From the inhumane conditions in clothing factories to the massive uptick in sweatshops due to an increase in demand for fast fashion, the fashion industry has long been a beacon of human trafficking; however, the danger does not end with the manufacturing process—the fashion modeling industry has its own painful history.
Human trafficking in the modeling industry is an international issue. Online recruiting has made it all too easy for traffickers to target and lure aspiring models with promises of acclaim and financial security. Because online recruitment attracts many female, low-income, and oftentimes international aspiring models, the responders to these advertisements are often especially vulnerable to human trafficking.
Once a trafficker—disguising themself as a representative of a modeling agency—has signed on a new alleged client, it is a slippery slope from decreased pay, to longer, more grueling work hours, to eventual sex trafficking. While traffickers might begin by forcing survivors to pose for explicit photos or to perform sexual acts in front of a camera, their demands escalate. These survivors are often forced to live in “modeling houses,” in close quarters with other survivors, and are estranged from their family and support systems, deprived of proper nutrition, and are economically dependent on their traffickers.
While the vast majority of sex traffickers are men, some of the most notable incidents of human trafficking in the modeling industry have been perpetrated by women. In 2018, famous Columbian social media influencer Liliana del Carmen Campos Puello was arrested for luring over 250 underaged girls into a sex trafficking ring, under the false pretenses of lucrative modeling careers. Campos Puello specifically targeted young girls from low-income backgrounds—she leveraged her status as a newly wealthy and successful female model to build kinship and confidence with these survivors. While it is characteristic of sex traffickers of all genders to target survivors from vulnerable populations, Campos Puello’s female identity—as well as her own well-established modeling career—might have allowed her to more easily gain the trust of these young girls.
One of the most effective avenues for protecting young aspiring models from these traps has been the institution of foundations and nonprofits that specifically operate to give young people the opportunity to model under safe and comfortable conditions. Ford Models, an extension of the anti-trafficking Katie Ford Foundation, promises the same services—boarding, nutrition, and modeling careers—to young aspiring models from over 50 different countries, and actually delivers them. While these foundations are not a silver bullet solution for this crisis, they indicate an awareness and a willingness from influential figures in the modeling industry to protect those most vulnerable to these dangerously false promises.
Jane Godiner is a student at Bowdoin College in Maine. She is majoring in English and Psychology and concentrating in Creative Writing. She is also the Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Bowdoin Orient, Bowdoin’s newspaper. She believes in the informative and inspirational power of journalism and writes with the purpose of encouraging her readers to be instigators of change in their daily lives. She hopes to make a difference in her surrounding communities, to live as ethically as possible and to encourage others to do the same.
