When people hear the words “human trafficking,” many imagine kidnappings by strangers in parking lots or off the street.
Karen Smith, director of the Oklahoma Coalition Against Human Trafficking, said those scenarios are rare.
“What usually happens is the trafficker is a family member or someone the victim trusts,” Smith said. “They build a relationship first, then slowly begin asking them to do things they should not be asking them to do.”
Smith said common misconceptions about trafficking can interfere with prevention and advocacy efforts, particularly among people new to antitrafficking work.
“They see things shared on Facebook or Instagram by people they trust and assume it’s accurate,” Smith said. “In reality, trafficking often involves people already in your life, including friends, family members or people you’re dating.”
Traffickers sometimes target people through dating apps such as Bumble or Tinder, Smith said. While educators encourage meeting new people in public, traffickers typically do not pressure victims immediately.
“It’s usually something that builds, and the relationship and trust happens first,” Smith said.
For a situation to legally qualify as human trafficking, force, fraud or coercion must be present, Smith said. This is true for either labor or sex trafficking, although anytime a minor is engaging in commercial sex it is automatically considered human trafficking under the law.
Smith said traffickers often use shame and threats to maintain control.
“It can be threats to tell a parent, a faith leader or to share photos at school,” Smith said.
The Polaris Project outlines these tactics through its “means of control” model, which shows how traffickers exert power over victims.
Although trafficking can affect anyone, Smith said certain groups face higher risk, including LGBTQ+ individuals, youth aging out of foster care, people with prior trauma or unstable families, and those who experience racism or discrimination.
Smith said she warns teenagers about offers that seem too good to be true, including supposed modeling jobs.
“Be careful about upfront fees and never go alone,” Smith said.
She also encouraged young people to limit how much personal information they share online.
OCAT advocates annually at the state Capitol for legislation addressing human trafficking. One of the bills the group is advocating for this year is HB2233, which passed the OKlahoma House and Senate during the 2025 legislative session and then was referred to the Health and Human Services Committee on April 1, 2025.
This would change massage therapist licensing so it would fall under the authority of the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, rather than the Oklahoma Board of Cosmetology and Barbering. Illicit massage parlors are frequently linked to prostitution and sex trafficking, and as reported by NonDoc in 2024, prostitution was uncovered at multiple Edmond massage parlors.
“We want to support legitimate massage therapists,” Smith said. “People should not assume massage therapists are involved in illegal activity.”
Smith said OCAT is also advocating for expanded trafficking education in public schools and for survivors to have criminal records cleared for offenses tied to their exploitation, in addition to strengthening recordkeeping and age verification requirements for adult entertainment businesses.
The Polaris Project gave Oklahoma an “F” in its 2019 Criminal Record Relief for Trafficking Survivors report card.
According to University Communications, no UCO student organization has held a Human Trafficking Awareness Week since 2017. That gap on campus mirrors broader challenges Oklahoma faces in supporting trafficking survivors statewide.
The Oklahoma Human Trafficking Hotline is 855-617-2288.
