual exploitation of young males and understand the barriers that may discourage them from seeking help.
- Identify the reasons young and marginalized populations are at heightened risk of being victimized by sexual predators and traffickers in the commercial sex trade.
- Appraise how living in rural or sparsely populated communities presents unique conditions that enable sexual predators or human traffickers to prey on vulnerable individuals.
PART 3: THE PREDATORS
Course Description
Human traffickers and sexual predators often use love bonds, debt bonds, drug bonds, and family bonds to maintain control over their victims. These perpetrators commit emotionally and physically harmful acts against vulnerable populations, commonly persuading victims to believe they are responsible for the crimes inflicted upon them.
PART 3: LESSONS
- #9 Human Traffickers
- #10 Recruiters
- #11 Familial Traffickers
- #12 Hidden Buyers
Educating adults and adolescents about the risk factors and indicators of human trafficking will help them recognize the vulnerabilities that sexual predators exploit and the signs that appear once someone has been entrapped in the commercial sex industry.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the various personas human traffickers use to deceive their victims and how they instill fear to maintain power and control.
- Analyze how human traffickers coerce individuals under their control to recruit friends and acquaintances into the commercial sex industry.
- Examine the sexual exploitation of children by family members for financial gain or to obtain something of value.
- Explore the factors that drive males to buy sex initially and examine how they rationalize purchasing sex acts from vulnerable individuals.
Report Suspicions of Human Trafficking to:
National Human Trafficking Hotline
Send a Text to 233733 (BEFREE); 1-888-373-7888
Rescue America
833-599-FREE (3733)