A woman received a call from her 20-year-old niece and 22-year-old nephew several weeks after they had joined a traveling sales crew.  The niece and nephew were in distress and explained that they wanted to leave the crew but feared retaliation from the crew leaders. The niece reported that she regularly experienced sexual harassment from crew leaders, and that she and other crew members had high sales quotas.  If crew members broke the rules or were unable to meet their sales quotas, they were punished through physical violence, deprivation of basic necessities, or abandonment. After speaking with her niece and nephew, the woman called the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline. The NHTRC contacted a local service provider, who was able to conduct outreach and speak with the niece and nephew as well as other crew members who indicated that they felt they could not leave the sales crew. The NHTRC also reported the situation to law enforcement who worked with the service provider to safely extract the crew members who desired to leave.  Law enforcement later opened an investigation into the sales crew.

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