Police say the problem persists year-round, but the criminal activity picks up during major events.
Law enforcement, prosecutors, and anti-trafficking groups have been working behind the scenes, reaching out to hotels and nightlife venues on how to identify human trafficking for the past few months. The reason for the effort is simple; the need to know what it is first is vital before knowing how to report and prevent sex trafficking.
Lauren Moquette knows exactly what it is firsthand. In fact, she looks back at old pictures of herself in wonder.
"I'm like, wow girl, if only you knew, if only you knew how powerful you were," said Moquette, adding, "I was very vulnerable."
The pictures send her back to a difficult time of her life, when she lost her job, her home, and custody of her son.
"Literally everything that I had going for me, I lost it," Moquette said.
But at that most vulnerable point, she says she found a man she thought could help solve all her problems.
"I was just infatuated," said Moquette. "I was like, oh my God, this guy is so cool, he's like, my type."
But things rapidly changed when she said the man she loved began trafficking her, because they didn't have money.
"It took a turn very, very quickly," she said.
Looking back, she says the man was calculated.
"It involved months of manipulation and coercion, and it wasn't just like, 'Oh, I'm going to get up and do this.' No, there was a plan and a process that this man had planned before he even met me," Moquette said.
Lenore Schaffer is the Chief Program Officer at Restore NYC, a nonprofit that provides sex trafficking survivors support and help.
"We see many of the survivors, unfortunately, have been trafficked by either family members or intimate partners," said Schaffer.
Being trafficked by the ones they love the most creates an additional challenge.
"Yes," Schaffer said. "Which is why leaving is not always easy to do."
Restore NYC told 7 On Your Side Investigates that they're tracking an increase of people trying to escape from the clutches of the crime. For every victim of human trafficking they helped last year, Restore says they had to turn away two more.
"Traffickers target vulnerabilities, not people," said Beck Sullivan, Restore NYC's CEO. "If someone has a need, whether that be housing, job support, food, or just a sense of belonging, that's what the traffickers target and exploit."
According to the human trafficking hotline, 5,085 trafficking cases have been opened in New York over the past decade, with 10,571 victims. Another 4,752 victims have been identified in New Jersey.
"New York actually ranks fourth in reported human trafficking cases, and that's just reported," said Lenore. "So this is something that is a problem here."
It's a problem that grows during major events like the World Cup, according to Restore NYC.
"Anytime you have crowds of people, and you have a demand for hospitality, transportation, or the entertainment industry, those are high-risk industries for trafficking," said Sullivan.
It's what happened to Moquette. She says she was trafficked in almost every state.
"We wanted to go to hot spots," she said. "So, if there was a major event, we'd go to a place where there was a major event."
As for simply leaving and getting out, Moquette says it's not that easy.
"He would basically say, 'OK, if you leave me, I'll kill you, I'll kill your grandmother, I'll kill your son,'" Moquette said.
She says she was primarily trafficked through online posts, but sex trafficking happens in a variety of ways.
"For every Starbucks, there's two illicit massage parlors in New York City," Sullivan said. "So it could be when you're walking down the street, that massage parlor, it could be residential brothels."
Moquette eventually found the strength to escape. She says she lived in a shelter for two years and found help through Restore NYC.
"They helped me create goals that I could achieve, and I achieved them in a short period of time," said Moquette. "With their help, they provided me with so many different types of resources."
Resources ranging from housing to economic empowerment programs.
"For me, getting my nails done was the only peace that I found, it was the only time where I was not around my trafficker," she said.
That peace of mind led to her starting her own nail business and to sharing her story to let victims know there's hope and, more importantly, help.
"I have been able to take that, that pain, and drive it into something purposeful and helping other people," Moquette said.
Moquette says the man who trafficked her was indicted by a grand jury in October on multiple counts of sex trafficking, cases unrelated to what happened to her. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and awaits trial.
If you or someone you know needs help with sex trafficking, call 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733 (TTY 711).
There's also a chat available that can assist at humantraffickinghotline.org.
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