 Research indicates that traffickers have a preference for females age 12 and under because young children are more easily molded into the role assigned to them and because they are assumed to be virgins , which is valuable to consumers . The girls are then made to appear older , and documents are forged as protection against law enforcement . Victims tend to share similar backgrounds , often coming from communities with high crime rates and lack of access to education . However , <unk> is not limited to this , and males and females coming from various backgrounds have become involved in sex trafficking . 
