research proposal human trafficking

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Human Trafficking Policy and Research Analyses Project

Informing the development of anti-trafficking strategies, policies, and programs to prevent and respond to human trafficking.

Human trafficking casts a wide net of harm to affected individuals, families, and communities. It is increasingly understood that addressing human trafficking requires a multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach. Many questions remain as to the most effective ways to respond to human trafficking and protect communities at increased risk of human trafficking exploitation. Questions around effective strategies to prevent and respond to human trafficking guide this project, in partnership with the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) and the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP). The Human Trafficking Policy and Research Analyses Project advances the scope of knowledge and data around human trafficking by identifying priority areas for learning, and conducting a series of studies that can immediately impact practice. The RTI team has collaborated closely with OPRE and OTIP to identify five diverse projects:

Field test of two sampling methods to measure the prevalence of labor trafficking within the construction industry —This study will survey construction workers to learn about labor trafficking and labor exploitation experiences among individuals who work in construction. The goal of this study is to advance knowledge of promising methods for estimating human trafficking prevalence by comparing the estimates generated from two different sampling methods: convenience sampling (time-location sampling) and respondent-driven sampling.
Process evaluation of the Human Trafficking Youth Prevention Education (HTYPE) Demonstration Grant Program —This cross-site evaluation will describe the activities, challenges, and accomplishments of eight education agencies funded to partner with a nonprofit or NGO to build the capacity of schools to provide human trafficking prevention education for educators and other staff, and students, and establish a Human Trafficking School Safety Protocol that addresses the safety, security, and well-being of staff and students.
Formative evaluation of the Demonstration Grants to Strengthen the Response to Victims of Human Trafficking in Native Communities —This cross-site, participatory and culturally-responsive evaluation will describe the activities, challenges, and accomplishments of projects funded to build, expand, and sustain organizational and local capacity to provide direct services, assistance, and referrals to Native Americans (i.e., American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and/or Pacific Islanders) who have experienced human trafficking. This evaluation is conducted in partnership with American Indian Development Associates (AIDA).
Creation of a Learning Agenda for OTIP —This activity, conducted in close partnership with OTIP, focuses on identifying knowledge gaps and developing and refining learning questions—ultimately leading to a learning agenda and action plan for OTIP. The goal of the learning agenda is to provide an actionable set of activities to answer questions that advance and are in direct alignment with OTIP’s mission and purpose.

Assessing the Current State of Economic Empowerment Programs for Victims of Human Trafficking – As part of the OTIP’s efforts to carry out E.O. 13985 ( Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government ), this project will focus on economic opportunity and empowerment for people who have experienced human trafficking. Guided by a participatory approach, this project involves an environmental scan and listening sessions with both individuals who have experienced human trafficking and the professionals who provide services to this population. The objective of this project is to compile a resource about promising practices related to economic opportunity programming for use by professionals who provide services to people who have experienced human trafficking.

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Child Well-Being and Family Strengthening
Public Health and Well-Being
Community Safety, Crime Prevention, and Victimization Response
Human Trafficking Research, Evaluation, & Training and Technical Assistance
Survey Statistics
Survey Design
Instrument Development
Survey Methodologies
Data Collection
Evaluation Design and Execution
Evidence Synthesis for Policy and Practice
Evaluation, Monitoring, and Assessment

Comprehensive Review of Prior Prevalence Studies and Recommendations for Field Testing in the United States

Advances in measurement: a scoping review of prior human trafficking prevalence studies and recommendations for future research, human trafficking youth prevention education (htype) demonstration program: year 1 reflections, human trafficking youth prevention education (htype) demonstration program: year 2 reflections, learning agenda: administration for children and families' office on trafficking in persons, vht-nc program: an overview of participant & service characteristics (fy2021-fy2022), demonstration grants to strengthen the response to victims of human trafficking in native communities (vht-nc) program: interim report, htprap economic empowerment guide for service providers, htprap economic empowerment appendix - programs identified in environmental scan, htprap economic empowerment infographic, "covid" has taken its toll on us" the pervasive effects of covid-19 on programs supporting native people who have experienced human trafficking.

Innovations in empirical research into human trafficking: introduction to the special edition

Published: 25 July 2019
Volume 72 , pages 1–7, ( 2019 )

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Ella Cockbain 1 &
Edward R. Kleemans 2

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When it comes to human trafficking, hype often outweighs evidence. All too often, the discourse on trafficking – increasingly absorbed under discussions of so-called ‘modern slavery’ too – is dominated by simplistic treatments of a complex problem, sweeping claims and dubious statistics [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Such an approach might help to win attention, investment and support for an anti-trafficking agenda in the short term, but ultimately risks causing credibility problems for the entire field and contributing to ineffective, even harmful, interventions [see, e.g., 2 , 4 – 6 ]. From the 1990s onwards, levels of interest and investment in counter-trafficking expanded rapidly [ 3 , 7 , 8 ]. In tandem, the literature on trafficking has proliferated [ 9 , 10 ]. Yet, actual empirical (data-driven) research remains relatively rare [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Of course, non-empirical approaches have value too – for example in challenging how we conceptualise trafficking or highlighting tensions in governments’ or businesses’ commitments to anti-trafficking measures. Nevertheless, empirical research is clearly crucial to advance understanding of the trafficking phenomenon and shape nuanced, evidence-informed policy and practice. Even where empirical research exists, its quality can be highly variable, with many publications (even peer-reviewed ones) found to fall short of even rudimentary scientific standards [ 13 , 15 ]. Additionally, there is a particular dearth of rigorous, independent evaluations of interventions [ 7 , 13 ] – despite the many millions of dollars spent thus far on anti-trafficking efforts worldwide [ 12 , 16 ].

Before proceeding, it is worth acknowledging some fundamental tensions in researching human trafficking. First, trafficking is not a neatly delineated phenomenon that can be consistently identified and readily counted [ 1 , 2 ]. Instead, it is a relatively fuzzy social construct that exists upon what is increasingly recognised as a ‘continuum of exploitation’ running from decent conditions through to severe abuses [ 17 ]. Second, trafficking is not – and has never been – ‘discursively neutral terrain’ [ 18 ]. Instead it is contested territory that has long been tied up with broader political, economic and ideological agendas [ 3 , 19 ]. Third, trafficking is a sensitive topic involving hidden populations [ 20 ]. Whether those involved are identified at all – let alone assigned the trafficking label – is heavily contingent on other factors, ranging from victims’ willingness to disclose abuses to funding and prioritisation of counter-trafficking efforts [for further discussion, see 21 , 22 ].

Despite these issues, it would be hard to argue that the extremes of exploitation that are – or could be – conceptualised as trafficking do not merit attention and intervention. If the trafficking field is to evolve and maintain credibility, therefore, more high-quality empirical research is needed. With so many gaps, there are many directions its expansion could take. Here, we highlight some of the gaps and limitations that are particularly pronounced and well-documented. Traditionally, research has focused overwhelmingly on sex trafficking and other trafficking types have been relatively overlooked [ 12 , 13 ]. Victim-focused research dominates the literature, leaving offenders comparatively neglected [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Most trafficking research is qualitative in nature and quantitative studies are far rarer, particularly those that go beyond descriptive statistics alone [ 9 , 13 ]. Accessing research data and participants is notoriously challenging and remains a key barrier to the development of the field [ 11 , 21 , 26 ]. On the one hand, existing datasets (e.g. police or other administrative data) have obvious under-tapped potential for academic research and could be used far more extensively and effectively [ 21 , 27 , 28 ]. On the other, increased investment in primary data collection – such as via survey methods – is also necessary to address questions that existing data cannot answer. Perhaps linked to difficulties accessing data, trafficking studies typically focus on a single country and robust comparative analyses across multiple jurisdictions are rare [see, e.g., 29 ]. Although researchers have often approached human trafficking through a criminological or sociological lens, trafficking is clearly not just a crime problem. Other disciplines, such as geography, public health, management and computer science (to name but a few), also clearly have much to contribute [see, e.g., 30 – 32 ]. Linked to this disciplinary expansion, pushback continues against exceptionalising trafficking: rather than treating it as the product of a few isolated criminals (i.e. ‘bad apples’), there is a need to examine more closely how exploitation can be enabled or exacerbated by broader systems (i.e. ‘bad barrels’) such as those involved in the neoliberal labour market and its regulation as well as migration policies [see, e.g., 33 – 36 ]. Finally, it is not enough just to do more research on trafficking: the research itself needs to consistently meet high standards, for example in terms of methodological transparency and rigour, solid research designs and robust ethical conduct [ 13 , 37 ].

Given this context, we are delighted this special edition begins to address many of these key gaps. The papers in it have been written by some of the world’s leading academic experts on trafficking and span a range of countries, topics and approaches. What unites the contents is a shared grounding in original, empirical research and innovative contributions to the literature, be it in thematic, methodological and/or conceptual terms. Thanks to funding from the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the process included a symposium in London in July 2018. Lead authors came together to present their first drafts and share their feedback on one another’s work; the resultant papers are all the stronger for the constructive criticism and vigorous debate that ensued. Overall, we are confident that this volume has much to offer for academics, policy-makers and practitioners interested in new perspectives on human trafficking. Below, we provide a short summary of each paper, followed by some brief concluding observations.

The special edition starts with a rare quantitative analysis of individual-level data on human trafficking, using data from the United Kingdom’s central system for identifying trafficking victims. For a sample of 2,630 confirmed victims, Cockbain and Bowers [ 38 ] systematically compare those trafficked for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and (other) labour exploitation. They examine similarities and differences in terms of victim demographics, the trafficking process and official responses. They find both substantial and significant differences between types, demonstrating that human trafficking is a complex and diverse phenomenon. Although different forms of trafficking are routinely conflated in research, policy and interventions, this study highlights the value of a more nuanced approach that takes into account differences between – and indeed within – trafficking types.

Qiu, Zhang and Liu [ 39 ] provide a new perspective by focusing on trafficking for forced marriage – a particularly understudied issue – in the Chinese context. Women from poor neighbouring countries, such as Myanmar, frequently look for employment opportunities in China. Due to a severe imbalance in China’s sex ratio, a trafficking market has emerged to meet the demand for brides. The authors analyse 73 court cases involving 184 Myanmar women who were trafficked into China in the period 2003–2016. They find that most traffickers had limited education and were either unemployed or underemployed. The vast majority were Chinese nationals with good connections in both the cross-border trade and traditional matchmaking business. Most trafficking turned out to involve few formal organisational structures and occurred primarily under the guise of employment opportunities: it appeared that most victims were recruited within Myanmar in response to the offers of a job in interior China.

Wijkman and Kleemans [ 40 ] shed new light on female offenders involved in human trafficking, in particular trafficking for sexual exploitation. Analysing the court files of 150 women convicted for trafficking offences in the Netherlands, they conclude that popular conceptions of the role of women in trafficking are inaccurate and simplistic. Contrary to stereotypes of passive female victims/predatory male offenders, their analysis shows that female traffickers are neither rare nor unimportant. The roles they performed were not limited to low-ranking activities, nor were they exceptional: instead they could be similar to those of male offenders. Specific prior experiences of victimisation, such as a history of being sexually exploited, inadequately explained women’s involvement in the offending. Finally, the frequent presence of male co-offenders clearly shows that offending is embedded in social relationships, including intimate (romantic) relationships.

Brunovskis and Surtees [ 41 ] offer timely insights into the complexities of identifying trafficking victims in situations of massive and rapid transit movements. Their focus is on Europe’s so-called “refugee crisis” of 2015 and 2016. They draw on fieldwork in Serbia, where an extraordinarily high number of vulnerable migrants/refugees from different countries and cultural backgrounds passed through along the Balkan route over a short period of time. Opportunities to interact with these migrants/refugees in ways that would lead to victim identification and support proved heavily constrained. In such situations, the authors found it was difficult to set up appropriate and effective human trafficking screening mechanisms and to identify particular vulnerabilities. They conclude that the anti-trafficking framework can be difficult to apply in mass migration settings and does not always fit well with peoples’ experiences. Moreover, the protections on offer may not be suitable for or wanted by those who would be eligible.

Davies and Ollus [ 42 ] situate labour exploitation – including but not limited to trafficking at the extreme end of the spectrum – firmly within the context of developments in the economy, labour markets, and society at large. Breaking with dominant approaches to anti-trafficking that tend to centre individual offenders, they focus instead on how supply chains and business practices can enable and exacerbate the exploitation of vulnerable workers. Their analysis is based on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with both workers and supply chain stakeholders (e.g. employers, intermediaries and regulators) in the UK agri-food industry ( n = 27) and the Finnish cleaning industry ( n = 38). They identify industry dynamics, labour subcontracting and insufficient regulatory oversight as key factors in enabling exploitation in otherwise legitimate businesses. Given the significant role of corporate practices in facilitating exploitation, the authors argue in favour of framing labour exploitation as a form of corporate crime.

Van Meeteren and Wiering [ 43 ] take a fairly unusual approach in examining labour trafficking in the context of regular rather than irregular migration, specifically a labour migration scheme for the Chinese catering industry in the Netherlands. Through an in-depth qualitative analysis of investigative files from eight such cases identified as constituting labour trafficking, the authors explore various mechanisms through which exploitation is facilitated and sustained. They focus in particular on the impact of restrictions connected to regular migrant workers’ immigration status. The authors conclude that while employers and victims alike can manoeuvre within the space provided by immigration policies, these policies clearly shape relationships and dependencies in the labour market. They find, for example, that migrants’ reliance on their employers for work and residence permits makes them hesitant to disobey, run away and risk the large sums they have already invested in their migration ambitions. Tied residence and work permits emerge in this way as a particularly important contributor to vulnerability to labour exploitation.

De Vries, Nickerson, Farrell, Wittmer-Wolfe, and Bouché [ 44 ] extend research on the relationship between anti-immigration sentiment and criminal justice problems and solutions, by focusing on public support for anti-trafficking efforts in the United States. Using public opinion data from a nationally representative survey with 2,000 respondents, the authors find that anti-immigration sentiment is related to greater recognition that immigrants are vulnerable to human trafficking victimisation. While anti-immigration sentiment does not impact views on general governmental prioritization of counter-trafficking policies, it is associated with less public support for services for immigrant trafficking victims. These findings might explain why, according to the authors, public policies safeguarding migrant trafficked persons have been among the most difficult to pass in the United States, despite strong overall support for government prioritisation of anti-trafficking efforts.

Overall, this special edition covered a wide range of topics, geographies, datasets and methods. Despite the variety in the approaches, some common themes can be identified, which have important implications for research, policy and practice. First, many contributions underscore the complexity and diversity of both trafficking and counter-trafficking activity, including in terms of attributes and attitudes of victims, offenders and the general publics. Moving away from one-size-fits-all approaches is vital to become more effective at explaining and tackling this issue. Second, many papers highlight the importance of contextual factors in understanding how trafficking and exploitation are produced, sustained and exacerbated. Greater recognition of contextual factors - both at the individual- and systems-level - is crucial in supporting more nuanced responses and identifying a wider range of avenues for intervention. Third, the articles often challenge stereotypes, debunk myths and/or question assumptions about how trafficking and counter-trafficking function. With trafficking such a ‘hot’ topic, it is vital that rigorous empirical research continues to provide a measured and informed counter-balance to media and political treatments that are all too often simplistic and sensationalised.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK for funding the symposium in London via Dr. Ella Cockbain’s Future Research Leaders Fellowship (grant reference: ES/K008463/1). We thank the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London for hosting the event and all who attended for their valuable contributions and feedback on others’ work. We thank all the anonymous reviewers for their generosity with their time and insightful comments. Our final thanks goes to the journal’s general editors, Professors Mary Dodge and Wim Huisman, for their support for this special edition and assistance throughout.

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Cockbain, E., Kleemans, E.R. Innovations in empirical research into human trafficking: introduction to the special edition. Crime Law Soc Change 72 , 1–7 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09852-7

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Published : 25 July 2019

Issue Date : 15 August 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09852-7

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	Combating Human Trafficking by Addressing Illicit Uses of Transportation		2019
	TPT 04 2019A		Session 1
	Standard		Completed Project

* Atleast Project Title is Required.

Project No. Project Title Project Status Publication (if any) Fund Account Sub-fund Project Year Project Session APEC Funding Co-funding Amount Total Project Value Sponsoring Forum Topics Committee Other Fora Involved Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved Proposing Economy(ies) Co-Sponsoring Economies ; ; ; Expected Start Date Expected Completion Date Project Proponent Name 1 Job Title 1 Organization 1 Postal Address 1 Telephone 1 Fax 1 Email 1 Project Proponent Name 2 Job Title 2 Organization 2 Postal Address 2 Telephone 2 Fax 2 Email 2 Declaration Project Summary Relevance that disproportionally affects women and girls, not only making them victims of criminal activities, but also denying them economic opportunities and independence. Of the 24.9 million people estimated to be victims of human trafficking globally, women and girls make up 99% of the victims in commercial sexual exploitation and 58% in other sectors. Sixty-six percent are trafficked within the Pacific Rim, making this a problem that inordinately affects women globally and within the APEC region. Human trafficking results from a broad range of factors, including poverty, lack of opportunities in the formal economy, and non-inclusive development. Regardless of factor, the women and girls trafficked lose their economic agency, inhibiting their ability to achieve economic opportunity and gender equality.

This project is designed to identify and share best practices that APEC economies can use to better understand the above-mentioned factors and complicated root causes behind human trafficking and raise public awareness regarding human trafficking across all transportation, including through:1) the development of tools to promote economic inclusion for former victims of trafficking, in order to enable them to better access jobs and economic opportunity.2) the development of tools to identify and report possible incidents of human trafficking, and 3) mechanisms to improve how suspected cases of human trafficking are quickly relayed to law enforcement authorities. This project directly links to APEC-wide efforts to stop human trafficking as well as facilitates greater economic opportunities and independence for women throughout the region.

This project aligns with the goals of the Women and the Economy Sub-Fund, particularly in its objective of advancing women’s economic inclusion and its effort to leverage the TPTWG’s previous work on combating human trafficking and engaging women in transportation careers through the Women in Transportation Task Force. Reducing the number of human trafficking victims, the majority of whom are women and girls, will enable these women to have greater economic agency (criteria 4D) and give them independent access to the market (4B), rather than having their financial outcomes forcibly taken from them. By seeking to engage the public, law enforcement community, transportation industry, and other stakeholders, this project will bring together a broad range of groups, as required under criteria 3.

Human trafficking is a global problem that affects every APEC economy. Counter-trafficking efforts benefit from a comprehensive strategy that includes leadership commitment, including public/private stakeholders and survivors, policies, reporting protocols, employee training, public awareness, data collection, and information-sharing. Each APEC economy can benefit from the identification and discussion of best practices and educational resources for training law enforcement, the transportation industry, and members of the public on identifying and reporting suspected cases of human trafficking. While developing economies often have fewer resources to devote to combating human trafficking, their contributions to the development of best practices and resources are critical in creating effective solutions.

Objectives Alignment This project is in line with the APEC priorities and goals with respect to:

· “discouraging the use of any transportation network by human traffickers within and across our borders. By training the general public, transportation service providers and APEC transportation ministries to identify human trafficking that is hidden in plain sight, we can save lives, halt illicit economic activity, …and demonstrate our integral role in the wellbeing of our respective societies.” (Transportation Ministerial Statement, Papua New Guinea, 2017)

· “promoting the full advancement of women and girls as a means of realising sustainable development, economic growth and gender equality.” (The Chair’s Era Kone Statement, 2018)

· “encouraging more women’s activities in transport and more enforced measures against human trafficking.” (Transportation Working Group Strategic Plan for 2018-2020)

In its 2018-2020 Strategic Plan, a key objective of the Transportation Working Group is to increase measures against human trafficking. This aligns with the 2017 Transportation Ministerial Statement, which tasked the working group with addressing the transportation’s role in facilitating human trafficking by developing tools to mitigate the crime.

TILF/ASF Justification Beneficiaries and Outputs

1	U.S. project implementers will create a survey for all APEC economies asking key questions, including (1)What measures are most effective and adaptable in enhancing employment and inclusive growth; (2) what general and transportation-specific policies and practices has the economy put into place to combat human trafficking?; (3) has the economy developed any training materials or implemented any public awareness campaigns addressing transportation’s role in human trafficking?; (4) other questions as appropriate. Input regarding these surveys will be combined into a baseline desktop report, self-funded by the project implementer, of existing transportation-related counter-trafficking efforts within the APEC region, which will inform the planned workshop discussions. This work will primarily take place at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and is anticipated to occur from September 2019 (creation of survey) through March 2020 (final draft of the baseline desktop report).
2	U.S. project implementers will host a one-day workshop on the margins of TPT-WG 49 (April/May 2020, To Be Confirmed) focusing on three major elements: (1) Briefly reviewing the outcomes of the baseline desktop report and gaps in capacity, training, and resources identified from the surveys; (2) Discussing how transportation systems are susceptible to human trafficking by highlighting case studies and known examples; (3) Highlighting the role of human trafficking awareness campaigns to educate transportation operators, employees, and the general public on identifying and reporting suspected cases of human trafficking; (4) Discussing the resources, personnel training materials, and public awareness materials (signs, advertisements, etc.) needed to address APEC-specific challenges economies are facing in fighting human trafficking within the transportation system (including highlighting many existing resources available from the implementing economy as well as from a range of stakeholders from the APEC region). At the conclusion of the workshop, project implementers will conduct an interactive exercise to encourage participants to share key observations and takeaways that will help build and augment the best practices that will be shared in the Project Report (see Output 3) to support economies in their counter-trafficking efforts. In total, each discussion section represents one module of the workshop, with approximately 1.5 hours devoted to each section, and a 45-minute concluding exercise.
3	Following the conclusion of the workshop, U.S. project implementers will revise and clarify the best practices developed at the conclusion of the workshop, working by email and conference calls with workshop participants to finalize a set of best practices in the form of a Project Report that share lessons learned as well as the location of available training and public awareness resources, as discussed during the workshop. These practices will be finalized in the June/July 2020 timeframe and will be shared with all TPT-WG members, as well as at the next TPT-WG meeting, with regional stakeholders, including NGOs and the transportation industry, and published formally through the APEC Secretariat. The Best Practices will focus on high-level strategies for: (1) understanding that transportation systems can facilitate the movement of human trafficking victims; (2) responding to transportation’s role in human trafficking by creating countermeasures that reduce its effectiveness for criminal activity; and (3) sharing techniques for the development and implementation of awareness campaigns that inform transport operators, their employees, and the general public of how to identify potential trafficking and how to report it. The Project Report in total will be approximately 8-10 pages. It will include one to two pages of the Best Practices. Following that, the Project Report will also outline the discussions during each module of the workshop and include links to the resources and training materials discussed above (and in Outcome 1).
4	Project implementers will develop the Completion Report, which will be submitted to the Secretariat at the conclusion of the project. This Report will outline the results and efficacy of the above outputs, and track initial outcomes following the workshop and distribution of the Project Report.

Based on the best practices addressed at the proposed workshop, each economy will be encouraged to use the available resources and training programs identified during the workshop to develop and implement a counter-trafficking public awareness campaign, specifically focusing on the role of transportation in human trafficking, its effects on economic opportunities for women, and methods transportation operators and the general public can employ to report suspected cases of human trafficking. Specifically, these training materials include: (1) literature, web-based educational tools, PowerPoint information slide decks, and other written materials that inform transportation operators and their employees on how to identify potential human trafficking victims and report their suspicious to appropriate authorities; (2) literature, information, and written materials distributed to government transportation authorities to share with their law enforcement agencies on how to receive and respond to reports of suspected trafficking; and (3) visual and written information materials that transportation agencies and operators can put up in transit stations and distribute to customers making the general public aware of human trafficking and how to identify and report suspected cases.

This metric can be tracked by the number of economies that have launched or are preparing to launch human trafficking awareness campaigns; further, it can also be tracked by the number of transportation companies or operators who have partnerered with their transportation authority and commited to training their employees to identify and report suspected cases of trafficking, informing their passengers through advertising campaigns, or both.

The best practices will highlight training materials and resources that economies and their domestic transport operators can use to reduce cases of human trafficking by providing transportation employees with the tools to identify and report suspected cases of human trafficking. By improving the transportation sector workforce’s overall knowledge of human trafficking and how it occurs within the transportation system, employees can be empowered to notify law enforcement and other officials to take immediate action to address suspected cases. This metric can be measured in two ways: (1) initially, by the number of transportation employees that have been trained by their companies or agenciesas a result of the proposed workshop and the best practices; and (2) tracking the instances of where victims have been identified and rescued as a result of a positive identification and reporting by a transportation operator, employee, or passenger.

Beneficiaries: The primary project participants are transportation policymakers employed by Transport Ministries, transport operators, and members of the law enforcement community who enforce counter-trafficking rules. These participants should have experience addressing counter-trafficking training and awareness campaigns, and/or should regularly interface with transport operators (including bus, road freight, passenger rail, maritime, transit, trucking, or aviation sectors). They should be of an appropriate level to be able to develop and implement policies and public campaigns on behalf of their organization. These stakeholders can use the primary deliverables of this project, including the Baseline Desktop Report, workshop, and the best practices to develop and implement economy-level counter-trafficking programs that specifically address the factors that contribute to human trafficking and the transport sector’s role in this illicit practice.

All three groups benefit in different ways, but each has a critical role to play in recognizing transportation’s role in facilitating human trafficking and mitigating it through awareness education and adequate follow through. For example, Transport Ministries (and government agencies that supervise transportation operators) should develop policies encouraging transportation operators to recognize their systems’ vulnerabilities for facilitating trafficking. The operators (in the form of agencies or companies, such as a rail company or airline) should be aware of the risk of trafficking victims, and educate their employees on the signs of potential trafficking and how to property report it. The law enforcement agencies should be trained on how to collect the reports of suspected cases and follow through on those to investigate potential cases. All three groups rely on each other to be able to implement effective anti-human trafficking policies and programs.

Given that a majority of the victims of human trafficking within the APEC region are women and girls, typically from lower-income areas, this project will place particular emphasis on engaging civil society groups that focus on women’s participation and inclusion in the economy to amplify the importance of counter-trafficking efforts. This project will also collaborate with counter-trafficking institutions working directly with human trafficking survivors to ensure that the Baseline Desktop Report and best practices are survivor-informed.

Because human trafficking is often a part of larger criminal and illicit enterprise, the deliverables from this project will also be shared with the Counter Terrorism Working Group (with respect to the training and best practices developed to inform transportation employees and transportation users about human trafficking and how to identify it) as well as the Travel and Tourism Working Group (with respect to this working group’s interface with transportation companies).

The general public in participating APEC economies will also benefit through their economy’s creation of awareness campaigns that will give them tools to identify and report suspected cases of human trafficking.

Trafficking victims will benefit through an anticipated increase in reporting as awareness is raised regarding human trafficking among transportation employees and the general public.

The best practices developed during the workshop and revised in conjunction with the workshop participants will subsequently be widely shared with the TPT-WG member economies and potentially be used as the basis for subsequent project proposals focusing on future implementation work. The best practices will be reported to the next Transportation Ministers Meeting in 2020 and to TPT-WG 50 in 2021. Additionall, the Project Report, in the form of the best practices, will be published formally through APEC. It will also be shared with NGOs, transportation industry groups, and other organizations seeking information on mitigating transportation’s role in human trafficking.

The target audience is Transport Ministries, transport operators, and law enforcement agencies across the APEC region.

Given that a majority of the victims of human trafficking within the APEC region are women and girls, typically from lower income areas, this project will place particular emphasis on engaging civil society groups that focus on women’s participation and inclusion in the economy to amplify the importance of counter-trafficking efforts. For example, there are several economy-level and regional NGOs from across the APEC region dedicated to reducing human trafficking’s deleterious impacts on women particularly, so these groups’ participation in the conversation as subject matter experts will be invaluable for sharing experiences and information with participants. These organizations have their own information and training materials (the types discussed in Outcome 1) that can help economies, their transport ministries, transport operators, and law enforcement agencies reduce transportation’s role in the trafficking of women and girls.

Additionally, this project will also set a goal to have a 50/50 gender balance at the workshop, and will use bodies like the TPTWG Women in Transportation Task Force to specifically invite female participants to join the workshop.

The project implementer is committed to collect sex-disaggregated data for all speakers and participants (and not only the APEC funded) from the project event. This data will be included as part of the submission of the Completion Report to the Secretariat when the project completes and will serve to guide future POs on their own gender parity targets.


September 2019	Design survey, including specific questions needed to complete baseline desktop report that will be used to design agenda and subsequent best practices Assemble list of potential workshop invitees
October 2019	Distribute survey to all TPT-WG member economies and follow-up as necessary to achieve a high degree of responses (>85%)	Survey for distribution to each economy
November 2019	Collect any outstanding surveys and analyze results. Share initial findings in an interim presentation to the Intermodal and ITS Experts Group, Aviation Experts Group, and Maritime Experts Group at TPT-WG48 in Moscow, Russia	PowerPoint presentation on initial findings for delivery to TPT-WG Experts Groups
December 2019	Begin drafting of survey responses into a baseline desktop report that will identify gaps in capacity, resources, and training tools faced by responding economies Use survey responses regarding which agencies lead counter-trafficking efforts to develop list of desired invitees to workshop Begin distributing invitations and coordination of travel preparations for invitees	List of invitees for April/May workshop
January 2020	Continued writing of baseline desktop report identifying gaps in capacity, resources, and training tools faced by responding economies Continued coordination of travel for invited participants Identification of potential non-member participant invitees to attend workshop as subject matter experts (including industry stakeholders and civil society groups) Begin development of agenda based on invitee responses	Draft agenda for April/May workshop
February 2020	Distribute Baseline Desktop Report to economies Confirm meeting space and other logistics for holding the meeting with TPT-WG 49 hosts Confirm consensus of TPT-WG HODs to host the workshop on the sidelines of the upcoming TPT-WG 49 meeting	Baseline Desktop Report identifying gaps in capacity, resources, and training tools
March 2020	Confirm final list of workshop participants and work with contractors and other necessary groups to ensure that travel details for all invited, funded participants are confirmed Finalize agenda based on input from economies regarding the Baseline Desktop Report	Confirmed participant list for workshop
April 2020	Host one-day workshop on sidelines of TPT-WG 49 based on the agenda created prior to the workshop in collaboration with invitees and based on the determination of the Baseline Desktop Report At the conclusion of workshop, develop best practices on how economies can develop and establish anti-human trafficking programs that create awareness campaigns for transport operators and the public, and also train transportation workers to identify suspected trafficking cases	Delivery of a one-day workshop Draft best practices
April 2020	Project implementer will develop and submit a Monitoring Report per APEC Project Guidelines	APEC Monitoring Report
May 2020	Revise best practices electronically with workshop participants and then share the final version with all TPT-WG colleagues Follow up with all economies that participated in the workshop to support development of an anti-human trafficking program in line with the best practices	Final best practices and Project Report Economy-specific follow up
June 2020	Continue work on an economy-by-economy basis to support the development of an anti-human trafficking program in line with the best practices	Economy-specific follow up
July - August 2020	Continue work on an economy-by-economy basis to support the development of an anti-human trafficking program in line with the best practices, and confirm which economies are actively considering employee training and public awareness campaigns as a follow-up to the workshop	Economy-specific follow up
October 2020	Develop and submit final Completion report incorporating all deliverables to share with APEC Secretariat	APEC Completion Report
June 2021	Participation in the Long Term Evaluation of APEC Projects conducted by the Secretariat, as required by all APEC funded projects

The primary risks to this project consist of:

(1) Potential non-response by economies to initial survey, which could limit the utility of the Baseline Desktop Report. Each economy’s counter-trafficking trafficking efforts may exist within different agencies or ministries of government, meaning that TPT-WG recipients of the survey may not know which agency is responsible for leading these efforts, and might not be able to appropriately capture the scale of their economy’s efforts to mitigate this issue. The project implementers will rely on contacts from other APEC working groups, particularly the Counter Terrorism Working Group to assist with identifying the appropriate survey recipients, as well as using locally-based U.S. colleagues (such as Embassy staff in region) to assist with the identification of appropriate Points of Contact to receive the survey. The Project Implementer will set a 50% target response rate, anticipating that a minimum of 11 economies submit at least basic responses to the initial survey.

a. If survey results do not meet the 11 economy threashold, project implementer will use internal resources (self-funded) to research counter trafficking efforts from APEC economies to help fill in the overall regional picture of counter trafficking efforts. Implementers may also work with experts from regional NGOs that have subject matter expertise in this area to stand in for a lack of survey results.

(2) Difficulties that workshop participants and best practices recipients face in developing and implementing an counter-trafficking trafficking programs that seek to establish an effective public awareness campaign and training program for transportation employees. Although this project does not focus on developing pilot projects for specific economies (which might be the subject of future concept notes), this project does devote three months to giving specific, case-by-case support for economies as they begin to implement the best practices. This support work will take the form of direct, one-on-one follow up from implementer to all workshop participants checking in on their progress raising awareness within their own economy and organizations of transportation’s role in trafficking, and also on their progress establishing awareness campaigns.

Indicators will be developed to track the overall progress of the project, as well as the effectiveness of the workshop.

To monitor the overall outcomes of the project, project implementers will look at the number of economies that respond to the initial survey as well as the number of economies that participate in the workshop and then form the best practices as key references for the overall efficiacy of the project. The project implementer is setting a target response rate of 50%, or at least 11 economies. (If 50% threshold is not reached, implementer will use internal resources to research anti-trafficking efforts in the APEC region to fill in gaps, as well as reach out to alternative sources, such as NGOs dealing with trafficking, to collect information.) As mentioned above, the survey will ask questions about current economy-level programming to ascertain the extent to which economies are stuggling with human trafficking, the types of interventions that they already have in place, and any available human trafficking statistics (disaggregated by the sex of the victim). This data will serve as a baseline for judging initiatives undertaken following the workshop and the development of best practices. Additionally, should any ongoing initiatives not align with the best practices, another metric will be whether the economy in question adjusts their programming to align with the best practices. At the conclusion of the project, the implementers will then work with and interview each participating economy to understand what actions their economy has started to address human trafficking, particularly along the lines of the best practices, and then collect data on how these programs are addressing human trafficking, including on the lines of gender-specific programming.

For the workshop, project implementers will employ pre and post-workshop surveys to understand the efficiacy of the information presented and the quality of the speakers and content. Given the critical nature of addressing the high number of women trafficked in the APEC region, project implementers will pay specific attention to having representation by civil society organizations that support women’s participation in the economy to ensure that there is a gender lens in the presentations and discussions throughout the workshop. Project implementers also plan to invite a large proportion of women representatives to attend the workshop.

Specific metrics to be tracked will include:

· number of participating economies in the workshop (at least 50%, or 11 economies),

· number of participants (at least 26),

· participation rates of female participants and speakers (at least 13 female participants, and half of the speakers, to be determined), and

Given the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy’s (PPWE) interest in improving the economic opportunity and agency for women, this project supports their goals by combating human trafficking, which inordinately affects women and girls within the APEC region. By highlighting the importance that women’s economic participationand the role that transportation plays in facilitating human trafficking, , the TPTWG can collaborate effectively with the PPWE to combat this criminal enterprise by designing a project that will address the problem through education and public awareness. Because human trafficking is often a part of larger criminal and illicit enterprise, the deliverables from this project will also be shared with the Counter Terrorism Working Group (in respect to the training and best practices developed to inform transportation employees and transportation users about human trafficking and how to identify it), Human Resources Development Working Group (in respect to this working group’s work to enhance employability, provide quality employment, and create economic opportunity) as well as the Travel and Tourism Working Group (in respect to this working group’s interface with transportation companies).

This program follows-up on an earlier, economy-specific APEC project, also sponsored by the U.S., that targeted three economies (Australia, Thailand, and Viet Nam) on counter-trafficking projects. Lessons learned from that project will be integrated into the development of the Baseline Desktop Report and best practices, and economies that engaged in this project will be specifically invited to share their experiences and lessons learned from their earlier project at the proposed workshop.

APEC is an ideal source of funding and support for this project because an inordinate number of women in the APEC region are affected and victimized by illicit human trafficking. Funding through the ASF’s Women in the Economy Sub-fund will enable the project implementers to invite practitioners from across the APEC region, enriching the workshop with a wider set of perspectives and experiences fighting human trafficking, while ensuring that developing economies suffering the most are able to participate in workshop discussions and the best practices.

Although this project does not focus on developing pilot projects for specific economies (which might be the subject of future concept notes), this project devotes three months to giving specific, case-by-case support for economies as they begin to implement the best practices following the workshop, including sharing U.S. lessons learned and suggestions for success in developing and launching economy-level programming.

As part of the final report prepared in July 2020, the project implementers will give a readout on the steps each economy has undertaken to start developing their economy’s counter-trafficking programs. The U.S. will also ask engaged economies to share periodic updates on their economy’s programming at subsequent TPTWG meetings. Additionally, U.S. DOT intends to follow up with a Concept Note that targets developing economies that are struggling with high rates of women being trafficked, and then support the development of pilot programs based on the best practices above and beyond the work they complete following the workshop.

Project implementers will be coordinating with each economy that participates in the workshop, and other economies based on interest, to support their development of programming that supports the two key outcomes in section 5. For the three months following the delivery of the workshop, project implementers will be regularly checking in by email and telephone to ensure that economies have guidance and support in designing effective public awareness campaigns and training programs for transportation workers based on publicly available resources.

The U.S. TPT-WG Head of Delegation, Mr. Jason Hill, will serve as the primary project overseer. He will work closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U.S. DOT) staff-level lead on the Department’s counter-trafficking program, Ms. Nicole Bambas, and her team, including Ms. Maha Alkhateeb, to coordinate the delivery of this project.

Together, the U.S. DOT will coordinate and administer the program, using contract staff to supplement work such as the administration of the survey, drafting related reports, and leading the developing of the workshop.

Logistical details surrounding the workshop hosting will be handled by the U.S. delegation, which will also be hosting the TPT-WG 49.

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Research Proposal Human Trafficking (1)

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Mohammad Alrefath

Human trafficking is a contemptible offence. This is a heinous process of violation of human rights. It is a human rights issue with important ramifications in the area of health, law enforcing, and socioeconomic development in general. At present, trafficking in women and children is on the rise globally. It is increase day by day in our country. Various socioeconomic factors can be attributed to increase trafficking in both urban and rural areas. Existing laws and criminal justice system seems to be ineffective to combat and control trafficking. The present study investigates the social background of the trafficking victims. And also investigate the methods, techniques, causes and consequence of trafficking. This study mainly relies on secondary sources. Data have been collected from journal articles, books, research reports, government documents and so on. Among the the at dses srtthe most relevant and significant for analyzing causes s d du atnot dta of human trafficking in Bangladesh and t sruo d ea .durod The present study intends to examine that awareness among surrounding people on terrible and law enforcing agencies is very important to combat trafficking. And also technical cooperation among countries and international law enforcement agencies is essential in investigating the extent and forms of trafficking.

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Shewly Hosna

Globally, trafficking is now a thriving and multi-billion dollar business run by organised criminal networks. An estimated 8, 00,000 women and children are trafficked each year across international borders, 80 percent ending in forced sex work. Although awareness is increasing, human trafficking still lack a global understanding of the subject, what United Nations Office on Drug and Crime identifies as 'a knowledge crisis about a crime that shames us all'. Bangladesh is predominantly an origin country for victims of trafficking while India is an origin, transit and destination country for this organised crime. In this context, Bangladesh-India border, the fifth longest land border of the world, is intensively used for women and girls trafficking in South Asia. The traffickers capitalise on complex political landscape of the border and borderland, poor border control mechanisms and lack of joint efforts to stop human trafficking. This paper contributes to the efforts to prevent human trafficking along this border. The main thrust of this article is to address the routes and networks of trafficking at the Bangladesh-India border, which is poorly addressed in academic writing. Here, this paper highlights on the aspects of human trafficking along this border and prioritises on joint initiatives by the border guards to reduce the magnitude of human trafficking significantly.

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Kohinur Urmee

Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in person. A significant share of Bangladesh’s trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or bondage. In this perspective it is considered as modern day slavery and crime against humanity. The trafficking of humans has become what many scholars have identified as a crime that violates every right a person possesses. It is a form of organized crime profiting and growing in size faster than any other trade system. It consists of purchase of another person, as personal property. The person purchased is forced to engage in acts for the benefit of the trafficker. Bangladesh acts as an important source and transit route for trafficking in persons in South Asia. Traffickers are those who take part into the process and collect the financial profits. They also maintain international link with law enforcement agencies, border guards, and criminal gangs including smugglers and even share their profits. Typically chosen are those with dysfunctional family histories, a lack of education, homelessness, unemployed, having reluctant lifestyle and those who live in poverty-stricken developing countries with limited knowledge of resources to begin living a good life. Victims face mental and physical abuse and oftentimes have no means of escaping the torture. After being trafficked, victims may suffer physically and psychologically due to zero health-care situation, abuse, and stress, threats against self and family and even die on the grounds of denial of rights and elemental care and high degree of humiliation. Considering the perspective, initially the paper will portray the aspects of human trafficking and will focus to analyze the causes and consequences of this crime in connection to the established victimological theories. Lastly it will suggest some recommendations to enforce victims’ rights to re-settle them in the society effectively.

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Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings

Trafficking in human beings is a crime that should have no place in today’s society. It destroys individuals’ lives by depriving people of their dignity, freedom and fundamental rights. It is often a violent crime committed by organised crime networks.

Facts about trafficking in human beings

37% of the victims of trafficking in the EU are EU citizens, and a significant number of them are trafficked within their own country. However, non-EU victims have increased in recent years and they now outnumber victims with an EU citizenship. The majority of victims in the EU are women and girls who are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation. The ratio of male victims has more than doubled in the last years.

Around 15% of victims of trafficking in the EU are children.

The most common forms of trafficking in the EU is sexual exploitation and labour exploitation . Both forms of exploitation amount to an equal share of victims. Most traffickers in the EU are EU citizens and often of the same nationality as their victims. More than three quarters of perpetrators are men.

Links with organised crime

This crime brings high profits to criminals and carries with it enormous human, social and economic costs. Trafficking in human beings is often linked with other forms of organised crime such as migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, document fraud, payment card fraud, property crimes, cybercrime and other.

This complex criminal phenomenon continues to be systematically addressed in a wide range of EU policy areas and initiatives from security to migration, justice, equality, fundamental rights, research, development and cooperation, external action and employment to name a few.

Discover the 'End human trafficking. Break the invisible chain' campaign

Learn about EU Anti-trafficking actions

A comprehensive EU approach to fight trafficking in human beings is anchored in the EU Anti-trafficking Directive, and complemented by the EU Strategy on Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings (2021-2025).

The EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator is responsible for improving coordination and coherence among EU institutions, EU agencies, Member States and international actors, and for developing existing and new EU policies to address Trafficking in Human Beings.

Part of the mandate of the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator is to foster cooperation and policy coherence, including the EU Networks of the National Rapporteurs and Equivalent Mechanisms, the EU Civil Society Platform and the cooperation with the EU Agencies.

This section provides comprehensive information on how each EU country, tackles, prevents and identifies instances of trafficking in human beings.

Recent calls for proposals and EU projects and Funding for projects addressing trafficking in human beings are presented.

This section provides an overview of relevant publications and studies on EU anti-trafficking actions.

News on combatting trafficking

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27 May 2024

Image displays info about call for proposals including deadline to apply which is 21 august

22 May 2024

In a dark train station, surrounded by busy people, the figure of a man who is begging appears. He is almost transparent, suggesting the invisibility of victims of trafficking in human beings.

28 February 2024

Visual displaying three different types of victims of trafficking in human beings: labour exploitation, sexual exploitation, and forced begging.

24 January 2024

EU Network of National Rapporteurs and Coordinators and EU Civil Society Platform join efforts against trafficking in human beings

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United Nations

Office on drugs and crime, 8 facts you need to know about human trafficking in the 21st century.

Human trafficking is a pressing global problem that continues to affect millions of people, despite widespread efforts to combat it.

To shed light on this pervasive issue, here are eight key facts about human trafficking in the 21st century that help to better understand why this crime occurs, how victims are recruited and exploited, and the links between human trafficking and migration, climate change or conflict.

1. Human trafficking occurs in all regions of the world

Human trafficking occurs everywhere, but people are mainly trafficked from lower-income to higher-income countries.

Most victims, or 60 per cent, are detected domestically, while victims of cross-border trafficking are mainly found within the same region (18 per cent) or in nearby regions (6 per cent). Only 16 per cent are detected in transnational flows and end up in distant regions.

Most victims of cross-border trafficking come from Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, and from South and East Asia.

2. Human trafficking is a widespread crime and a lucrative business

Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people by force, fraud or deception to exploit them for profit.

The true extent of the crime is difficult to ascertain. While about 50,000 cases were reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2020 by 141 countries, as many as 50 million people globally – the equivalent of the populations of South Korea or Uganda – may be subject to various forms of exploitation.

Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing crimes , along with drugs and arms trafficking, and a highly profitable business, generating an estimated $150 billion in profits each year.

3. Human trafficking thrives on poverty, conflict and climate change

Human trafficking is driven by a complex interplay of social, economic and political factors.

Conflict and persecution, poverty and political instability, lack of access to education and jobs, migration and displacement, gender inequality and discrimination, natural disasters and climate change all create conditions that fuel human trafficking.

With nearly half of the world's population living on less than $6.85 per person per day, or with at least three billion people worldwid e living in areas severely affected by climate change and non-climatic environmental degradation, millions of individuals have become vulnerable to exploitation.

Traffickers capitalize on this desperation, disparity and deficiency, targeting people who are vulnerable, marginalized or in difficult situations, including irregular or smuggled migrants and those in urgent need of work.

4. Traffickers use everything from deception to violence to recruit and exploit their victims

Because human trafficking is often under-reported and under-prosecuted, it is characterized by high rewards and low risks for its perpetrators, who reap substantial profits with little fear of punishment.

Taking advantage of the high demand for cheap labour, commercial sex or other services, criminals exploit shortcomings in legislation and its enforcement, as well as corrupt actors and weak governance, to carry out their illegal activities.

They fraudulently promise a better life in a new country, offer exciting jobs with great benefits, or use outright violence against vulnerable people to coerce them into exploitative practices, such as sexual exploitation or forced labour.

5. Escaping exploitation can be extremely difficult

Victims often endure inhumane conditions and find it difficult to escape from the hands of their exploiters, who utilize a range of mechanisms and manipulations to control them.

Victims can be beaten, threatened and blackmailed. They can be humiliated, abused or have nowhere else to go. Their passports and other documents can be taken away. Many might not even identify themselves as victims – which is often the case when they are manipulated by a partner or relative.

Fear of reprisals often prevents victims from seeking help, and they are more likely to self-rescue than be rescued by authorities . While 41 per cent of victims self-report to authorities, in only 28 per cent of the cases does the investigation start with proactive police activity.

6. The most common forms of human trafficking are sexual exploitation and forced labour

Human trafficking manifests in many forms . UNODC's latest research shows that 38.7 per cent of victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation, which takes place on the streets, in brothels, massage centres, hotels or bars. The victims – mainly women and girls – often experience extreme violence and abuse.

A further 38.8 per cent are exploited for forced labour. Some people work long hours in factories, for minimal or no pay, producing clothes, computers or phones. Others work on fields, plantations or fishing boats – often in harsh weather – cultivating corn, rice or wheat, harvesting coffee and cocoa beans or catching fish and seafood.

Around 10 per cent are compelled to engage in illegal activities, such as pickpocketing, bag snatching, begging or drug selling. Other forms of exploitation include forced marriage, organ removal and domestic servitude.

7. Women are the most detected victims of human trafficking

No one is immune to trafficking. People of all genders, ages, backgrounds and in all regions of the world fall prey to traffickers, who resort to a variety of means to recruit and exploit their victims.

Women and girls make up the majority of victims, accounting for 42 and 18 per cent, respectively. They are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation and are three times more likely to suffer physical or extreme violence than men and boys.

At the same time, the number of detected male victims has increased over the last years: 23 per cent of victims are men and 17 per cent are boys. They are mainly trafficked for forced labour.

In the past 15 years, the proportion of children among identified victims of trafficking has tripled to 35 per cent, or one third of all victims.

8. Traffickers can be anyone from members of an organized crime group to the victim´s own family

UNODC’s data shows that 58 per cent of those convicted for human trafficking are men. At the same time, the involvement of women in this crime is higher than in other crimes – female offenders account for 40 per cent of those convicted.

People who engage in trafficking range from organized criminal groups to opportunistic individuals operating alone or in small groups.

In addition to trafficking in persons, criminal organizations are frequently involved in other serious crimes, including drugs or arms trafficking, as well as corruption and the bribery of public officials. Such groups exploit more victims, often for longer periods, over greater distances and with more violence than non-organized criminals.

However, traffickers can also be the victim's family members, parents, intimate partners or acquaintances.

Further information

UNODC is the leading entity within the United Nations (UN) system to address human trafficking. It provides expertise and knowledge to countries and helps them ratify and implement the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children , the main international legal instrument to combat the crime.

UNODC's experts support the development of national laws and policies on human trafficking and train public officials, including police officers, border control guards, labour inspectors and victim support specialists.

With the guidance provided by UNODC, countries are better equipped to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking, dismantle the criminal networks behind this crime, trace the illegal proceeds and protect and assist victims.

Fraud Alert
Legal Notice

POV: Biden’s Asylum Ban Is Legally, Morally, and Politically Wrong

“not only is the president’s order unlikely to stop migrants from seeking protection, it’s also unlikely to be a successful election strategy,” says law’s sarah sherman-stokes.

Photo: A border guard at the US Southern border in California processes a large number of asylum seekers in June 2024. The letters POV are overlayed on top of the scene.

Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via AP

Sarah Sherman-Stokes

Over the last year, students working in BU School of Law’s Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Clinic have won asylum for nearly a dozen immigrants from Belarus, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. Every single one of them was fleeing persecution, torture, or significant harm, and they entered the United States through the US-Mexico border, where they encountered immigration officials and exercised their legal right to request asylum .

On June 4, President Biden effectively closed the southern border to asylum seekers like our clients. Had the border been closed just a few months earlier, many of our asylum-seeking clients would have been barred entry, and subsequently hurt or killed in their home countries. President Biden’s asylum ban at the border is not only legally and morally wrong, it’s also politically foolhardy.

The right to seek asylum in the United States is enshrined in section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which states, unequivocally, that irrespective of immigration status any noncitizen “who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters)…may apply for asylum.” This includes our clients from all over the world, who arrive at, near, or in between, an official border crossing along the US-Mexico border.

By law, these asylum seekers may request asylum, at which point they are typically processed and released pending a court hearing, or in other cases, detained and put through a credible fear interview. During this interview, they must demonstrate that there is a “significant possibility” that they could establish in a full hearing before an immigration judge that they have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution or harm on account of one of five enumerated grounds. If an asylum seeker can clear this hurdle, they are permitted to remain in the United States and present their case before an immigration judge.

President Biden’s June 4 “ Proclamation on Securing the Border ” changes all that. Instead of allowing asylum seekers to pursue their legal right to protection, President Biden’s order effectively closes the border to people and families fleeing persecution, torture, and harm. This Executive Order, the most restrictive of Biden’s immigration policies to date, bars asylum to anyone seeking it when the average number of daily border crossers reaches 2,500. Average daily border crossings have been greater than 2,500 since just after Biden took office in January 2021—which means the order is already in effect, and that is unlikely to change any time soon. Indeed, per this order, the ban can only be lifted when average daily crossings are at or below 1,500 per day between ports of entry, for two weeks. The last time the numbers were that low was July 2020—the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But of course, deterrence doesn’t work when you’re running for your life . Our clients in the Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Clinic were nearly killed by their abusive ex-partners, shot by homophobic mobs, and detained and tortured by repressive governments. They left their home countries, loving families, and close-knit communities because they had no choice. They realized that if they wanted to save their lives, and those of their children, they had to do whatever they could to make it to the United States. If the border had been closed to them, they would have very likely sought even more perilous routes to the United States , risking death along the way , or they would have been apprehended, and faced deportation into the hands of their persecutors .

So why is President Biden—the same president who campaigned on promises to restore dignity to the asylum process and protect those fleeing persecution —now moving to close the border to asylum seekers? The obvious answer, of course, is that he believes that moving further to the right will help him prevail against former President Trump in November. But not only is Biden’s order unlikely to stop migrants from seeking protection, it’s also unlikely to be a successful election strategy. The ACLU has already vowed to file suit , challenging this order, which rests on the same legal authority that President Trump relied on for his own ban; it was illegal then, and it’s illegal now. It’s fair to say that President Biden’s ban is very likely to be quickly tied up in court, enjoined from taking effect, or at the very least, significantly curtailed. But even if his ban was legally successful, it’s unlikely to sway voters. Sixty-eight percent of voters in seven key battleground states want a “balanced” approach to immigration —not the enforcement-only model currently championed by this administration.

The day before President Biden announced his new asylum ban, a client who we recently helped win asylum shared a photograph of her young daughter, “Sabrina,” celebrating her birthday at a park in Boston. Sabrina, who hopes to be a lawyer one day, wasn’t sure if she and her family would be able to stay here. I’m so glad they can, but we should all be worried about the Sabrinas, who, under this new ban, will never make it here in the first place.

Sarah Sherman-Stokes is a School of Law clinical associate professor of law and associate director of LAW’s Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Clinic. She can be reached at [email protected] .

“POV” is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state, national, or international. Anyone interested in submitting a piece, which should be about 700 words long, should contact John O’Rourke at [email protected] . BU Today reserves the right to reject or edit submissions. The views expressed are solely those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University.

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Secretary Antony J. Blinken Remarks to the Press

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

David Kempinski Hotel

Tel Aviv, Israel

June 11, 2024

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Hello, everyone. I just met with the families of the American hostages in Gaza. I’ve had the opportunity to meet with them many times now, on every trip here to the region, when they visited Washington. And as always, it’s an incredibly powerful thing. It’s hard for any of us to put ourselves in their shoes, to feel what they’ve been feeling these many, many long months. They were elated at the rescue of four hostages just a couple of days ago, but they continue to feel deeply, powerfully this enduring separation from their loved ones – men and women, civilian and soldier, alive and deceased. But for me, all of the hostages – but especially our eight American families who have loved ones in Gaza – we are determined to bring them home.

The proposal that President Biden put forward is the best way to do that. And I think as I said just yesterday, you’ve had country after country make that clear in supporting the proposal, and then yesterday the United Nations Security Council in effect speaking for the entire international community made it as clear as it possibly could be that this is what the world is looking for. Fourteen votes for, no votes against – something quite rare at the Security Council these days. And I think that speaks volumes, too.

So everyone’s vote is in, except for one vote, and that’s Hamas. And that’s what we wait for. It is on Hamas to move forward with this proposal, or – or not. And it’s very clear what, as I said, virtually the entire international community wants to see, and of course what so many families want to see. And it’s also what the people of Gaza so desperately need. We have the prospect of an immediate ceasefire, building toward an enduring one, and tremendous relief for people in Gaza; but also opening prospects for Israel to build enduring security, which is what this country needs and has wanted from day one of its existence, integration in the region with its neighbors, being able also to make sure that people who’ve been forced from their homes in the north can return home, building a future that provides the kind of enduring security that Israel has not enjoyed. This proposal and moving forward on it is the first step also down that path and in that direction. So we want to see it come to fruition.

I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu last night, and he reaffirmed his commitment to the proposal. I also had an opportunity to speak to Defense Minister Gallant and other senior Israelis this morning. And I think there is a strong consensus, again, behind moving forward with the proposal, but it really is down to one person at this point. We’ll see what comes from them, and from him.

Now, we are also – President Biden is resolutely committed to Israel’s security, and to its defense. He is the first American president to come to Israel during a time of war, the first American president to commit American forces to help defend Israel when it was under attack from Iran in April. And we’re committed to the defeat of Hamas, to ensure that it can’t govern Gaza again. We also believe strongly that while military means have been necessary, they’re not sufficient, and there has to be a clear political plan, a clear humanitarian plan, in order to ensure that Hamas does not in any way, shape, or form resume control of Gaza and that Israel can move forward toward more enduring security.

And that’s why even as we’ve been working on this hostage ceasefire proposal, even as we’ve been working to try to make sure that the conflict doesn’t spread to other parts of the region, we’ve also been working on day after plans for Gaza – security, governance, rebuilding. And we’ve been doing that in conversation, consultation with many partners throughout the region. Those conversations will continue this afternoon and in the next couple of days, and it’s imperative that we have these plans, that we’re ready to go, and simply put, we’re not going to get to the day after if we don’t have plans for the day after. So I’m working resolutely on those.

But the first step, the most important step, is getting agreement on the proposal that President Biden put forward, and moving on from there.

MR MILLER: Michael.

QUESTION: Hi, thank you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Michael.

QUESTION: So just to follow up on what you said about your meeting with the prime minister, did you get an explicit assurance that he would – if Hamas accepts the proposal that’s on the table, that the deal is done, that he reciprocally or he continues support for it, that he will – that will clinch things?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Yes. Yes.

QUESTION: And can you just tell us, related to that, how do you reconcile what seems to be a difference between the Hamas position that there has to be an Israeli assurance of a permanent ceasefire as part of this process in phase two, I guess; and the prime minister’s statement that talk of a permanent ceasefire is a total non-starter? That seems like an irreconcilable difference. How do you see that being solved?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, what the proposal does is it brings an immediate ceasefire, and it commits the parties to negotiate an enduring ceasefire. And that will be a process of negotations, but the commitment in agreeing to the proposal is to seek that enduring ceasefire, but that has to be negotiated. As long as those negotiations are ongoing, the ceasefire that would take place immediately would remain in place, which is manifestly good for everyone. And then we’ll have to see, but you’re not going to get to phase two, to an enduring ceasefire, unless you start with phase one. So that’s where it begins.

MR MILLER: Shaun.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can I follow up on the Security Council resolution? Hamas issued a statement in support of it, essentially. Do you see this as a hopeful sign that they might be leaning toward accepting it? What more needs to be done to persuade Hamas to accept the ceasefire too?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, I’d say it is a hopeful sign, just as the statement that they issued after the President made his proposal ten days ago was hopeful, but it’s not dispositive. What is dispositive, at least what’s so far been dispositive one way or another, is the word coming from Gaza and from the Hamas leadership in Gaza. That’s what counts, and that’s what we don’t have yet. And that’s why I say we’re waiting to see. Everyone has said yes except for Hamas. And if Hamas doesn’t say yes, then this is clearly on them – on them in terms of a vote to continue the war, not end it; on them in terms of the safety, the well-being of hundreds of thousands, millions of Palestinian women, children, and men in Gaza; on them in terms of the safety, and stability, security of Israel as well; the region as a whole, because the longer this goes on, the more chance there is, again, for the conflict to spread, for us to see problems evolve in other places. We’ve been working every single day to prevent that from happening. So far we have, but again, the longer this goes on, the greater the risk.

So you – again, I want to come back to the Security Council resolution. I don’t think the world could be more clear about what country after country, in this region and beyond, are looking for, and that is saying yes to the proposal. We await the answer from Hamas, and that will speak volumes about what they want, what they’re looking for, who they’re looking after. Are they looking after one guy who may be pronounced safe, buried – I don’t know – ten stories underground somewhere in Gaza, while the people that he purports to represent continue to suffer in a crossfire of his own making? Or will he do what’s necessary to actually move this to a better place, to help end the suffering of people, to help bring real security to Israelis and Palestinians alike? We’ll see.

QUESTION: Are there others who could persuade Hamas? Are there others with influence on Hamas who —

SECRETARY BLINKEN: I think there are – there are those who have influence, but influence is one thing; actually getting a decision made is another thing. I don’t think anyone other than the Hamas leadership in Gaza actually are the ones who can make – make decisions. That’s what we’re waiting on.

MR MILLER: Thank you.

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks.

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Current Trends in Sex Trafficking Research

Cecilia allan.

1 Department of Psychology and Counseling, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ USA

Georgia M. Winters

Elizabeth l. jeglic.

2 Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY USA

Purpose of Review

Sex trafficking is a significant global problem that results in millions of individuals being sexually exploited annually. This paper will provide an overview of recent research in the field of sex trafficking and evaluate findings to provide recommendations for future research and policy work.

Recent Findings

In recent years, there has been an increase in research focused on understanding sex trafficking and how it can be prevented. Specifically, recent studies have explored characteristics of sex trafficking cases, risk factors for experiencing sex trafficking, recruitment and maintenance processes, identification and intervention techniques, and treatment approaches.

While there have been significant strides to better understand sex trafficking across the globe, numerous areas require further exploration. Additional research conducted internationally and with adults who have experienced sex trafficking is needed to better understand methods that can identify individuals at risk for being trafficked, enhance early detection, and provide services to trafficked individuals.

Introduction

Sex trafficking is one of the fastest growing global criminal enterprises [ 1 ], with reported cases in 115 countries [ 2 ••]. It is estimated that in 2016, nearly four million adults and one million minors were forced into sexual labor [ 3 ]. While exact definitions may vary by country, sex trafficking as defined in the United States (U.S.) refers to the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of any commercial sex act where such act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or when the person induced to perform sex acts is under the age of 18 years” [ 4 ]. Sex trafficking has serious consequences to the individual and society [ 5 ]. Experiencing sex trafficking has been shown to increase rates of physical illness [e.g., 5 ] as well as mental health conditions [e.g., 6 – 8 ] and can lead to social stigmatization and/or criminalization of trafficked individuals [ 8 ]. Sex trafficking also has a significant impact on society, sustaining organized crime, and depriving citizens of basic human rights and feelings of security [ 9 ]. Thus, determining methods of identification and prevention are of great importance. As such, this review will provide an overview of recent research (2019 to 2022) in the field of sex trafficking and critically evaluate findings to communicate suggestions for future research and policy work. The review will include a description of the characteristics of sex trafficking cases, risk factors for experiencing sex trafficking, recruitment and maintenance processes, identification and intervention techniques, and treatment approaches. Although the majority of research focuses on trafficked individuals who are under 18 at the time of exploitation, the information described throughout this review includes both child sex trafficking (CST) and adult sex trafficking (AST).

Characteristics of Sex Trafficking Cases

Globally, sexual exploitation (i.e., sex trafficking) is the most common form of human trafficking representing 50% of the cases of trafficked individuals [ 2 ••]. While it is estimated that almost five million individuals (adults and children) are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation internationally [ 3 ], it is expected that this number has recently increased due to higher levels of unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic [ 2 ••]. Further, the global prevalence of sex trafficking is likely underestimated given the lack of a standardized definition [ 10 , 11 ] in addition to various individualized (e.g., failing to recognize experiences of victimization, nonreporting due to fear of individuals who perpetrate trafficking or law enforcement) [ 10 , 12 , 13 ] and systematic (e.g., lack of a central database to track occurrences) [ 14 ] barriers.

According to the UNDOC [ 2 ••], females experience sex trafficking at disproportionate rates, with women and girls, respectively, representing 77% and 72% of the individuals experiencing sexual exploitation. Others have estimated these rates to be even higher with some sources suggesting that up to 99% of sexually trafficked individuals are women and girls [ 3 , 15 •]. Most trafficked individuals enter sex trafficking before the age of 18, with the average age of first sex trafficking experience ranging from 12 to 15 years [ 15 •, 16 •]. Individuals who identify as part of the LGBTQ + community have twice the odds of being trafficked compared to those who identify as heterosexual [ 17 ]. This is hypothesized to be the result of familial discrimination and a lack of available services which increase their chances of experiencing other risk factors (e.g., homelessness) and leads to a higher likelihood of engaging in sex trafficking to meet basic needs [ 17 ]. Furthermore, while in lower income countries children are more likely to be trafficked for labor, in high and upper-middle income countries such as those in North America and Europe [ 2 ••], children are more likely to be trafficked for sexual purposes. Research also suggests domestic trafficking is more common than international trafficking [ 18 ••].

While most trafficked individuals are female, most individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking are male [ 15 •, 19 , 20 ••]. However, recent studies suggest that the prevalence of female individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking may be increasing, with estimates ranging from 16 to 32%. Differences in rates of female individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking may be related to location, as research conducted in the Netherlands identified that individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking internationally are significantly more likely to be female than individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically (21.5% versus 12%) [ 18 ••].

The type and size of the sex trafficking organizations may vary based upon several factors. For instance, Veldhuizen-Ochodničanová and colleagues [ 20 ••] found that individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically in the U.S. were more likely to work independently and have a single individual they were victimizing while individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking internationally were more likely to work in organized groups and have a larger number of individuals they were victimizing (i.e., over 10). Kragten-Heerdink and colleagues [ 18 ••] identified support for these findings in an international context, with individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking internationally reporting victimizing more individuals than those who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically in the Netherlands.

Risk Factors

Numerous factors contribute to the likelihood of being sexually exploited. Several studies have identified risks for experiencing CST in the U.S., including child maltreatment (e.g., prior sexual abuse), involvement in foster care, a history of running away, alcohol and substance use/abuse, poor mental health, justice system involvement, unstable home environments, peer or family influence (e.g., witnessing others engage in sex work), identifying as part of the LGBTQ + community, severe physical disabilities, and/or low cognitive abilities [ 8 , 16 •, 17 , 19 , 21 – 25 ]. Similar risk factors have also been reported in Canada and Israel [e.g., 21 , 26 ]. Research comparing domestic and international trafficking suggests that risk factors may differ depending on the context. For example, Kragten-Heerdink and colleagues [ 18 ••] found that individuals who were sexually trafficked domestically were more often described as vulnerable due to factors such as age, homelessness, and difficulties in the home (e.g., abuse), whereas those sexually trafficked internationally were more often described as vulnerable because of their disadvantaged background (e.g., poverty and lack of education) and/or a need to provide for others.

Process of Recruitment and Maintenance

One method of improving identification of those being trafficked is through knowledge and recognition of the tactics and processes by which individuals become sexually exploited. Often, individuals have preestablished relationships with those who perpetrate their sex trafficking (e.g., family and friends) and tend to become involved due to economic need [ 19 ]. Using a sample of 26 individuals who had experienced sex trafficking in the U.S., Reed and colleagues [ 27 ] identified three types of relationships that lead to CST: (1) friends, (2) romantic relationships, and (3) family. For more than half of their sample (54%), friends had influenced involvement in sex work, either through peer pressure or modeling a way to survive/obtain money [ 27 ]. Others (31%) had romantic relationships with “boyfriends” who later became pimps, using coercion or violence to force the trafficked individual into sex work and keeping the money for themselves [ 27 ]. Familial involvement in sex work was also identified as a pathway towards involvement in CST in 15% of the cases [ 27 ]. In another recruitment model developed in the U.S., Roe-Sepowitz [ 15 •] proposed that individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking tend to recruit by targeting vulnerable children (e.g., runaways, those who respond to overtures of romance) and promising money, drugs, alcohol, or a place to stay. The author also noted use of various methods of control such as sexual, physical, and psychological abuse to condition trafficked individuals and prevent them from leaving [ 15 •].

In an effort to synthesize the research on the behaviors and tactics involved in the trafficking process, Winters and colleagues [ 28 ••] conducted a review of the literature (including both sex trafficking and child sexual abuse) and proposed the Sexual Grooming Model of Child Sex Trafficking (SGM-CST). According to the SGM-CST, the behaviors and tactics used by individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking can be conceptualized into five stages: (1) victim selection, (2) gaining access and isolation, (3) trust development, (4) desensitization to sexualized content and touch, and (5) postabuse maintenance [ 28 ••]. Victim selection involves choosing an individual to traffick based on specific internal and external vulnerabilities (e.g., drug addiction, intellectual deficits, inhospitable home environment, and unmet needs at home). Once the individual perpetrating the sex trafficking has identified a preferred individual, they begin to engage in behaviors aimed at accessing the child, such as manipulating their existing relationships or isolating the child from emotional supports and physical protective factors (e.g., areas with surveillance). The individual perpetrating the sex trafficking then focuses on gaining the trust and cooperation of the individual they are trafficking, as well as others in that individual’s life. This may involve presenting oneself as romantically interested, providing compliments and attention, or utilizing more materialistic tactics such as giving money and gifts. After trust has been established, the individual perpetrating the sex trafficking works to desensitize the youth to sexual content (e.g., asking sexually explicit questions) and contact (e.g., taking explicit photos and exposure to pornography). Lastly, individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking engage in postabuse maintenance to facilitate future abuse and/or prevent disclosure of the abuse. Both emotional manipulation (e.g., competition among trafficked individuals and instilling feelings of shame) and controlling behaviors (e.g., physical abuse, sexual violence, verbal threats, and blackmail) may be used at this stage. This model provides a framework for understanding the recruitment tactics of individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking and could help with prevention through identification, educational efforts, investigations, and prosecution of CST cases. The authors indicate that the next step is validating the SGM-CST using data from trafficked individuals [ 28 ••].

International research reveals use of similar methods of recruitment (e.g., through relationships), trust development (e.g., showing attention or gifts), and maintenance (e.g., deception, persuasion, psychological control, and threats) [ 21 , 29 ]. However, there appears to be some variation by country as studies from Spain and India show recruitment into sexual exploitation may occur as the result of prior engagement in domestic servitude or due to familial obligation. As examples, in Spain and Morocco, young girls from economically disadvantaged families in rural areas are often recruited to work as housemaids for wealthy families and are subsequently targeted by trafficking networks [ 30 ], while CST is considered normative among some castes (e.g., Bedia) in India to provide financially for the family [ 31 ].

It is also important to consider how these methods may vary depending upon the type of sex trafficking operation. For instance, Veldhuizen-Ochodničanová and colleagues [ 20 ••] compared differences between domestic and international sex trafficking processes in the U.S. They found differences in victim selection decisions, in that individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically tended to select minors and individuals who had run away from home, whereas individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking internationally were significantly more likely to target poor, uneducated, or homeless individuals [ 20 ••]. In reference to methods of recruitment, they found that individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically and internationally used some approaches at similar rates (e.g., romancing, promising interstate travel, and taking care of money/needs); however, significantly more international trafficking cases involved promises of a job or an American visa [ 20 ••]. The researchers also found significant differences in the strategies used to gain and maintain control. Specifically, individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically were more likely to use drug dependence as a method of control, whereas those who perpetrate sex trafficking internationally were more likely to reference smuggling debt, deportation, and ID confiscation in order to maintain compliance [ 20 ••]. In a similar comparative analysis conducted in the Netherlands, researchers found differences in the use of violence as a means of coercive control, noting that this method was employed significantly more often by individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking domestically than those who perpetrate sex trafficking internationally [ 18 ••]. Overall, these findings suggest that consideration of the country and context (i.e., international versus domestic) is important when looking for indications of victimization.

Identification and Intervention

While research has identified risk factors and recruitment processes involved in sex trafficking, considerably less is known about the extent to which this knowledge has been applied by healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and educators to identify and intervene in cases of sex trafficking. The few studies which have been conducted appear to focus on North American-based professionals.

Several studies in the U.S. have examined how to improve identification of sex trafficking in healthcare settings. One commonly studied tool is the Short Screen for Child Sex Trafficking ( SSCST ), a 6-item measure which includes questions relevant to risk factors (e.g., physical violence, running away, sexual history, and substance use) [ 32 •]. Peterson and colleagues [ 33 ] examined the use of routine screening for CST using a modified version of the SSCST in emergency departments. They found that the modified SSCST improved specificity when children present with a high-risk chief complaint (e.g., sexual assault, physical assault, and runaway) by increasing CST identification rates from 1.3% to 11.3% during comprehensive follow-up evaluations [ 33 ]. Similarly, Hurst and colleagues [ 34 ] examined the effectiveness of an electronic self-report version of the SSCST . In a sample of 212 patients, 22 of the 26 patients who had experienced sexual exploitation (84.6%) screened positive for trafficking using the tool. Results suggest that this self-report method was helpful in identifying CST and may be useful in busy clinical environments to ensure additional evaluation services are provided for those who screen positive for CST [ 34 ].

In addition to utilizing screening tools, research has highlighted the importance of training professionals who frequently encounter trafficked individuals on identification procedures. Research conducted with service providers (e.g., counselors, medical personnel, law enforcement, and educators) who frequently interact with those who may be experiencing sex trafficking suggests that training can be an effective method of improving identification and access to services.

Service Providers

It appears that many service providers have received at least some training on the identification of CST. To examine the effectiveness of training programs aimed at improving identification of CST, Preble and colleagues [ 35 •] used snowball and purposive sampling targeted at members of antitrafficking networks to survey a range of service providers (e.g., law enforcement, child protective services, and medical personnel; n = 107) in a midwestern state in the U.S. Ninety percent of respondents indicated that they had received training for CST, most often related to the definition of human trafficking, vulnerability factors, and identification of trafficked individuals. However, the authors propose that continued definitional confusion among professionals who had received training may suggest that current methods are not sufficient for improving identification of trafficked individuals [ 35 •].

Awerbuch and colleagues [ 36 ] examined the impact of a full-day educational intervention for U.S. professionals working with individuals who may be experiencing CST (e.g., nurses, counselors, police officers, and social workers). They found that the training, which included a description of CST, impacts of screening and identification, an explanation of trauma bonding, and skills for communicating with trafficked individuals, was effective in increasing sex trafficking knowledge among some practitioners [ 36 ]. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) is another training manual which has had positive impacts on increasing identification of trafficked individuals in the U.S. [ 37 ]. Modules in this program explore (1) an overview of CSEC, (2) pathways and precursors, (3) understanding impacts, (4) victim identification and engagement, (5) effective service delivery, (6) investigating cases, (7) working with cases, and (8) medical and mental health care of trafficked individuals [ 37 ]. Kenny and colleagues [ 37 ] provided nine three-hour training sessions over the course of six months and found statistically significant differences between pretest and posttest scores on a measure of sex trafficking knowledge. Professionals (e.g., therapists, transportation workers, and social workers) reported that they had a greater ability to identify and recognize trafficked individuals, an improved understanding and knowledge of CST, an increased ability to communicate with and engage trafficked individuals, and a heightened desire to educate others on this problem after receiving the training.

Of note, researchers have identified variations in the definition of sex trafficking as a barrier that impedes identification of trafficked individuals, which may impact the quality and effectiveness of trainings. Preble and colleagues [ 35 •] found that, despite previous training, many respondents indicated confusion regarding definitional aspects of sex trafficking. When examining service providers’ understanding and identification of CST, Gonzalez-Pons [ 38 ] found that the persistence of myths related to CST and a lack of definitional understanding interferes with identification of trafficked individuals and service delivery.

Law Enforcement

Trafficked individuals may come in contact with law enforcement due to suspicion regarding the commission of delinquent behavior. Interrogations by police can create mistrust thereby decreasing the likelihood of disclosure and identification [ 39 ]. Consequently, research has started to focus on law enforcement responses to sex trafficking. Miller and colleagues [ 40 ] examined the effectiveness of the Law Enforcement First Responders Protocol for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children ( FRP ), a training program that aimed to help law enforcement officers identify those who had been trafficked while avoiding criminalization of these individuals under prostitution laws in the U.S. While overall effectiveness on identification rates was not discussed, the authors note that by encouraging officers to connect trafficked individuals with services rather than criminalize behaviors, the program allowed many trafficked individuals to access important medical services [ 40 ].

Other Professionals

Gaps have been identified in that training may not be provided to some professionals who have a high likelihood of interacting with individuals who have been sexually trafficked (e.g., medical providers and educators). For example, although educational and medical societies recommend that students learn to recognize and provide care for sexually trafficked individuals, Talbott and colleagues [ 41 ] were able to identify only four programs which aimed to train medical students on identification and intervention. A Canadian study of medical professionals ( n = 125) found that 40% of physicians and 51% of other health professionals (e.g., nurses and psychologists) had never received training related to CST and did not feel comfortable making identification judgments [ 42 •]. Further some research suggests that healthcare providers may be more attuned to general signs of child maltreatment rather than having specific knowledge regarding risks of CST [ 42 •, 43 ].

Similarly, it appears that educators have little guidance on how to identify signs of CST among their students [ 44 ]. Chesworth and colleagues [ 44 ] proposed a protocol outlining how schools could respond to concerns of CST and help with identification. This included (1) taking action when sex trafficking is disclosed or suspected and reporting even if uncertain, (2) informing and involving relevant personnel, (3) working collaboratively to decide who to include in the report process, (4) submitting a report to Child Protective Services, and (5) following up after the report with the student and family to ensure they are getting proper services.

Given the physical and psychological impact of sexual exploitation, once trafficked individuals are identified, clinicians and service providers must work to implement treatment programs that will address the unique needs of this population. Importantly, counselors and mental health workers may need to take on a multifaceted role when working with trafficked individuals, helping to simultaneously address substance use, trauma, family issues, and physical care needs [ 45 ]. Cross-culturally, one of the most important factors in making a positive impact when working with trafficked individuals is promoting feelings of safety by communicating acceptance and understanding [ 46 – 48 ]. Other factors that have been found to facilitate treatment engagement include using a harm reduction and trauma-informed lens to understand behavioral patterns, develop trusting relationships, share decision-making responsibilities, and encourage client autonomy by being flexible [ 46 ]. To date, no treatment has been developed specifically for individuals who have experienced sex trafficking; however, a variety of approaches developed for those who have gone through other forms of trauma have been examined for use with trafficked individuals.

One approach that has been found to be effective when working with those who have experienced CST is trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT) [e.g., 37 , 49 •]. This manualized treatment builds on cognitive behavioral principles and uses gradual exposure to help youth and caregivers acknowledge and process trauma while learning and applying coping skills [ 49 •]. TF-CBT has been found to result in significant reductions in symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and deviant behaviors and lead to improvements in self-regulation, hope for the future, and positive affect in multiple countries (e.g., the United States [ 37 , 49 •, 50 ], Cambodia [ 51 ], and India [ 52 ]).

Other treatment approaches include using a mentoring model. My Life My Choice, a U.S.-based treatment program for trafficked youth, pairs youth experiencing CST or those at very high risk of becoming involved in CST with a trained adult mentor who has lived experience with sexual exploitation [ 53 •]. This program has been found to have positive outcomes, improving coping skills and reducing the likelihood of experiencing sex trafficking, engaging in delinquent behavior, and being justice-involved [ 53 •]. Other researchers have found similar support for the inclusion of those with lived trafficking experience in treatment programs [e.g., 54 ]. Yet, despite the benefits of including individuals with lived experience in the treatment process, they are not typically involved in program development [ 55 ].

Conclusions and Recommendations

In recent years, there has been a research focus on better understanding sex trafficking. Empirical data has shown that sex trafficking has become a significant global problem that results in millions of people being sexually exploited each year. While there have been advances in research that shed light on the nature and extent of the problem, there remain many areas in need of further exploration. Below, we detail recommendations for future research and practice.

Recommendations

Sex trafficking is increasingly being understood as a unique form of human trafficking. As such, there should be a universal definition for sex trafficking, both domestically and internationally. Currently, there are a wide range of definitions used across different jurisdictions, which may lead to a lack of clarity and impede detection and prosecution. Relatedly, sex trafficking should be defined as a separate construct from human trafficking more generally; for example, the UN defines human trafficking, but does not have a clear definition of what constitutes sex trafficking. Ultimately, universal definitions for sex trafficking can be beneficial in ensuring a common language across jurisdictions thus improving detection, prevention, and research efforts. Having a common definition of sex trafficking would also be beneficial in prosecuting those who perpetrate sex trafficking across jurisdictions and international borders.
Sex trafficking is a global issue. As such, information sharing between jurisdictions and across countries should be encouraged by legislators to improve international prevention and identification efforts.
Much of the literature on sex trafficking has been conducted in the U.S., with some single studies being conducted in other areas (e.g., Europe and South Asia). Additional research examining the similarities and differences that may exist internationally is needed to adequately identify, prevent, and intervene in cases of sex trafficking. This is especially important since it has been suggested that the perpetrators, tactics, and characteristics of targeted individuals may differ depending on the location, including whether trafficking occurs domestically or internationally [e.g., 18 ••, 20 ••].
Research on sex trafficking in recent years has largely focused on cases involving minors. More research with adults who have been trafficked is needed to better understand the extent of the problem, as there is some evidence that AST may be more common than CST [ 3 ]. Additionally, it would be important to understand how cases of AST and CST may differ, in terms of risk factors for experiencing sex trafficking, recruitment and maintenance tactics, consequences of sex trafficking, and effectiveness of screening, training, and treatment for these populations.
There are other subpopulations of trafficked individuals that warrant further examination. For example, individuals from the LGBTQ + community are at an increased risk of experiencing CST [ 17 ]; however, literature has focused largely on young, presumably heterosexual, girls. This is especially notable in the treatment literature, as there are a lack of materials and programs designed to address the unmet needs of LGBTQ + trafficked individuals [ 24 , 56 ]; as such, additional research examining how to best provide treatment for this population is needed.
The research regarding training professionals on prevention and intervention tends to focus on health professionals. While medical and mental health professionals have an important role to play in treatment, it is often front-line workers such as school personnel, hospitality workers, transportation workers, and law enforcement officers who have first contact with trafficked individuals and those suspected of being trafficked. Thus, they may have an important role to play in prevention, detection, and prosecution of individuals who perpetrate sex trafficking. For example, research has shown that interviewing styles of law enforcement officers can influence trafficked individuals’ willingness to disclose and provide details about sexual exploitation experiences [ 39 ]; as such, training should be tailored to working with this population. Relatedly, policies requiring the training of front-line workers should be implemented to enhance the likelihood of accurate detection and early intervention.
Given that vulnerable individuals are often selected by those who perpetrate sex trafficking [ 15 •, 28 ••], policies advocating for the provision of services (e.g., after school programs, affordable counseling, and work programs) that provide guidance and supervision to at-risk populations should be developed.

In sum, there have been strides to better understand sex trafficking across the globe; however, there remains numerous areas that need further exploration. Additional research is critical, as this will shed light on methods that can be used to identify vulnerable populations, recognize cases of sex trafficking as early as possible, and provide services to those who were sexually trafficked or perpetrated these behaviors.

Declarations

The authors declare no competing interests.

All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards (including the Helsinki declaration and its amendments, institutional/national research committee standards, and international/national/institutional guidelines).

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Sexual Disorders

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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AG Nessel Secures Permanent Injunction to Shut Down Unlicensed Oakland County Adult Foster Care Facility

June 12, 2024

LANSING – Oakland County Circuit Court Judge David M. Cohen granted a permanent injunction against Erica Edwards and her unlicensed adult foster care facility ETE Homes Inc., doing business as Talison Assisted Living, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. A preliminary injunction was granted in December 2023 at the Attorney General’s request following an investigation by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), and upon receiving notice that Edwards would not voluntarily cease operating the unlicensed facility.

LARA investigated the facility following a complaint received by the agency in March of 2023. They found Edwards to be operating the facility in a residential home with live-in staff, housing at least eight foster care residents, at least one of which required physical assistance and some requiring around-the-clock care, that staff administered medication, and that the facility accepted payment from its residents, all without the proper licensure. Judge Cohen ruled late last year the facility was in violation of the Adult Foster Care Facility Licensing Act and enjoined Edwards, and her companies, agents, or employees from providing unlicensed care with a preliminary injunction.

The terms of the preliminary injunction were issued once again as a permanent injunction by Judge Cohen last week in the 6th Circuit Court in Oakland County, on June 5th.

"Thousands of Michigan families rely on and trust adult foster care to be a safe haven for their loved ones,” Nessel said. “Lacking proper training and oversight, unlicensed facilities put residents at risk, and my office will continue to pursue bad actors that endanger their overall well-being. To ensure your loved one receives the best possible care, remember to always research a facility’s history and verify their license with LARA.”

Under the injunction, Edwards must cooperate with Adult Protective Services workers and related agencies to discharge and relocate residents in need of adult foster care. In addition, Edwards must grant LARA staff, Adult Protective Services, Community Mental Health, law enforcement, and medical personnel access to the premises and residents. Residents will be relocated to an appropriate facility or setting as necessary.

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IMAGES

(DOC) Research Proposal Human Trafficking (1)
SOLUTION: 2014 research proposal jessop marina human trafficking
(PDF) Human Trafficking: Causes and implications
Estimating the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the United States
Free Human Trafficking Research Proposal Example
RESEARCH PROPOSALRESEARCH PROPOSAL Human Trafficki.docx

COMMENTS

PDF Human Trafficking: A Rural and an Urban Problem
Human trafficking has been around for centuries, with the earliest forms of global human trafficking beginning with the African slave trade. Although there is no substantial evidence to support that first-time slavery was created as a form of human exploitation, human trafficking can be traced back to some of the earliest civilizations.4
(PDF) Research Proposal- HumanTrafficking
This research proposal focuses on highlighting the signs of human trafficking and creating awareness of human trafficking in the T ampa Bay Area. Winebrenner (2015) addressed the
PDF Thesis Human Trafficking
Sex trafficking. is defined as "a commercial sex act that is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the. person induced to perform sex acts is under 18 years of age" (Trafficking Victims Protection Act. of 2000). Measures have been implemented to help combat and prevent human trafficking.
Human Trafficking Policy and Research Analysis Project ...
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation HTPRAP: Human Trafficking Policy and Research Analyses Project Sex trafficking: As defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, sex trafficking is a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.
Evidence-Based Human Trafficking Policy: Opportunities to Invest in
Alternatively, tactical use applies research findings to justify or oppose existing policy proposals. Policies may also impose use through requirements or expectations for research use or involve process use by ... Human trafficking: A research synthesis on human-trafficking literature in academic journals from 2000-2014. Journal of Human ...
Human Trafficking Health Research: Progress and Future Directions
Human trafficking is a global public health concern. A growing body of literature has examined issues ranging from the physical, emotional and sexual violence experienced by victims, to the increased vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV among individuals trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), to the immense psychosocial challenges for survivors as they ...
Human trafficking and violence: Findings from the largest global
1. Introduction. Human trafficking is a recognized human rights violation, and a public health and global development issue. Target 8.7 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals calls for states to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate trafficking, forced labour and modern slavery (Griggs et al., 2013).Human trafficking has been defined by the United Nations' Palermo Protocol as ...
PDF Human Trafficking: New Directions Research
An IOM global survey of existing research on human trafficking "Data and Research on Human Trafficking: A Global Survey" (Laczko and Gozdziak 2005), highlighted some of the gaps and weaknesses in current empirical research on trafficking. These included: • Overemphasis on trafficking in women for sexual exploitation; • Too few studies ...
The Human Trafficking Policy & Research Analyses Project
The objective of this project is to compile a resource about promising practices related to economic opportunity programming for use by professionals who provide services to people who have experienced human trafficking. Just Science · Human Trafficking Policy and Research Analyses Project. RTI is collaborating to help develop anti-trafficking ...
PDF Engaging Anti-Human Trafficking Stakeholders in the Research Process
The article shows that the engagement of stakeholders in the process of the research helped improve the outcomes of the study and increased the likelihood of acceptance and dissemination of the research findings. Lessons for future research on human trafficking are discussed. KEYWORDS.
Innovations in empirical research into human trafficking: introduction
When it comes to human trafficking, hype often outweighs evidence. All too often, the discourse on trafficking - increasingly absorbed under discussions of so-called 'modern slavery' too - is dominated by simplistic treatments of a complex problem, sweeping claims and dubious statistics [1,2,3].Such an approach might help to win attention, investment and support for an anti-trafficking ...
Critical Gaps in Human Trafficking Research: A Reflection on Six Years
After over 20 years of anti-trafficking programming, the field remains reliant on promising practices rather than evidence-based ones. This article identifies eight key gaps in human trafficking research and shares the Program to End Modern Slavery's approach to addressing them.
Human Trafficking in the United States
There were 3,066 cases reported in 2012. In 2014, 4,741 cases of human trafficking were. reported, a 35% increase of cases from two years ago. In 2016 there was 7,064 cases reported, a 33% increase in cases reported from 2014. From the cases reported in 2012 to 2016, there was an. increase of 55% percent.
PDF Research and Evaluation on Trafficking in Persons
tribal) meet the challenges created by human trafficking in their jurisdictions. Proposals should develop and analyze information and data that have clear implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States in the following focus areas: 1. Cost-Effective Estimates of the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in the U.S. Despite ...
PDF Human Trafficking Research and Learning Agenda
for their comments and suggestions to this document and for making the Human Trafficking Research Initiative a reality. Thank you to IPA staff Ellen Bates-Jefferys for providing substantial research support in the first draft; ... sive pool of high-quality research proposals focused on human trafficking, HTRI will finance projects that are ...
PDF An Introduction to Human Trafficking: Vulnerability, Impact and Action
research initiatives and creating an evidence-based report on global trafficking trends. 8. To strengthen partnership—to build up regional and thematic networks involving civil ... Fight Human Trafficking, to be held in the Austrian capital from 13 to 15 February 2008. The Forum is a unique opportunity to bring together representatives from ...
(PDF) Human Trafficking: Causes and implications
Human trafficking is a grave concern that we often choose to overlook. In India, this problem has escalated in recent years, with Assam being labelled the trafficking hub of the country in 2015.
(PDF) Human Trafficking : A South Africa Perspective
According to a US Department of State report published in June 2013, 'South Africa is a. source, transit, and dest ination country for men, w omen, and children su bjected to forced labour. and ...
Proposals
Relevance - Region: Human trafficking is a $150 billion industry that disproportionally affects women and girls, not only making them victims of criminal activities, but also denying them economic opportunities and independence. Of the 24.9 million people estimated to be victims of human trafficking globally, women and girls make up 99% of the victims in commercial sexual exploitation and 58 ...
The Public Health Response to Human Trafficking: A Look Back and a Step
First, most research has focused on sex trafficking despite expert warnings that labor trafficking may be underrepresented in prevalence estimates. 27-30 Forced labor accounts for a substantial proportion of identified cases of human trafficking globally and may be rising (34% in 2016, 38% in 2018). 27 In fiscal year 2020, 81% of adult foreign ...
Research Proposal Human Trafficking (1)
Human trafficking is a contemptible offence. This is a heinous process of violation of human rights. It is a human rights issue with important ramifications in the area of health, law enforcing, and socioeconomic development in general. At present, trafficking in women and children is on the rise globally. It is increase day by day in our country.
PDF Project Concept: Prevention of Human Trafficking in the RF
The project foresees comprehensive measures contributing to enhance the capacities of the Russian Federation in the main following trends: policy advice, prevention measures; cooperation with law enforcement and establishment of referral mechanisms as well as assistance to victims. Trafficking in human beings is recognized by the governments of ...
Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings
Facts about trafficking in human beings. 37% of the victims of trafficking in the EU are EU citizens, and a significant number of them are trafficked within their own country. However, non-EU victims have increased in recent years and they now outnumber victims with an EU citizenship. The majority of victims in the EU are women and girls who ...
8 facts you need to know about human trafficking in the 21st century
6. The most common forms of human trafficking are sexual exploitation and forced labour Human trafficking manifests in many forms. UNODC's latest research shows that 38.7 per cent of victims are trafficked for sexual exploitation, which takes place on the streets, in brothels, massage centres, hotels or bars. The victims - mainly women and ...
POV: Biden's Asylum Ban Is Legally, Morally, and Politically Wrong
Sarah Sherman-Stokes is a School of Law clinical associate professor of law and associate director of LAW's Immigrants' Rights & Human Trafficking Clinic. She can be reached at [email protected] . "POV" is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state ...
Secretary Antony J. Blinken Remarks to the Press
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, first, what the proposal does is it brings an immediate ceasefire, and it commits the parties to negotiate an enduring ceasefire. And that will be a process of negotations, but the commitment in agreeing to the proposal is to seek that enduring ceasefire, but that has to be negotiated.
RFP 22-2024
Data and Research ; 2030 Agenda ; About migration. Our work. ... Request for Proposal Attachment. tech-proposal-forms-b-i.docx rfp-22-2024-airport-based-assistance-iom-germany.pdf form-d-vendor-information-sheet.pdf ... Global Data Hub on Human Trafficking; Global Migration Data Analysis Centre; IOM Development Fund;
Current Trends in Sex Trafficking Research
Sex trafficking also has a significant impact on society, sustaining organized crime, and depriving citizens of basic human rights and feelings of security [ ]. Thus, determining methods of identification and prevention are of great importance. As such, this review will provide an overview of recent research (2019 to 2022) in the field of sex ...
AG Nessel Secures Permanent Injunction to Shut Down Unlicensed Oakland
The Michigan Attorney General is leading the fight against this horrific crime by prosecuting the state's first-ever criminal cases under state law banning human trafficking in Michigan. Victims of human trafficking are in bondage through force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of sex or labor exploitation. Michigan Human Trafficking Laws ...
PDF Federal Register /Vol. 89, No. 114/Wednesday, June 12, 2024 ...
Program No. 93.242, Mental Health Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, HHS) Dated: June 6, 2024. David W Freeman, Supervisory Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy. [FR Doc. 2024-12836 Filed 6-11-24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4140-01-P DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Office of Refugee Resettlement