There are multiple commonalities between victims of sex trafficking which suggest a pattern to those most susceptible, especially in the Great Mekong Sub-Region, commonly referred to as Southeast Asia.
Poverty is the main factor increases the likelihood of a person falling victim to sex traffickers; most victims are trafficked when they are forced to migrate to find better job opportunities, and either become indebted to those who transport them, thus becoming modern indentured servants, or are deceived by those that offer work or migration opportunities and become illegally trafficked instead (Rafferty 412). Poverty is the source of the supply of victims for the trafficking industry, because it leaves people searching for income, usually in other places that are more economically developed (poorer people with fewer resources, who are too desperate for an income to turn down many opportunities and who are migrating across state borders, are very vulnerable to being trafficked). Poverty is often associated with a lack of formal education, which often breaks down along gender lines with girls and women being offered less resources and educational opportunities (if any) (Perry and McEwing; Rafferty).
Education, including vocational job training as well as formal schooling, is rarely offered to poorer women and children, thus creating a cycle of poverty and vulnerability to being trafficked. A synthesis review of over 60 peer reviewed studies on sex trafficking showed that over half of them mentioned formal education as a determinant factor in vulnerability (Perry and McEwing 142) and psychology professor Yvonne Rafferty explained that “in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, educating girls is generally viewed as a wasted investment and as a result girls are less likely to be enrolled in school” (Rafferty 414). Formal education leads to better job opportunities with higher salaries and more power and influence as well as safety; vocational education also leads to better job opportunities that would give more economic freedom (Alveraz and Alessi). Without access to either kind of education, women and children are stranded with no prospects. This is why many people migrate in pursuit of other opportunities and in this migration they find themselves more susceptible to dangerous circumstances (Rafferty). This demonstrates how the interaction between the mentioned factors contribute to one another and create environments where women and children are much more likely to become victims of human trafficking based solely on where they grow up.