The Cause and Consequence of Human Trafficking: Human Rights Violations | What’s in a Title?

On the surface, it is quite apparent that human trafficking is awful, disgusting, violent, targeted towards the most vulnerable populations in society, and illegal. What’s missing from many conversations on human trafficking, however, relates to the many human rights that are violated in the name of human trafficking. This book, The Cause and Consequence of Human Trafficking: Human Rights Violations (2nd ed.) centers this important issue. Kara Napolitano, of the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking, once used the phrase, “The Cause and Consequence of Human Trafficking: Human Rights Violations” in an interview on the systemic forces under-girding human trafficking. It eloquently captures the essence and realities of human trafficking and that is how the authors came about in entitling this book. When a person’s human rights are violated, it makes them vulnerable to gross mistreatment. When this mistreatment rises to the level of human trafficking, then additional human rights are violated during the trafficking ordeal. A well-known African Proverb asserts that “It takes a village to raise a child!” The authors completely agree with this observation. In step with this wisdom, the authors would argue that “It takes a world to eradicate slavery!” Slavery is around today and it has been around for centuries. Despite its persistence, it does not make it right. All humans deserve to live freely. The United Nations (UN) issued the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UN did this in an attempt to bring attention to the inalienable rights of all people (United Nations, 1948). The UDHR contains 30 articles. These articles address civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights (United Nations, 1948, Articles 1-30). The UDHR states that all humans are equal in dignity and worth. Articles 2–15 address political and individual freedoms. Articles 16–27 address economic, social, and cultural rights. Articles 28 and 29 address collective rights among and between nations and Article 30 states that no one can take away a person’s human rights (United Nations, 1948). Although Article 30 prescribes that no one’s human rights cannot be arbitrarily violated, it happens on a daily basis. Trafficked persons have their civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights violated time and time again while under the control of a trafficker. According to the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (2019), frequently violated human rights of trafficked persons include:

Article 1: The right to be free.

Article 2: The prohibition of discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status

Article 3: The right to life, liberty and security of person

Article 4: The right not to be subjected to slavery or servitude

Article 5: The right not to be subjected to torture and/or cruel, inhumane, degrading treatment or punishment

Article 8: The right to an effective remedy

Article 13: The right to freedom of movement

Article 14: The right to seek asylum

Article 17: The right to freedom of association

Article 23: The right to just and favorable conditions of work

Article 24: The right to rest and leisure

Article 25: The right to an adequate standard of living and social security

Article 26: The right to an education

As demonstrated in the above UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Articles, many of these human rights are often denied to:  impoverished women, men and children all over the world; people of color as a whole; many people in developing countries; immigrants/migrants/asylum seekers; and people where corrupt governments rule even when the person is not trafficked. By virtue of membership in one or more of these groups, some people’s human rights are routinely violated as a part of life. For instance, due to an inability to find employment and earn a livable wage [Article 23], for instance, some of these individuals will become desperate and especially vulnerable to being manipulated, deceived, coerced or forced into a trafficked situation under the guise of pursuing legitimate employment. Desperation leads to extreme vulnerability and high risk for gross mistreatment—including being trafficked. As if human rights violations are not bad enough prior to a trafficking situation, it actually gets worse for virtually all trafficked persons. Once under the control of a trafficker, the person will be further subjected to human rights violations that may escalate to gendered violence (sex trafficking/sexual assault), lack of access to healthcare as needed, restricted movement, poor housing/living conditions, persistent threats to one’s life, lack of protection/process when arrested, nonpayment of wages, and inhumane treatment as a whole—to start. It could also lead to death. The violations vary and often present in tandem with one another for a trafficked person. Human rights violations are the most egregious offences committed BY humans TOWARD humans.

Human rights are inalienable and fundamental rights that must be afforded to all people. They are legal, ethical and social in principle and must be embedded in the infrastructure of each nation in the form of policies, practices and legislation (Enrile, 2018). Therefore, in this chapter, it is important to reiterate that understanding human rights as broken down in Chapter 1: Social Work, Social Justice, Human Rights and Human Trafficking is critical. This is an imperative. Anyone wanting to understand human trafficking must understand human rights and how the violation of human rights is a cause and consequence of human trafficking.

In an effort to provide you with a context for how scholar activists, varied governments, governmental organizations and non-governmental agencies (NGOs) are fighting trafficking, the authors have compiled a list of individuals and organizations that have taken on this work. The content shows you how researchers and organizations play integral roles in addressing it, supporting victims, and creating legislation to criminalize perpetrators. This chapter highlights the work of a limited number of scholars from multiple disciplines who engage in anti-trafficking scholarship. It also highlights several organizations that engage in these activities.

Scholarship on Human Trafficking

The following article abstracts give the reader a sense of the breadth of scholars in the anti-trafficking arena. Due to the complexity of human trafficking, it requires scholars from the arts & entertainment, criminal justice, dentistry, dietetics, informatics, law, law enforcement, media & technology, medicine, migration, nursing, political science, public affairs, public health, social work, and so many other disciplines to address the issue. Here, just some of these disciplines are represented by a select group of scholars.

Criminal Justice

Dandurand, Y. (2017). Human trafficking and police governance. Police Practice & Research, 18(3), 322-336. DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2017.1291599

Human trafficking in its various forms continues to offer significant challenges for law enforcement agencies. There is a growing body of research that addresses some of the police governance and management issues associated with the prevention and control of human trafficking and the protection of victims of this type of crime. This article reviews the literature on the implementation of effective detection, investigation, prosecution, and victim protection strategies; the need for more effective international cooperation; and, the struggle to keep up with the illusive criminal organizations and networks that often defy law enforcement tactics. It also considers some of the specific challenges that result from the frequent conflation of human trafficking enforcement with immigration control strategies. It offers a few suggestions on how these issues may be addressed from a police governance standpoint and concludes with a call for better data on human trafficking and the relative effectiveness of different law enforcement strategies.

Farrell, A., Bouche, V., & Wolfe, D. (2019). Assessing the impact of state human trafficking legislation on criminal justice system outcomes. Law & Policy, 41(2), 174-197. DOI: 10.1111/lapo.12124

Since 2003, state legislatures in the United States have been active in passing legislation aimed at combating human trafficking. To date, all states have passed laws that criminalize acts of human trafficking, though with significant variation in the penalty structure and associated legal provisions. This article examines what aspects of state human trafficking laws are most impactful at increasing the arrest and prosecution of human trafficking suspects. Using panel data on state laws and associated enforcement actions from 2003 to 2012, this study confirms that more comprehensive state laws that invest in anti-trafficking resources are most strongly associated with human trafficking arrests and prosecutions. States that make legislative provisions for victim assistance, law enforcement training, statutory task forces, and mandatory reporting have higher anti-trafficking criminal enforcement. The political environment in which state human trafficking laws are enacted also influences their enforcement.

Farrell, A. & Cronin, S. (2015). Policing prostitution in an era of human trafficking enforcement. Crime, Law, & Social Change, 64(4/5), 211-228. DOI: 10.1007/s10611-015-9588-0

Prostitution and commercialized vice have been variously prioritized as urban crime problems across U.S. history. In response, lawmakers have historically been guided by a prohibititionst view where people selling, buying or facilitating the sale of sex are considered to be immoral and criminal. In recent years, public concern about the trafficking of persons for sex has reframed prostitution and the expectations of government response. The U.S. federal government and all fifty states have passed legislation that is guided by an abolitionist view of prostitution where people who are forced or coerced to sell sex are redefined as victims. State, county and municipal police officers are now receiving training on how to identify human trafficking cases and investigators are being trained to investigate and prepare cases for prosecution. Despite these efforts under the new legal regime, confusion exists about how sex trafficking differs from prostitution and correspondingly necessitates different types of law enforcement responses. Adding to this complication is the fact that in many major cities the responsibility for identifying and eradicating human trafficking has fallen to the same group of investigators who are responsible for enforcing vice and prostitution laws. As a result, prostitution enforcement is expected to change as police increasingly focus on identifying sex trafficking victims. Using data on police arrests for prostitution from 1980 to 2012, we examine the impact of federal and state anti-trafficking legislation on the local enforcement of prostitution. Our findings inform debate about legal reform as a response to urban crime problems and illustrate the complexities of policy implementation and interpretation.

Kulig, T. & Butler, L. (2019). From “whores” to “victims”: The rise and status of sex trafficking courts. Victims & Offenders, 14(3), 299-321. DOI: 10.1080/15564886.2019.1595242

Views of people involved in the commercial sex trade have shifted. Once seen as prostitutes or “whores,” they are increasingly perceived as exploited “victims.” The behavior associated with commercial sex has been redefined from voluntary and disreputable to coerced and deserving of rescue. This new framework is part of a broader anti-trafficking movement in society to recognize and save vulnerable individuals who are exploited for sex. In this context, the model of problem-solving or specialty courts has been extended to sex trafficking cases. The goal first is to identify trafficking victims–also known as “victim-defendants”–and then to address their risk factors with services. The current review examines the prevalence and the effectiveness of sex trafficking courts. Although some promising evaluations have been conducted, it remains unclear whether such courts are addressing the unique needs of victim-defendants. Investigating this question is essential, given that trafficking courts are likely to grow in popularity and in number.

Mehlman-Orozco, K. (2017). Projected heroes and self-perceived manipulators: Understanding the duplicitous identities of human traffickers. Trends in Organized Crime, 23(2), 95-114.

This qualitative inquiry examines human trafficker identities through stories from convicted offenders. Thematic findings suggest that the projected-identity of sex traffickers may be different from their true self-identity. Identity regulation to produce the appropriate individual by situation facilitates both improvisational and patterned methods of victim recruitment. Sex traffickers exercise their coercive power predominately through the use of deception and fraud, projecting themselves as “honest heroes” and “lovers” of their victims. Rather than using force to perpetually repress victims, sex traffickers more frequently gain compliance by building a trauma bond with their victims, who are also typically found at the margins of society. Recruitment into a commercial sexually exploitive victimization involves the perceived fulfillment of physiological and emotional needs, as well as strategic infusion of counterculture virtues. For tenured sex traffickers, force is normally only intermittently exercised to punish recalcitrant victims in a way that maintains the longevity of control through trauma bonding.

Renzetti, C., Bush, A., Castellanos, M., & Hunt. (2015). Does training make a difference? An evaluation of a specialized human trafficking module for law enforcement officers. Journal of Crime and Justice, DOI: 10.1080/0735648X.2014.997913

It is difficult to dispute the claim that human trafficking is a serious transnational crime, but there is far less agreement regarding its prevalence in the USA. Estimates of the number of trafficking victims in the USA vary widely, ranging from a low of approximately 14,000 to a high of over 300,000, depending on the source. There is also a substantial gap between estimates of victims and the number of officially investigated and prosecuted cases. For example, in FY2012 (October 1-September 30), federal law enforcement agencies and taskforces investigated less than 2500 human trafficking cases, and the Department of Justice initiated 128 federal trafficking prosecutions against 200 charged defendants.

Roe-Sepowitz, D. (2019). A six-year analysis of sex traffickers of minors: Exploring characteristics and sex trafficking patterns. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 29(5), 608-629.

Few studies have explored the characteristics and arrest patterns of sex traffickers, particularly sex traffickers of persons under the age of 18 (minors) in the U.S. The purpose of this study is to understand the behavior and characteristics of a national cross sectional sample of sex traffickers of minors during a six-year period. This study explored cases involving the arrest of sex traffickers of minors or persons under the age of 18 in the United States from 2010 to 2015. Sex traffickers of minors was defined as a person who facilitates and/or benefits by receiving something of value for the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor (person under the age of 18) or attempts to do so. During a systematic online search, 1,416 sex traffickers of minors were identified. The arrests were found in 46 states in the United States, two U. S. territories, and Washington D.C. The sex traffickers of minors were mostly males (n = 1067, 75.4%), and of those with race identified (only 51.6%), 71.7% were African American. Their ages ranged from 15 to 70 years old (M = 28.5, SD = 8.54). Characteristics of the sex trafficker and the sex trafficking situation are analyzed and implications discussed.

Shih, E. (2021). The fantasy of spotting human trafficking: Training spectacles in racist surveillance. Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies, 22, 105-137.

In  January 2019, in honor of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the US, the Marriott International hotel group announced that it had successfully trained 600,000 hotel workers to spot the signs of human trafficking in its hotel properties around the world. This training, planned and executed in partnership with anti-trafficking organizations and law enforcement, reflects the recent proliferation of training schemes to identify victims of trafficking. This paper explores how such trainings script racist optics into the surveillance and policing of potential victims. Using proxy markers of poverty, sexuality, race, and nation, victim identification trainings expand policing–by civilians and law enforcement alike–and foreclose liberation for migrant and sex workers of color to survive under the constraints of global capitalism. The paper concludes with alternative mobilization possibilities that propose defunding anti-trafficking, and learning from lessons offered by sex worker right and racial justice organizations.

Tidball, S., Zheng, M., & Creswell, J.W. (2016). Buying sex on-line from girls: NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and public officials speak out about human trafficking—A qualitative analysis. Gender Issues, 33, 53-68.

Federal agencies report the high level of sex trafficking of minors in the United States. This trafficking often occurs on-line with the Internet. Pimps commonly advertise children for sexual exploitation online, and they search social networking sites for young victims. Thus, the high rate of trafficking minors and the increased use of technology have led to a need to better understand purchasing young girls for sex on-line. This qualitative study focused on learning from NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and public officials their experiences about how men buy girls on-line for sex, and the words that the men use in the transactions. Moreover, it explored beliefs about human trafficking, the anti-trafficking practices, the criminal treatment of young victims, the safe places for girls to stay, and the sex trafficking programs available for these young women. To learn about these issues, we conducted thirty-eight interviewees with participants in four locations in the United Sates. Six different themes emerged: (1) familiarity of the interviewees with sex trafficking and its research: (2) law enforcement anti-trafficking practices, (3) the buying side of sex trafficking, (4) the criminal treatment of victims, (5) lack of safe places for girls to stay, and (6) the prevention, intervention, and assessment of sex trafficking programs. These results have important implications for human trafficking researchers, policymakers, law enforcement officials, and for those who provide services for the young girls.

Van Der Watt, M. & Van Der Westhuizen, A. (2017). (Re)configuring the criminal justice response to human trafficking: A complex-systems perspective. Police Practice & Research, 18(3), 218-229. DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2017.1291560

The multidimensional complexities associated with the criminal justice response to human trafficking are well documented. The transient and subversive nature of human trafficking as organized crime and the large number of multidisciplinary role-players involved in coordinating cross jurisdictional efforts to prevent, investigate and prosecute such cases, contribute to this complex undertaking. Complex systems theory suggests that a complex social problem such as human trafficking cannot be approached by using a linear or simplified lens, and requires a holistic perspective on the complex interactions between actors, and emergent behavior in both the criminal justice system and the human trafficking system that it seeks to combat. This paper explores the characteristics of complexity, and uses illustrations from the lived experiences of actors in South Africa’s efforts to combat human trafficking, in order to demonstrate how complex systems theory could be considered and integrated into the criminal justice response to human trafficking.

Villacampa, C. & Torres, N. (2017). Human trafficking for criminal exploitation: The failure to identifying victims. European Journal on Criminal Policy & Research, 23(3), 393-408. DOI: 10.1007/s10610-017-9343-4

Human trafficking for criminal exploitation is one of the lesser-known forms of human trafficking. The failure of the criminal justice system to identify the victims of this type of trafficking can lead to a failure to take the victim-centered approach to trafficking espoused in the international legal instruments that regulate the matter, an approach that emphasizes the protection of victims and respect for their rights. In light of earlier findings of the existence of unidentified victims of human trafficking for criminal exploitation in several European countries – the UK, Ireland, Spain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands – a qualitative study was conducted, consisting of 37 in-depth interviews with practicing criminal justice professionals and victim service providers in Spain. Because undetected victims of human trafficking for criminal exploitation are usually treated as offenders, the main aim of this research with professionals was to determine the causes of the criminal justice system’s failure to identify the victims of this specific form of trafficking in order to prevent them from remaining hidden victims.

Ward, T. & Fouladvand, S. (2018). Human trafficking, victims’ rights, and fair trials. Journal of Criminal Law, 82(2), 138-155. DOI: 10.1177/0022018318761680

Cases of human trafficking are known to be difficult to prosecute. In this article we identify several issues in the law of evidence that may contribute to these difficulties. We argue for the victims’ rights as an important factor in evidential decisions, coupled with an insistence that such rights cannot trump the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Restrictions on evidence of a witness’s bad character or sexual history should not be interpreted in such a way as to prevent the defense from introducing evidence, or asking questions, that are of substantial probative value, even if they are potentially distressing to witnesses; but such evidence and questioning should be limited to what is necessary for a fair trial. The protection of victims and witnesses may also justify a relatively flexible approach to the admission of hearsay evidence, which avoids prejudging the truth of a witness’s evidence in order to establish that s/he is in fear.

Education

Bajaj, M. (2011). Human rights education: Ideology, location, and approaches. Human Rights Quarterly, 33(2), 481-508.  https://www.jstor.org/stable/23016023

As human rights education (HRE) becomes a more common feature of international policy discussions, national textbook reform, and post-conflict educational strategies, greater clarity about what HRE is, does, and means is needed. This article reviews existing definitions and models of HRE, and argues that ideology—as much as location or other variables—offers a means of schematizing varying approaches to HRE. This article reviews models organized around principles of global citizenship, coexistence, and transformative action in the context of one nation-state (India), and suggests that the mutability and adaptability of human rights education are its strength.

Lemke, M. (2017). Trafficking and immigration policy: Intersections, inconsistencies, and implications for public education. Educational Policy, 31(6), 743-763. DOI: 10.1177/0895904817719528

A growing body of interdisciplinary research examines the dynamics of, policies concerning, and implications of large-scale contemporary displacement in the United States. Yet less of this research explores the intersections of policies concerned with and normative understandings of displacement as both relate to U.S. schooling. This article discusses distinctive features of global displacement also highlighting concerns about student experience within the current political climate. It then synthesizes key U.S. policies and interdisciplinary literature that address aspects of displacement, including immigration, human trafficking, and asylum. In doing so, it illuminates how laws designed to protect vulnerable youth populations often conflict with the goals and normative politics of immigration enforcement. It concludes with implications for educational policy research and practice within U.S. schools serving high percentages of displaced populations.

Lewis, M., Rappe, P., & King, D. (2018). Development and promotion of student advocacy skills within a human trafficking course. Social Development Issues, 40(2), 24-35. Retrieved from https://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=134671293&site=ehost-live

Human trafficking is a complex, highly profitable, and increasingly widespread social problem impacting countries across the globe. This article will provide an overview of international and national human trafficking and highlight the development and implementation of high-impact advocacy skills using course content to enhance student learning. Assignment examples related to community engagement and student advocacy activities will also be described. This article seeks to inspire educators to embrace multifaceted high-impact approaches as a means to educate and promote the development of student advocacy skills, preparing students to speak up and educate others on contemporary social problems impacting human rights.

Mihr, A. & Schmitz, H. P. (2007). Human rights education (HRE) and transnational activism. Human Rights Quarterly, 29(4), 973-993. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20072833

Transnational human rights activism occupies today a significant place in the practice and scholarship of current global affairs. This article reviews the past successes and limits of this activism and suggests Human Rights Education (HRE) as a strategic tool currently underutilized by activists and rarely taken seriously by academics. We argue that the current practice of transnational human rights activism frequently lacks solid and reciprocal ties to local activists and emphasizes “shaming” and exposure of human rights abuses over their prevention. The professionalization and campaign driven character of rights activism often increases the distance between transnational activists and local causes and beneficiaries and disconnects the general public from human rights struggles. While claims of impartial activism based on legalistic strategies have the benefit of lifting human rights groups above the fray of politics, the promotion of human rights norms remains a deeply political and contentious struggle. We argue that a greater emphasis on HRE strengthens transnational ties and local support for international human rights standards and leads to societal mobilization beyond the narrow nongovernmental sector.

Preble, K., Cook, M., & Fults, B. (2019). Sex trafficking and the role of institutions of higher education: Recommendations for response and preparedness. Innovative Higher Education, 44(1), 5-19. DOI: 10.1007/s10755-018-9443-1

In the perceptions of most persons, sex trafficking is a recognized global human rights abuse. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has articulated a call to action with its four “P” policy agenda: prevent, protect, prosecute, and partnership (Office of Trafficking in Persons, 2017). Institutions of higher education are positioned to bolster these initiatives through research, work force and policy development, and education. It is our purpose with this article to begin a discussion within academic institutions and the field of sex trafficking to explore what actions might assist survivors who wish to pursue higher education as well as what protections should be in place to serve students who may become victimized while attending an institution of higher education. We consider human trafficking, the role of institutions of higher education, current policies related to colleges and universities, the vulnerability of college age individuals to potential trafficking, and the unique needs of those who exit trafficking and enter higher education. We offer some recommendations that will enable institutions to engage with and address the intersection of sex trafficking and higher education.

Suarez, D. (2007). Education professionals and the construction of human rights education. Comparative Education Review, 51(1), 48-70. DOI: 10.1086/508638

This article builds on previous comparative education research by analyzing the current discourse surrounding this emerging education model— human rights education. The first section provides a brief history of human rights education in formal education. The second section reviews research on international reforms, emphasizing analyses of processes in global diffusion and variation at national or local levels. Closely related, the third section discusses linkages and relational and associational processes that spread ideas and construct new models such as human rights education. The fourth section focuses on the current state of human rights education, exploring the creation of an epistemic community of human rights educators and the theorization (Strang and Meyer 1993) of human rights education within the community. Specifically, the section analyzes discussions among members of the epistemic community about why to teach human rights education, how to teach human rights education, and how to assess the reform. Discussions among education professionals help to demonstrate the active debates about the content of human rights education and clarify how education professionals integrate the human rights movement into part of the education process. In addition, the interactions among education professionals highlight the intermediate step between global diffusion and local adaptations or responses. Education professionals translate global models of human rights education into local contexts, but professionals also help to build and refine the content of human rights education.

Tibbitts, F. (2002). Understanding what we do: Emerging models for human rights education. International Review of Education, 48(3-4), 159-171. https://link-springer-com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/content/pdf/10.1023%2FA%3A1020338300881.pdf

The author presents three approaches to contemporary human rights education practice: the Values and Awareness Model, the Accountability Model and the Transformational Model. Each model is associated with particular target groups, contents and strategies. The author suggests that these models can lend themselves to theory development and research in what might be considered an emerging educational field. Human rights education can be further strengthened through the appropriate use of learning theory, as well as through the setting of standards for trainer preparation and program content, and through evaluating the impact of programs in terms of reaching learner goals (knowledge, values and skills) and contributing to social change.

Watson, S., Loizzo, J., Watson, W., Mueller, C., Lim, J., & Ertmer, P. (2016). Instructional design, facilitation, and perceived learning outcomes: An exploratory case study of a human trafficking MOOC for attitudinal change. Educational Technology Research & Development, 64(6), 1273-1300. DOI: 10.1007/s11423-016-9457-2

This exploratory case study describes the design and facilitation of a massive open online course (MOOC) for attitudinal change regarding human trafficking. It examines the course from the learners’, instructor’s, and instructional designer’s perspectives. Two interviews with the instructor and instructional designer were conducted, and data from a sample of learners via an end-of-course survey (n = 54) and follow-up questionnaire (n = 319) were gathered. Learners’ discussion posts and sample assignments were also reviewed. Findings show that the instructor and instructional designer perceived the design and facilitation of the MOOC as highly complex and challenging. Learner feedback was contradictory, possibly due to different expectations and needs within the MOOC. Six instructional design considerations for MOOCs in general and for attitudinal change are discussed, including: (a) MOOCs as a unique platform for attitudinal change, (b) the support needed from platform providers and universities, (c) personal and flexible learning paths, (d) instructional activities for attitudinal dissonance, (e) creating a collaborative community, and (f) MOOC instructor preparation.

Law

Beale, S. (2018). The Trafficking Victims Protection Act: The best hope for international human rights litigation in the U.S. courts?. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 50(1/2), 17-47.  https://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lft&AN=130957808&site=ehost-live

The article focuses on use of the Alien Tort Statute as a vehicle for litigating human rights abuses in both civil and criminal prosecutions in the U.S. Topics discussed include developments in International Criminal Law in addressing human rights violations; judicial attitudes that could affect the interpretation of the Trafficking Victim Protection Act; and Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain court case.

Brooks, S. (2010). Hypersexualization and the dark body: Race and inequality among Black and Latina women in the exotic dance industry. Sex Research and Social Policy, 7, 70-80.

During the 1980s in the USA, two sides of the pornography debate emerged: (a) sex work is oppressive to women based on sexism and women’s low economic positioning and (b) sex work is empowering to female sexuality and agency. However, a void remains in theoretical analyses of racial and sexual hierarchies within sex industries that create challenges for women of color that go beyond the pornography debates. Using a case study analysis of three exotic dance clubs, the author examines how hypersexualization structures stratification. The author explores the hypersexualization of Black and Latina women within the clubs regarding racial passing among dancers of color, pay differences, and club safety to examine how these factors produce inequalities between Black and Latina women in the exotic dance industry. Avenues for further social policy research focused on improving the sex industry work environment for Black and Latina exotic dancers are discussed.

Brooks, S. (2021). Innocent White victims and fallen Black girls: Race, sex work, and the limits of anti-sex trafficking laws. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 46(2), 513-521.

In this edition of Feminist Frictions, Siobhan Brooks untangles feminist debates around sex work and sex trafficking and argues for a robust interrogation of the intersections between gender, race, and gender identification when considering proposals to criminalize, decriminalize, or legalize sex work.

Butler, C.N. (2015). A critical race feminist perspective on prostitution & sex trafficking in America. Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, 27(1), 95-139.

This article is one of the first to apply critical race feminism (CRF) to explore prostitution and sex trafficking in the United States. Several scholars have applied critical race feminism to explore several forms of sexual exploitation, including sexual harassment, domestic violence, and rape, but have yet to extend this discourse into the debate on prostitution and sex trafficking. Legal scholars have addressed prostitution and sex trafficking as gender oppression, while others have acknowledged the role of race in prostitution and trafficking in America. But few have considered prostitution from a critical race perspective, i.e., one that considers how race and gender intersect with other systems of oppression together to marginalize people of color in America.

Butler, C.N. (2015). The racial roots of human trafficking. UCLA Law Review, 62, 1464-1512.

This Article explores the role of race in the prostitution and sex trafficking of people of color, particularly minority youth, and the evolving legal and social responses in the United States. Child sex trafficking has become a vital topic of discussion among scholars and advocates, and public outcry has led to safe harbor legislation aimed at shifting the legal paradigm away punishing prostituted minors and toward greater protections for this vulnerable population. Yet, policymakers have ignored the connection between race and other root factors that push people of color into America’s commercial sex trade.

Carey, C., & Peterson, S. (2020). Trafficking people with disabilities: A legal analysis.  Equal Rights & Social Justice, 26(3), 471-497.

Disability advocates and experts in human trafficking know that stories like D.P.’s, while almost certainly underreported, are not uncommon. People with disabilities (PWD) and, especially those with intellectual disabilities (ID), are overrepresented in trafficking-victim populations.

Casassa, K., England, G., & Karandikar, S. (2024). “I needed people to tell me no”: Exploring how participation in a human trafficking specialty docket affects survivors’ of sex trafficking experiences of trauma bonding. Victims & Offenders, 19(8), 1541-1559.

Little research has examined survivors’ experiences in human trafficking specialty docket courts, particularly related to their trauma bonds. This CBPR phenomenological study sought to fill this gaps by asking: What are the experiences of trauma bonded survivors of sex trafficking in a human trafficking specialty docket? The sample consisted of 19 female survivors of sex trafficking who were all participants in or graduates of a human trafficking specialty docket. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) love and support, (b) views on change, and (c) depends on the individual. These findings contain significant implications for practice and future research.

Clawson, H., Dutch, N., Lopez, S., & Tiapula, S. (2008). Prosecuting Human Trafficking Cases: Lessons Learned and Promising Practices. (Executive Summary). National Institute of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/223972.pdf

In an effort to increase the understanding of prosecutors’ ability to use the tools available to prosecute and convict traffickers while balancing the needs of trafficked persons, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) awarded a grant in the fall of 2006. NIJ awarded, ICF International (formerly known as Caliber Associates, an ICF Consulting Company) and subcontractor the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), a grant to design a study that examined the effects of existing federal and State legislation from the perspective of the prosecution and identified critical challenges and barriers to successful prosecution of cases.

DiRienzo, C. (2018). Compliance with anti-human trafficking policies: The mediating effect of corruption. Crime, Law, & Social Change, 70(5), 525-541. DOI: 10.1007/s10611-018-9780-0

Human Trafficking is an atrocious crime that represents a gross assault on human rights and the United Nations states that it is among the fast growing types of criminal activity. Recognizing the need for counteractive measures, in 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (Protocol). Using measures of country compliance with the Protocol, past research offers empirical evidence that corruption is a primary deterrent to compliance. Further, previous field studies and surveys suggest that a greater share of women in government should positively contribute to country compliance; however, this result is largely not borne out in empirical studies. It is hypothesized that the effect of the share of women in government on compliance is fully mediated by corruption, indicating that there is an indirect effect of women in government on compliance, rather than a direct effect. This hypothesis is empirically tested using a mediation model and the results indicate that the indirect effect is statistically significant. The empirical results presented suggest that a greater percentage of women in government reduces country corruption, which in turn increases country compliance with the Protocol. The policy implications of these findings are discussed and include suggestions to enhance female participation in government.

Fouladvand, S. & Ward, T. (2019). Human trafficking, vulnerability, and the state. Journal of Criminal Law, 83(1), 39-54. DOI: 10.1177/0022018318814373

This article looks at human trafficking from a perspective influenced by the ‘vulnerability theory’ developed by Martha Fineman and her associates. It draws particularly on empirical studies of human trafficking from Albania to the UK and elsewhere. It suggests that Fineman’s approach needs to be modified to see the state not only as ameliorating vulnerability, or failing to do so, but as actively creating and using vulnerability to control or exploit its population. The fact that people are placed, for political, social and economic reasons, in situations of heightened vulnerability does not of itself deprive them of agency or responsibility. People should, however, be understood as ‘vulnerable subjects’ whose capacity for autonomy may be lost when they are deprived of supportive social relationships. The implications of this view for the criminal responsibility of trafficking victims are explored.

Johnson Jr., C., Beraldi, F., Broecker, E., Brown, E., & Maslow, S. (2019). The business case for lawyers to advocate for corporate supply chains free of labor trafficking and child labor. American University Law Review, 68(5), 1555-1619. https://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lft&AN=137063976&site=ehost-live

This Article considers the legal and ethical obligations that should propel lawyers to advocate for a corporate supply chain free of labor trafficking and child labor–both of which this piece will expose as an extension of the workforce of many corporations. By embracing the business case supported in the Carrol Corporate Social Responsibility Model, this Article continues to champion the Corporate Social Responsibility Model’s economic groundings. Why lawyers? Because lawyers are the guardians of the rule of law, and both human trafficking and child labor are gaps in the rule of law that taint a client’s supply chain and its goods. Despite many excellent laws in this area, the lack of enforcement contributes to this gap in the rule of law. As such, this Article illustrates why lawyers need to be on the vanguard of eradicating human trafficking and child labor in supply chains. It does so by describing, as noted by Professor David Snyder in The New Social Contracts for International Supply Chains, a set of Model Clauses designed to incorporate human rights protections in supply contracts developed by the ABA Business Law Section Working Group to Draft Human Rights Protections in International Supply Contracts. This Article also discusses why other ethical business case rationales such as the rule of law, moral, and legal ethics considerations likewise support the legal profession taking the lead on eradicating labor trafficking and child labor. Finally, the issue of diversity is advanced as a new way to think about solutions to this problem.

Judge, S., & Boursaw, B. (2018). The impact of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 on trends in federal sex trafficking cases. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 29(8), 823-848. DOI: 10.1177/0887403416655430

In this study, we addressed the need for empirical research on human trafficking by compiling unique data relating to criminal charges filed in federal judicial districts and using these data to examine trends in sex trafficking-related cases, as well as the impact on those trends of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA). Results from our regression models indicate that the proportion of all charges filed by federal prosecutors that involved sex trafficking and related cases increased significantly between 1994 and 2007. The rate of increase, however, slowed in the time period following the passage of the TVPA, suggesting that the TVPA may have helped to mitigate increases in new cases. In addition, our results show statistically significant inverse relationships between immigration and sex trafficking-related charges filed, providing new evidence to support the possibility that some sex trafficking-related cases may be being prosecuted as immigration cases instead.

Kendis, B. (2019). Human trafficking and prostitution courts: Problem solving or problematic?. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 69(3), 805-841.  https://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lft&AN=136877258&site=ehost-live

The article focuses on laws governing victimization in commercial sex in the U.S. Topics discussed include country’s approach on individuals involved in the sex industry and prostitution; human trafficking and prostitution courts effectiveness in addressing human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation; and the enactment of Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 for addressing the same.

Planitzer, J. & Katona, N. (2017). Criminal liability of corporations for trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation. Global Policy, 8(4), 505-511. DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.12510

Legal instruments at the European level clearly define that States have an obligation to establish corporate liability for trafficking in human beings ( THB). The monitoring of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings shows that, in general, the respective legislation for corporate criminal liability already largely exists in the States’ Parties. However, application of the legislation seems to lag behind, since relevant cases were identified in only a few States. By analyzing these legal mechanisms with a focus on Austria, studying case law in Belgium and Cyprus, and conducting interviews with stakeholders, the authors identify obstacles for the application of corporate criminal liability in the context of THB. Based on case law, the paper analyses the potential of corporate criminal liability for exploited persons to have access to compensation and describes challenges in this field. Cases on corporate criminal liability for THB seem to focus on sanctioning the companies and ensuring compensation might be seen as a rather secondary priority.

Rein, R.A. (2022). Suffering at the margins: Applying disability critical race studies to human trafficking in the United States. Columbia Journal of Law, 42 Column, 183-256.

Human trafficking is a scourge in which perpetrators victimize the most vulnerable and marginalized members of a population to sell their bodies or sell their labor for profit. This Note explores human trafficking in the United States through Disability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit). First, the Note offers background on trafficking and applicable federal law. Not only does trafficking disable people, but people with preexisting disabilities are especially at risk for trafficking. Next, the Note shows that trafficking law follows a law-and-order framework: a framework that prioritizes prosecuting traffickers and doles out penal remedies. This framework and its intimate ties with the criminal justice system is a dual-edged sword. It helps countless survivors yet retraumatizes some marginalized survivors. Finally, the Note introduces DisCrit, justifies its use for anti-trafficking advocacy, and applies the DisCrit framework. By looking at trafficking law through DisCrit, one sees that trafficking law must work with—not against—survivors to end human suffering.

Small, K., Adams, W., Owens, C., & Roland, K. (2008). An Analysis of Federally Prosecuted Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Cases Since the Passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. (Research Report). Urban Institute. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/research/publication/analysis-federally-prosecuted-commercial-sexual-exploitation-children-csec-cases-passage-victims-trafficking-and-violence-protection-act-2000

This study examined the prosecution of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth (CSEC) in the United States. The research took the form of a national analysis of federal prosecutions since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, answering the following research questions: (1) Is the United States enforcing existing federal laws related to CSEC? (2) What are the key features of successfully prosecuted CSEC cases? (3) Have the U.S. courts increased penalties associated with sexual crimes against children? (4) What are the effects of CSEC legislation on service providers who work with victims? This assessment provides policy makers with a means of assessing the effects of legislation aimed at combating CSEC.

Medicine & Nursing

Chang, K.S.G., Tsang, S., & Chisolm-Straker, M. (2022). Child trafficking and exploitation: Historical roots, preventive policies, and the pediatrician’s role. Current Problems in Pediatric Adolescent Health Care, 52, 1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.cppeds.2022.101167

Pediatricians are uniquely and well positioned to recognize risk factors for and experiences of labor and sex trafficking in children. While clinical and social interventions are well discussed in the literature, the underlying mechanisms that cause and contribute to trafficking are poorly addressed among healthcare professionals. A “colorblind” or otherwise “apolitical” approach to trafficking prevention is ineffective and may be detrimental to the patient-practitioner relationship. Pediatricians must be historico-socially aware of the contexts in which they practice to improve the health of pediatric populations. This article addresses the relevant trafficking legal terminology that may be unfamiliar to most pediatricians and focuses on a few “ism”-schisms (capitalism, racism, sexism, cis-heteronormativity, nativism, and classism) that create vulnerability to trafficking in pediatric populations. The article closes with some intervention recommendations and many more prevention-measure recommendations.

Dovydaitis, T. (2010). Human trafficking: The role of the healthcare provider. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 55(5), 462-467. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmwh.2009.12.017

Human trafficking is a major public health problem, both domestically and internationally. Health care providers are often the only professionals to interact with trafficking victims who are still in captivity. The expert assessment and interview skills of providers contribute to their readiness to identify victims of trafficking. The purpose of this article is to provide clinicians with knowledge on trafficking and give specific tools that they may use to assist victims in the clinical setting. Definitions, statistics, and common health care problems of trafficking victims are reviewed. The role of the health care provider is outlined through a case study and clinical practice tools are provided. Suggestions for future research are also briefly addressed.

Fraley, H. & Aronowitz, T. (2019). Systematic review of human trafficking educational interventions for healthcare providers. Western Journal of Nursing Research. DOI: 10.1177/0193945919837366

Human trafficking is a global population health threat. Trafficking minors threatens the safety and well-being of youth. Limited studies measure health care providers’ awareness and attitudes toward trafficking. This systematic review synthesized retrospective and current knowledge and identified gaps in educational interventions aimed at increasing providers’ awareness and attitudes toward trafficking. A systematic search of four databases identified peer-reviewed published papers between January 1, 2000 and September 1, 2018. The Cochrane Collaboration’s Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews was followed. Study quality was assessed using the Downs and Black checklist. The Psychometric Grading Framework was used to assess the validity of instruments. Findings across studies (N = 7) reveal providers (mostly social workers and physicians) have low awareness of trafficking and can have negative attitudes toward victims. Multiphase educational approaches and use of content experts, including survivors, in developing interventions enhanced sustainability of outcomes. Targeting multidisciplinary health care teams, including nurses, enhanced interventions.

Hansen, S., Melzer-Lange, M., Nugent, M., Yan, K., & Rabbitt, A. (2018). Development and assessment of an online training for the medical response of sex trafficking of minors. Academic Pediatrics, 18(8), 965-968. DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2018.07.009

The article presents a study which examines the use of an online training for medical professionals to improve their trauma-informed responses to sex trafficking (ST) of minors. The study used electronic learning development software and Fisher’s exact test to assess the technology. Results show that the innovative online training helps improve confidence, awareness and knowledge on the provision of medical response to ST victims.

Judge, A., Murphy, J., Hidalgo, J., & Macias-Konstantopoulos, W. (2018). Engaging survivors or human trafficking: Complex health care needs and scarce resources. Annals of Internal Medicine, 168(9), 658-663. DOI: 10.7326/M17-2605

Human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, is an egregious human rights violation associated with wide-ranging medical and mental health consequences. Because of the extensive health problems related to trafficking, health care providers play a critical role in identifying survivors and engaging them in ongoing care. Although guidelines for recognizing affected patients and a framework for developing response protocols in health care settings have been described, survivors’ ongoing engagement in health care services is very challenging. High rates of disengagement, lost contact, premature termination, and attrition are common outcomes. For interventions to be effective in this marginalized population, challenges in engaging survivors in long-term therapeutic primary and mental health care must be better understood and overcome. This article uses the socioecological model of public health to identify barriers to engagement; offers evidence- and practice-based recommendations for overcoming these barriers; and proposes an interdisciplinary call to action for developing more flexible, adaptable models of care.

Macias-Konstantopoulos, W. (2016). Human trafficking: The role of medicine in interrupting the cycle of abuse and violence. Annals of Internal Medicine, 165(8), 582-588. DOI: 10.7326/M16-0094

Human trafficking, a form of modern slavery, is an egregious violation of human rights with profound personal and public health implications. It includes forced labor and sexual exploitation of both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens and has been reported in all 50 states. Victims of human trafficking are currently among the most abused and disenfranchised persons in society, and they face a wide range of negative health outcomes resulting from their subjugation and exploitation. Medicine has an important role to play in mitigating the devastating effects of human trafficking on individuals and society. Victims are cared for in emergency departments, primary care offices, urgent care centers, community health clinics, and reproductive health clinics. In addition, they are unknowingly being treated in hospital inpatient units. Injuries and illnesses requiring medical attention thus represent unique windows of opportunity for trafficked persons to receive assistance from trusted health care professionals. With education and training, health care providers can recognize signs and symptoms of trafficking, provide trauma-informed care to this vulnerable population, and respond to exploited persons who are interested and ready to receive assistance. Multidisciplinary response protocols, research, and policy advocacy can enhance the impact of anti-trafficking health care efforts to interrupt the cycle of abuse and violence for these victims.

Macias-Konstantopoulos, W. (2017). Caring for the trafficked patient: Ethical challenges and recommendations for health care professionals. AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(1), 80-90. https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/sites/journalofethics.ama-assn.org/files/2018-05/msoc2-1701.pdf

Human trafficking is an egregious human rights violation with profound negative physical and psychological consequences, including communicable diseases, substance use disorders, and mental illnesses. The health needs of this population are multiple, complex, and influenced by past and present experiences of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Effective health care services for trafficked patients require clinicians to consider individual patients’ needs, wishes, goals, priorities, risks, and vulnerabilities as well as public health implications and even resource allocation. Applying the bioethical principles of respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice, this article considers the ethics of care model as a trauma-informed framework for providing health care to human trafficking victims and survivors.

McClain, N. & Garrity, S. (2011). Sex trafficking and the exploitation of adolescents. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological, & Neonatal Nursing, 40(2), 234-252. DOI: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.2011.01221.x

Human trafficking affects a surprisingly large number of adolescents around the globe. Women and girls make up the majority of sex trafficking victims. Nurses must be aware of sex trafficking as a form of sexual violence in the adolescent population. Nurses can play a role in identifying, intervening, and advocating for victims of human trafficking as they currently do for patients that are the victims of other types of violent crimes.

Moss, T., Gusak, N., Vartanian, T., Roberts, K., & Taylor, P. (2025). Understanding domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) and considerations for medical social workers and other healthcare professionals in emergency departments. Health & Social Work, 50, 149-152. https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlaf012

There is a growing amount of literature that focuses on developing the practice of delivering aftercare services in the provision of care.  While children and youth are presenting at emergency departments, it is critical to be intentional about the continuum of care including aftercare services.

Sabella, D. (2011). The role of the nurse in combatting human trafficking. American Journal of Nursing, 111(2), 28-37. DOI: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000394289.55577.b6

Human trafficking, also called modern slavery, happens worldwide-and the United States is no exception. Within our borders, thousands of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens, many of them children, are forced or coerced into sex work or various forms of labor every year. Nurses and other health care providers who encounter victims of trafficking often don’t realize it, and opportunities to intervene are lost. Although no one sign can demonstrate with certainty when someone is being trafficked, there are several indicators that clinicians should know. This article provides an overview of human trafficking, describes how to recognize signs that a person is being trafficked and how to safely intervene, and offers an extensive resource list.

Schwarz, C., Unruh, E., Cronin, K., Evans-Simpson, S., Britton, H., & Ramaswamy, M. (2016). Human trafficking identification and service provision in the medical and social service sectors. Health & Human Rights: An International Journal, 18(1), 181-191. https://proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=p4h&AN=116633657&site=ehost-live

The medical sector presents a unique opportunity for identification and service to victims of human trafficking. In this article, we describe local and site-specific efforts to develop an intervention tool to be used in an urban hospital’s emergency department in the midwestern United States. In the development of our tool, we focused on both identification and intervention to assist trafficked persons, through a largely collaborative process in which we engaged local stakeholders for developing site-specific points of intervention. In the process of developing our intervention, we highlight the importance of using existing resources and services in a specific community to address critical gaps in coverage for trafficked persons. For example, we focus on those who are victims of labor trafficking, in addition to those who are victims of sex trafficking. We offer a framework informed by rights-based approaches to anti-trafficking efforts that addresses the practical challenges of human trafficking victim identification while simultaneously working to provide resources and disseminate services to those victims.

Public Affairs & Public Policy

Bonilla, T. & Mo, C. H. (2019). The evolution of human trafficking messaging in the United States and its effect on public opinion. Journal of Public Policy, 39(2), 201-234. DOI: 10.1017/S0143814X18000107

Despite a near unanimous agreement that human trafficking is a morally reprehensible practice, there is confusion around what qualifies as human trafficking in the United States. Adopting a mixed-method strategy, we examine how human trafficking is defined by the public; how contemporary (mis)understanding of human trafficking developed; and the public opinion consequence of this (mis)understanding. The definition of human trafficking has evolved over time to become nearly synonymous with slavery; however, we demonstrate that media and anti-trafficking organizations have been focusing their attention on the sexual exploitation of foreign women. We show that general public opinion reflects this skewed attention; the average citizen equates human trafficking with the smuggling of women for sexual slavery. Using a survey experiment, we find that shining light on other facets of human trafficking – the fact that human trafficking is a security problem and a domestic issue – can increase public response to the issue.

Walby, S., & Francis, B. (2025). Improving the estimate of trafficking in human beings and modern slavery by integrating data from ILO/WalkFree/OIM and UNODC. Social indicators Research, 176, 669-693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03474-w

An improved global estimate of the amount of trafficking in human beings/modern slavery is produced. The paper develops the methodology for data to populate Indicator 16.2.2 in the UN SDGs, ‘the estimated number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age, and form of exploitation’. The improved estimate is constructed by integrating data from the International Labour Organization/Walk Free/International Organization for Migration (ILO/Walk Free/IOM) with administrative data from United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) rather than from the Counter Trafficking Global Data Collaborative (CTDC). The data from the UNODC is more comprehensive and less volatile than that from the CTDC on registered victims of trafficking. The new estimate is more than 30% larger, increases the proportion of trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation from 27 to 56%, and increases the proportion of victims of trafficking who are female from 54 to 64%. This has implications for the priorities for social and public policy for prevention and for the provision of services to mitigate harms.

Public Health

Cannon, A., Arcara, J., Graham, L., & Macy, R. (2018). Trafficking and health: A systematic review of research methods. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 19(2), 159-175. DOI: 10.1177/1524838016650187

Trafficking in persons (TIP) is a human rights violation with serious public health consequences. Unfortunately, assessing TIP and its health sequelae rigorously and reliably is challenging due to TIP’s clandestine nature, variation in definitions of TIP, and the need to use research methods that ensure studies are ethical and feasible. To help guide practice, policy, and research to assess TIP and health, we undertook a systematic literature review of 70 peer-reviewed, published articles to (a) identify TIP and health research methods being used, (b) determine what we can learn about TIP and health from these varied methodologies, and (c) determine the gaps that exist in health-focused TIP research. Results revealed that there are various quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods being used to investigate TIP and health. Furthermore, findings show that the limitations of current methodologies affect what is known about TIP and health. In particular, varying definitions, participant recruitment strategies, ethical standards, and outcome measures all affect what is known about TIP and health. Moreover, findings demonstrate an urgent need for representative and nonpurposive recruitment strategies in future investigations of TIP and health as well as research on risk and protective factors related to TIP and health, intervention effectiveness, long-term health outcomes, and research on trafficked people beyond women trafficked for sex. We offer recommendations for research, policy, and practice based on review results.

Cook, M.C., Le, P.D., & Garcia, J.J. (2022). Addressing racism in the domestic minor sex trafficking of Black girls: The role of public health critical race praxis. Public Health Reports, 137 (Supplement 1), 105-165.

In the United States and worldwide, the Black Lives Matter movement and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color have sparked challenging conversations about the deeply ingrained structural causes of racial disparities in the criminal justice system and other health-related aspects of life in the United States. In the anti–sex trafficking field, the relationship between racial inequity among Black girls and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is largely unexplored. In this article, we define DMST as the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor aged <18 years in the United States

Farley, M., Golding, J.M., Matthews, E.S., Malamuth, N.M., & Jarrett, L. (2017). Comparing sex buyers with men who do not buy sex: New data on prostitution and trafficking. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(23), 3601-3625.

Franchino-Olsen, H. (2021). Vulnerabilities relevant for commercial sexual exploitation of children/domestic minor sex trafficking: A systematic review of risk factors. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(1), 99-111.

The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) occur across the United States, violating the rights and health of far too many children and youth. Adequate prevention efforts should seek to understand the factors that make minors vulnerable to sexual exploitation in order to properly design programs to prevent victimization. This
review presents the identified risk factors collected via a systematic literature review. Following full-text review, 15 studies were selected for inclusion by meeting the following criteria: original quantitative or qualitative research studies published in English from January 2010 to September 2017 with titles or abstracts that indicated a focus on the risk factors, vulnerabilities, or statistics
of CSEC/DMST and a domestic focus on CSEC/DMST (for U.S.-based journals) with findings that did not combine associations between minors and adults in the study. Relevant risk factors and vulnerabilities found in this review include child abuse and maltreatment, caregiver strain, running away or being thrown away, substance use, peer influence, witnessing family violence or
criminality, poverty or material need, difficulty in school, conflict with parents, poor mental health or view of self, involvement in child protective services, involvement in juvenile detention or delinquency, early substance use, and prior rape or adolescent sexual victimization.

Franchino-Olsen, H., & Martin, S.L. (2022). The associations between gang membership and domestic minor sex trafficking: Findings from a nationally representative study. Violence and Victims, 37(4), 479-496.

Adolescent gang membership has been proposed as a risk factor that creates individual-level vulnerability for domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) and/or a context in which DMST may occur. This study investigates the gang membership-DMST association using data from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States (n = 12,605). Bivariate results found gang-involved minors had 4.39 greater odds of experiencing DMST compared to non-gang-involved peers. Multivariable results found gang membership, violence victimization, delinquency, and certain demographic characteristics to be significantly associated with DMST. These findings emphasize the need to consider the context in an adolescent’s life beyond DMST when designing policies and programs, and highlight the need for additional research into the gang membership-DMST association.

Franchino-Olsen, H., Silverstein, H.A., Kahn, N.F., & Martin, S.L. (2020).  Minor sex trafficking of girls with disabilities. International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 13(2),97-108. doi: 10.1108/ijhrh-07-2019-0055

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the associations between minor women’ (girls’) disability status and victimization via minor sex trafficking.
Design/methodology/approach: This investigation used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a large, nationally-representative sample of in-school adolescents in the USA that began in 1994. The analysis included bivariate associations between physical disability status or low cognitive ability and minor sex trafficking among female survey respondents (n = 5,430).
Findings: Girls with any disability had a higher prevalence of minor sex trafficking than their peers without disabilities. Odds of minor sex trafficking were significantly higher for those with severe physical disabilities (5.83) and for those with low cognitive abilities (4.86) compared to the odds of their peers without their respective disabilities. Results for girls with mild or moderate physical disabilities were not statistically significant compared to peers without disabilities.
Social implications: These nationally-representative survey data reinforce the trends present in smaller populations and case study research: female adolescents with disabilities are at a heightened risk for sex trafficking. On both a national and global scale, the human rights gaps in policy and practice must be addressed to adequately reach, intervene and protect this vulnerable population.
Originality/value: Research about minor sex trafficking typically relies on small-scale surveys and/or convenience samples. This study used a nationally-representative survey to demonstrate the link between disability status and women’s experiences with minor sex trafficking.

Haase, E. (2014). “Human trafficking, public health, and the law”: A comprehensive analysis of intersections. Journal of Public Health, 22, 121-129. DOI: 10.1007/s10389-013-0603-6

Aim: The extraordinary topic of “Human Trafficking, Public Health and the Law” was subject of an interdisciplinary and international Spring School that took place in March 2013 in Italy. The aim of the meeting was a comprehensive examination of the human trafficking issue.

Subject and method: In collaboration with seven expert lecturers, a group of students particularized the issues and claims related to human trafficking and public health from the angles of all relevant disciplines. Past legal decisions were evaluated in order to recommend future solutions in the common interest with respect to human dignity.

Results:  The main outcome of the two weeks of lectures, group work and a field trip are practical approaches and the document: Siena Principles on Human Trafficking and Public Health.

Conclusion:  The costs for society that arise due to the adverse effects of human trafficking encompass the degradation of human rights, poor public health, weakened social development, and disturbed communities. Human trafficking therefore is a critical health issue with serious social implications that requires both medical and legal attention.

Macias-Konstantopoulos, W., Ahn, R., Alpert, E., Cafferty, E., McGahan, A., Williams, T., …, Burke, T. (2013). An international comparative public health analysis of sex trafficking of women and girls in eight cities: Achieving a more effective health sector response. Journal of Urban Health, 90(6), 1194-1204. DOI: 10.1007/s11524-013-9837-4

Sex trafficking, trafficking for the purpose of forced sexual exploitation, is a widespread form of human trafficking that occurs in all regions of the world, affects mostly women and girls, and has far-reaching health implications. Studies suggest that up to 50 % of sex trafficking victims in the USA seek medical attention while in their trafficking situation, yet it is unclear how the healthcare system responds to the needs of victims of sex trafficking. To understand the intersection of sex trafficking and public health, we performed in-depth qualitative interviews among 277 antitrafficking stakeholders across eight metropolitan areas in five countries to examine the local context of sex trafficking. We sought to gain a new perspective on this form of gender-based violence from those who have a unique vantage point and intimate knowledge of push-and-pull factors, victim health needs, current available resources and practices in the health system, and barriers to care. Through comparative analysis across these contexts, we found that multiple sociocultural and economic factors facilitate sex trafficking, including child sexual abuse, the objectification of women and girls, and lack of income. Although there are numerous physical and psychological health problems associated with sex trafficking, health services for victims are patchy and poorly coordinated, particularly in the realm of mental health. Various factors function as barriers to a greater health response, including low awareness of sex trafficking and attitudinal biases among health workers. A more comprehensive and coordinated health system response to sex trafficking may help alleviate its devastating effects on vulnerable women and girls. There are numerous opportunities for local health systems to engage in anti-trafficking efforts while partnering across sectors with relevant stakeholders.

Modi, M., Palmer, S., & Armstrong, A. (2014). The role of the Violence Against Women Act in addressing intimate partner violence: A public health issue. Journal of Women’s Health, 23(3), 253-259. DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2013.4387

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as violence committed by a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend, spouse or ex-spouse. Each year, 1.3 to 5.3 million women in the United States experience IPV. The large number of individuals affected, the enormous healthcare costs, and the need for a multidisciplinary approach make IPV an important healthcare issue. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) addresses domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. It emphasizes development of coordinated community care among law enforcement, prosecutors, victim services, and attorneys. VAWA was not reauthorized in 2012 because it lacked bipartisan support. VAWA 2013 contains much needed new provisions for Native Americans; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gay, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals; and victims of human trafficking but does not address the large amount of intimate partner violence in America’s immigrant population. There are important remaining issues regarding intimate partner violence that need to be addressed by future legislation. This review examines the role of legislation and addresses proposals for helping victims of IPV.

Todres, J. (2012). Assessing public health strategies for advancing child protection: Human trafficking as a case study. Journal of Law and Policy, 21(1), 93-112. https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/jlawp21&i=100

Ensuring the well-being of all children is one of the great challenges of our time. Despite concerted efforts in the United States to protect children, research reveals that millions of children suffer harm each year.’ This symposium, which aimed to explore the potential benefits of public health perspectives on child protection, provided an important opportunity to reexamine children’s experiences and child protection strategies from a different perspective. Typically, when policymakers and child advocates speak of “child protection,” they focus primarily on abuse and neglect in the home. Often, child protection does not contemplate violence against children in the community. The inside/outside-the-home divide is somewhat of a false dichotomy, however, as the two realms are interrelated. Children who suffer abuse and neglect in the home are frequently at heightened risk of exploitation outside the home. This essay focuses on the community-based issues of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children, with a view to elucidating the merits of public health approaches to harm against children. Trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children are significant issues in the United States. Although many individuals still think of these problems as occurring elsewhere in the world, these forms of child exploitation occur regularly in the United States, and most experts agree that the number of intra-country trafficking cases exceeds the number of cross-border cases. This essay briefly outlines the current framework for responding to child trafficking. It then discusses what a public health approach could add to anti-trafficking efforts. Finally, this essay seeks to draw lessons from a public health approach to child trafficking that might inform child protection strategies more broadly.

Social Work

Bromfield, N.F. (2016). Sex slavery and sex trafficking of women in the United States: Historical and contemporary parallels, policies, and perspectives in social work. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 31(1), 129-139. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109915616437

The sex trafficking of women has received attention by the U.S. social work profession as a contemporary human-rights abuse. However, trafficking is not an emergent issue but is historically situated within the profession. Sex trafficking is inextricably linked with the origins of professional social work, with Jane Addams playing a critical role in the Progressive Era fight against sexual slavery. This has impacted the contemporary understanding of sex trafficking by social workers and has had practice implications. This article examines historical and contemporary parallels, policies, and perspectives on the sex trafficking of women in the United States.

Constance-Huggins, M., Moore, S., & Slay, Z.M. (2022). Sex trafficking of Black girls: A critical race theory approach to practice. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 33(1), 62-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2021.1987755

Child sex trafficking is a troubling, yet hidden, social problem in the United States. Black girls are particularly vulnerable given the intersection of their race and gender as they navigate biological, psychological, and social vulnerabilities. Yet, little light is shed on their experiences, and consequently, strategies to practice with them are lacking. To resist the universal focus on sex trafficking, and to develop targeted approaches to address marginalized groups, such as Black girls, it is imperative to embrace critical, non-exclusionary, and non-oppressive perspectives. This paper introduces critical race theory (CRT) and employs some of its tenets to explain the oppression that Black girls face. Finally, it provides practice strategies, grounded in CRT, to meet the unique challenges of Black girls thereby advancing social work practice in an increasingly racialized context.

Dalla, R.L., Erwin, S., & Kreimer, L.M. (2018). Children of Mumbai’s Brothels: Investigating Developmental Prospects, Primary Relationships, and Service Provision. Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Science, 68, 104-118.  https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12347

Objective:  To understand the context of the lives of children reared in India’s red‐light brothel districts.

Background: Substantial empirical insight has emerged on the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Yet the extant literature on brothel‐based children (BBC), a uniquely vulnerable subset of at‐risk children, is paradoxically deficient. Understanding the developmental needs of BBC is critical to mitigating risk.

Method:  In‐depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 service providers and 30 women residing in 2 red‐light brothel districts of Mumbai. Phenomenological inquiry informed the research methodology and data analysis.

Results: Mothers’ goals for children included survival, academic success, and future employment. Formal services were critical in meeting the basic needs of BBC, ensuring access to developmentally appropriate education, and maintaining safety overnight.

Conclusion: BBC are at considerable risk for an array of developmental challenges. Multisector service providers must work together and with the mothers of BBC to mitigate intergenerational sexual exploitation in the formal sex economy.

Implications:  Results provide key areas for further research including longitudinal assessment of BBCs’ educational and occupational outcomes, as well as incidence of complex trauma among BBC and treatment options. Service gaps include outreach to older male BBC as well as shame reduction intervention.

Fedina, L., Williamson, C., & Perdue, T. (2016). Risk factors for domestic child sex trafficking in the United States. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(13), 2653-2673. //doi.org/10.1177/0886260516662306

Despite increased effort to respond to human trafficking at national and state levels, very little empirical research has been conducted on domestic child sex trafficking. This study retrospectively examines associations between multiple risk factors and domestic child sex trafficking (i.e., entry into the commercial sex industry under the age of 18) in a sample of individuals aged 16 and older currently involved in the commercial sex industry (N = 273). Two primary research questions are addressed: (1) What set of risk factors, prior to entering the commercial sex industry, are associated with domestic child sex trafficking and (2) what group differences, if any, exist in risk factors between current or former domestic child sex–trafficking victims and non-trafficked adults engaged in the commercial sex industry? A cross-sectional survey was administered using Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) in five cities in one Midwestern state. Overall, 115 participants (48.3%) were identified as current or former domestic child sex–trafficking victims. Bivariate results suggest that childhood emotional and sexual abuse, rape, ever running away from home, having family members in sex work, and having friends who purchased sex were significantly associated with domestic child sex trafficking. Multivariate results indicate that domestic child sex trafficking victims were significantly more likely to have ever run away and to be a racial/ethnic minority than non-trafficked adults engaged in the commercial sex industry. Findings can inform state-level policies on human trafficking and assist child protection and juvenile justice agencies in developing prevention and intervention responses to commercial sexual exploitation.

Gerassi, L. B., Klein, K.L. & del Carmen Rosales, M. (2022). Moving toward critical consciousness and anti-oppressive practice approaches with people at risk of sex trafficking: Perspectives from social service providers. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 37(3), 431-447.

Whether and how social service providers use practice strategies that address racism is critically understudied, particularly with people who are at risk of sex trafficking. The purpose of this article is to understand (1) the perceptions of racial disparities in sex trafficking (as learned from sex trafficking education), and (2) the strategies used to address racism in practice (color-evasiveness, anti-oppressive practice [AOP]). We used a directed content analysis approach to analyze 24 semi-structured, in-depth interviews of providers who knowingly encounter sex-trafficked young people in a majority white region of a Midwestern state (census indicates that minority populations include African American, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino people). Findings suggest that providers perceived sex trafficking education (e.g., trainings they attended) as predominantly focused on economic standing and family risks, rather than racial disparities and roles of structural racial oppression. They also experienced challenges in naming the racial identities of clients and addressing racism in practice. Implications for implementing critical consciousness and AOP strategies as well as future research directions are discussed.

Hankel, J., Dewey, S., & Martinez, N. (2016). Women exiting street-based sex work: Correlations between ethno-racial identity, number of children, and violent experiences. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 13(4), 412-424.

Through this article the authors examine data collected from 126 women seeking services at a transitional housing facility, primarily for women leaving street-based prostitution. Descriptive statistics on the women’s ethno-racial identity, numbers of children, and experiences with violence are presented and analyzed to determine correlations and implications for social service providers working with this unique population of women. Nearly half of respondents are women of color, a majority have given birth to at least one child, and more than half are in a non-commercial intimate partnership, with a significant number reporting extensive experiences with violent trauma and abuse. Results indicate statistically significant differences in women’s ethnoracial self-identification and their experiences of sex work and violence, as well as their marital status. Most notably, African-American and Hispanic women face the greatest and most diverse forms of intimate partner violence and negative sex industry experiences, with African-Americans more likely to engage in sex work as minors, be sexually abused as children, work for a pimp, and face physical assault and instances of sex trafficking. Results also support existing research showing correlations between traumatic childhood events and adult substance abuse, sexual assault, and other negative outcomes.

Hu, R., Xue, J., Lin, K., Sun, I.Y., Wu, Y., & Wang, X. (2020). The patterns and influencing factors of help-seeking decisions among women survivors of intimate partner violence in China. Journal of Family Violence, online. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00145-5

Although there has been a growing body of empirical research that examines the prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and associated factors in Chinese societies, few studies have examined IPV survivors’ help-seeking patterns. Drawing on data from a nationwide survey among the general public in mainland China, the present study sought to investigate help-seeking
decisions and associated factors among Chinese women survivors of IPV. The sample consisted of 488 IPV survivors who self-identified as heterosexual women in China. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors influencing participants’ help-seeking decisions (help-seeking versus non-help-seeking) and non-help-seeking reasons. A latent class analysis (LCA) was used to explore help-seeking patterns among those who sought help. Multinomial logistic regression analyses, as part of the 3-step LCA approach, were employed to locate significant factors associated with distinct help-seeking patterns identified in the LCA. Over two-thirds of the survivors (73.4%) did not seek help. Among the 26.6% of survivors who sought help, the  majority sought support from family and friends, rather than professional services. The main reasons for not seeking help include a) the belief that they could handle the situation by themselves, (b) not knowing to whom they could turn for help, and (c) the belief that the violence experienced was not severe. IPV type and several relationship-related factors stood out as key predictors for different help-seeking decisions. Implications for future research and practice in the context of China are discussed.

Jagoe, C., Toh, P.Y. N., & Wylie, G. (2022). Disability and the risk of vulnerability to human trafficking: An analysis of case law. Journal of Human Trafficking, DOI: 10.1080/23322705.2022.2111507

Persons with disabilities have been recognized to be at a heightened risk for human-rights violations but they remain under-represented in human trafficking research. This study seeks to determine how disability interacts across the trafficking journey. A systematic search identified 22 law case reports. Analysis suggests that traffickers exploit a variety of factors in relation to persons with disabilities, including functional difficulties; need for assistive devices; socio-economic difficulties; social and therapeutic needs. The Taxonomy of Vulnerability is applied to the findings to reveal the universality of human vulnerability as well as the particularity of the risks faced by persons with disabilities where situational and societal factors do not sufficiently protect and promote their rights as enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Karandikar, S., Dalla, R.L., & Casassa, K. (2024). The Women and children of India’s red-light brothel districts: An exploratory investigation of vulnerability and survival during a global pandemic. Community Health Equity Research & Policy, 0(0), 1-15. DOI: 10.1177/2752535X241280226

Globally, women and children were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Vulnerable populations of women and children—including those who live in poverty, lack access to health care, have little informal support, and who face stigma and discrimination—were particularly susceptible to harm incurred by the pandemic. Using social determinants of health framework, this investigation sought to understand the lived experiences of women and children residing in an impoverished, resource-poor, urban brothel red-light brothel area district in India, at the outset of the pandemic and following the national lockdown(s). Four questions guided the investigation: (1) How did participants first hear about COVID-19 and what was learned regarding self-protective measures? (2) What daily life challenges were posed by the national lockdown? (3) To what extent were participants able to access or rely on informal supports support during the initial stages of the pandemic? and (4) What types of assistance, if any, did participants receive from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or other (e.g., governmental) sources? This is one of only a handful of empirical investigations elevating the voices of children residing in urban brothel-based red-light districts. Findings pose significant implications for practice, policy, and continued research.

Karandikar, D., Gezinski, L.B., & Meshelemiah, J.C.A. (2011). A qualitative examination of women involved in prostitution in Mumbai, India: The role of family and acquaintances. International Social Work, 56(4), 496-515.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872811425804

In this qualitative study, 48 female prostitutes from Mumbai, India were interviewed to understand their experiences related to their entry into prostitution. Respondents’ vulnerabilities and the role of family and acquaintances in entry were researched. The findings of the study indicate that poverty, marital abuse, sexual abuse and the death of a parent or husband were the main reasons for entry into prostitution. The majority of the respondents were sold into prostitution by family members or acquaintances. This research provides recommendations for policy, practice and research in the area of sex trafficking.

Kolivoski, K.M., Weaver, A., & Constance-Huggins, M. (2014). Critical race theory: Opportunities for application in social work practice and theory. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 95(4), 269-276.

Critical race theory (CRT) provides a framework for examining power structures that maintain racial inequities and developing strategies for action and change. Though social work acknowledges racial disparities and the role of racism when identifying and attempting to ameliorate social problems, the profession has not fully incorporated CRT. This article introduces CRT, articulates its alignment with social work’s professional mission and values, describes its central tenets, and applies the tenets to racial disparities within three areas of practice particularly relevant for social work: child welfare system involvement, receipt of public assistance, and access to mental health treatment. CRT’s broader implications for social work practice are identified and discussed. 

Meshelemiah, J.C.A. (2016). Human Rights Perspectives in Social Work Education and Practice. Encyclopedia of Social work: National Association of Social Workers & Oxford University Press.

The social work profession has evolved extensively since its inception in 1898. The profession began with a focus on helping others and recognizing social injustices as its core charges. The profession is now being called to view human rights as its professional responsibility, too. As driving forces behind this new charge, the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) are taking concrete steps to ensure that the human rights perspective is being integrated into social work education and practice.

Meshelemiah, J.C.A., Arroyo Rojas, F., Steinke, H.R., Carson, M., & Haegele, J.A. (2024). The complex and marginalized experiences of BIPOC trafficked women: An examination of disabilities, ACEs, discrimination and racism. Journal of Human Trafficking, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2024.2426938

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences and multiple identities of disabled BIPOC trafficked women. The findings from this study help to identify a carousel of victimization experienced by disabled BIPOC trafficked women, starting with adverse childhood experiences, onto trafficking victimization that differed between Black and White women, and later
while seeking services. These findings highlight the need for providers and researchers to think beyond monolithic identities and consider the intersecting ways in which various forms of oppression (ableism and racism) influence the experiences of disabled trafficked BIPOC women.

Meshelemiah, J.C.A., Dellor, E., Karandikar, S., Munshi, A., Barboza-Salerno, G., & Steinke, H.R. (2024). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), women who are sex trafficked, and social service utilization: Implications for social work. Social Work, 69(3), 265-275, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swae024

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the high levels of social service usage by women who are sex trafficked. Fifty (N=50) women who were sex trafficked were surveyed using purposive and snowball sampling methods. The ACEs score for respondents ranged from 2 to 10 with an average score of 7.4 (SD =2.3). Emotional and sexual abuse tied at 88 percent as the most frequently cited ACEs among the women in this sample. The prevalence of ACEs was significantly higher in this sample compared with known estimates in similar populations, ranging from 20 percent to 54 percent (p <.001). Considering the well-established link between ACEs and poor health outcomes, these findings point to the need for innovative and targeted social service provisions to women who were formerly sex trafficked that take into consideration the high level of ACEs of the women. Given the sociodemographic diversity of this sample, there is a need for services that are trauma-informed, innovative, and culturally sensitive in a variety of social service settings.

Middleton, J.S., Edwards, E., Roe-Sepowitz, D., Inman, E., Frey, L.M., & Gattis, M.N. (2022). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and homelessness: A critical examination of the association between specific ACEs and sex trafficking among homeless youth in Kentuckiana. Journal of Human Trafficking, DOI: 10.1080/23322705.2021.2020061

Youth experiencing homelessness have often also been exposed to childhood trauma or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Aims: More information is needed to determine the prevalence and impact of ACEs in youth experiencing homelessness who have also been trafficked for sex with the goal of developing services informed by this knowledge. The present study examines ACEs and sex trafficking in a convenience sample of 119 youths experiencing homelessness aged 12 to 25 years old in Kentuckiana—a region of counties within metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. Participants were asked questions regarding the 10 categories of ACEs as part of an enhanced version of the 60-item Youth Experiences Survey (YES). One hundred percent of the sample reported experiencing at least one ACE. Over two-thirds (69%) reported experiencing four or more ACEs. Approximately 52% of youth who had not been trafficked had experienced five or more ACEs, compared with 70% of trafficked youth. The ACEs most significantly related to sex trafficking were physical neglect, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, domestic abuse, and sexual abuse. Reports of sex trafficking and a higher number of ACEs from this sample of youth were found to be importantly correlated. Programs serving youth experiencing homelessness should require additional training and resources regarding the identification, screening, and assessment of youth who are at risk of or who have experienced sex trafficking in order to more accurately connect youth with trauma-informed services.

Middleton, J.S., Gattis, M.N., Frey, L.M., & Roe-Sepowitz, D. (2018). Youth experiences survey (YES): Exploring the scope and complexity of sex trafficking in a sample of youth experiencing homelessness. Journal of Social Service Research, 44(2), 141-157.

Muftic, L. R., & Finn, M. A. (2013). Health outcomes among women trafficked for sex in the United States: A closer look. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28(9), 1859–1885. 10.1177/0886260512469102

Human trafficking is recognized as a major public health problem and a tragic transnational crime. Little is known about the health outcomes of victims of human trafficking. This study identifies the relationship of risk factors to physical, sexual, and mental health outcomes in three groups of women (N = 38) exploited for sex in the United States: international trafficking victims, domestic trafficking victims, and nontrafficked sex workers. To date this is the first study to examine the impact of risk factors on health outcomes using a sample of women trafficked for sex in the United States that includes both domestic and international victims. Overall, findings suggest that the experiences in sex work of domestic trafficking victims were dissimilar to those of international trafficking victims. Moreover, domestic trafficking victims displayed poorer health outcomes compared to international trafficking victims. In terms of risk factors, a higher percentage of women involved in street prostitution reported sexual health problems, co-occurring health issues, and addiction. Childhood physical/sexual victimization was related to poor physical health.

Naramore, R., Bright, M.A., Epps, N., & Hardt, N.S. (2017). Youth arrested for trading sex have the highest rates of childhood adversity: A statewide study of juvenile offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 29(4), 396-410.

Nichols, A. J., Oberstaedt, M., Slutsker, S., & Gilbert, K. (2025). Practitioners’ perspectives of family involved sex trafficking of minors: Implications for practice. Journal of Family Violence, 40, 701-713.

Purpose: The current study examines family-involved sex trafficking of minors and the related practices of the professionals who work with them.
Methods: Data are drawn from a larger study involving inductive analysis of 35 in-depth interviews with social service and justice system professionals who worked with minor sex trafficking survivors in two study sites in a metropolitan Midwestern region. Data analysis of the professionally transcribed interviews involved a multi-phase co-coding process conducted by
members of the research team to identify key themes and subthemes. Key themes explored in the current study are types of family involvement in sex trafficking of minors and practices practitioners reported as beneficial or challenging in working with survivors and their family members.
Results: Results showed family involved sex trafficking manifested as direct trafficking of child family members, as well as complicity with trafficking for financial benefit, allowing access of sex work clients to children, and modeling commercial sex. Practice dynamics centered on reunification and safety, and mandated reporting.
Conclusions:  The current study highlights promising practices for working with minors whose family members were involved in their sex trafficking situation. Promising micro level practices include disclosure of mandated reporter status, providing survivor-centered practice, training for foster families, emphasizing healthy relationships, engaging in motivational interviewing, safety planning, family and individual therapy, and resource referrals for family members. Macro level practice emphasizing structural changes, such as access to safe and affordable housing, SUD related care, and poverty alleviation programs to address vulnerabilities related to complicity are also recommended.

Roe-Sepowitz, D., & Jabola-Carolus, K. (2022). Sex trafficking experiences of help-seeking individuals in Hawai’i. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 32(1), 109-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2021.1875097

Sex trafficking in the United States has emerged as a critical social issue that negatively impacts the health and mental health of victims. The existence of sex trafficking in Hawaiʻi has been questioned due to a lack of empirical evidence and lack of successful prosecutions of sex traffickers. The purpose of this study is to determine the rate of sex trafficking and the sex trafficking experiences among clients of a large social service agency serving five islands in Hawaiʻi. The 363 participants completed a paper and pencil survey over a three month period in 2019. The survey included questions about the participants’ experiences including sex trafficking and the Adverse Childhood Experiences Survey (ACES). Sex trafficking victimization experiences were reported by 97 (26.7%) of the participants. Of the sex trafficking victims, 23 (23.7%) reported that they were under age 18 when they were first sex trafficked. The sex trafficking victims identified as 83% female, 23% male, 1% transgender, and 1% non-conforming. Sixty-four percent of the sex trafficking victims identified as being all or some Native Hawaiian. Implications and policy recommendations from these findings were identified and discussed.

Books on Human Rights and Related Content

The following are a select group of books that discuss human rights in great detail from the perspectives of diverse disciplines.

Bhambra, G.K., & Shilliam, R. (Eds.). (2009). Silencing human rights: Critical engagements with a contested project. Palgrave Macmillan.

Briskman, L. (2014). Social work with Indigenous communities: A human rights approach (2nd ed.).  Federation Press.

Buolamwini, J. (2023). Unmasking AI: My mission to protect what is human in a world of machines. Random House.

Chomsky, N. (1999). The umbrella of U.S. power: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Contradictions of U.S. Policy. The Open Media Pamphlet Series #9. Open Media.

Chisolm-Straker, M., & Chon, K. (2021). The historical roots of human trafficking: Informing primary prevention of commercialized violence. Springer.

Delegates of The Constitutional Convention. (2016). The constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. Racehorse.

Donnelly, J. (2003). Universal human rights in theory and practice (2nd ed.). Cornell University Press.

Donnelly, J., & Whelan, D.J. (2018). International human rights: Dilemmas in world politics. Routledge.

Dunbar-Ortiz, R. (2014). An Indigenous people’s history of the United States. Beacon Press.

Ennals, R. (2007). From slavery to citizenship. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Fagan, A. (2009). Human rights: Confronting myths and misunderstandings. Edward Elgar.

Gearon, L. (2003). The human rights handbook: A global perspective for education. Trentham Books.

Harari, Y.N. (2024). Nexus: A brief history of information networks from the stone age to AI. Random House

Kendi, I.X. (2016). Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America. Nations Books.

Mayor, F., & Droit, R. (1998). Taking action for human rights in the twenty-first century. UNESCO Publishing.

Neier, A. (2012). The international human rights movement:  A history. Princeton University Press.

Pruce, J.R. (Ed.).  (2015). The practice of human rights. Palgrave Macmillan.

Reichert, E. (2011). Social work and human rights:  A foundation for policy and practice (2nd ed.). Columbus University Press.

Shelley, L. (2010). Human trafficking: A global perspective. Cambridge University Press.

Snyder, T. (2024). On freedom. New York Times.

Snyder, T. (2017). On tyranny: Twenty lessons from the twentieth century. Crown.

Stamos, D.N. (2013). The myth of universal human rights:  Its origin, history, and explanation along with a more humane way.  Paradigm Publishers.

Wong, W. (2023). We, the data: Human rights in the digital age. The MIT press.

International

This section focuses on the international organizations that fight human trafficking. The list is not exhaustive.

Agape International Missions

Agape International Missions was founded in 2005 by Don and Bridget Brewster who moved to Cambodia after learning about rampant sex trafficking. Their focus is on preventing human trafficking. They also engage in rescuing, restoring, and reintegrating survivors into society

Website: https://agapewebsite.org/about/

Anti-Slavery International

Anti-Slavery International is a UK-based organization with over 180 years of anti-trafficking efforts to speak of. Using their theory of change, this organization works in the UK, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, India, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Nepal to fight descent-based slavery, forced child begging, child domestic workers, debt bondage, migrant women, bonded labor, and other forms of trafficking. Their macro approach to anti-trafficking work includes working to develop major laws against slavery, offering a 24-hour hotline and mobilizing communities to demand respect for their human rights.

Website: https://www.antislavery.org/what-we-do/how-we-work/

Child Rescue Nepal

Child Rescue Nepal is an organization that focuses on child rescues, support, and reunifications, prevention, and prosecutions. They work closely with the local police to raid organizations where children are held captive; provide basic necessities for rescued children; and work to reunify children with their families.

Website: https://www.childrescuenepal.org/

ECPAT International

ECPAT International is a large international organization with 109 members in 96 countries of varying sizes that include national coalitions and small grassroots organizations. ECPAT coordinates research efforts and actionable steps to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children. They also coordinate efforts around advocacy for children. Specifically, ECPAT supports shelters for survivors, training for law enforcement, and conducts research.

Website: https://www.ecpat.org/

Free the Slaves

Free the Slaves has a mission: liberating slaves and changing the conditions that allow slavery to persist. Its vision includes a community-based model for freedom. Since its inception in 2000, Free the Slaves community-based mode for freedom has resulted in over 14,000 people freed from slavery and 300 traffickers arrested.

Website: https://www.freetheslaves.net/about-us/mission-vision-history/

Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)

Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women is an alliance of 80 non-governmental organizations in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean (LAC), and North America. As systems thinkers, GAATW links trafficking with gender, migration, and labor frameworks. They engage in advocacy, research, and communications based on their rotational three-year strategic thematic directions.

Website: https://www.gaatw.org/what-we-do/2011-2013-strategic-direction

HAART Kenya

HAART stands for Awareness Against Human Trafficking. It is a non-governmental organization in Nairobi, Kenya, that fights trafficking in Kenya and other parts of East Africa. It was founded in 2010 by lawyers, missionaries, and humanitarians. This organization works on efforts related to: prevention of trafficking, victim protection, and the prosecution of offenders.

Website: https://haartkenya.org/

International Justice Mission (IJM)

International Justice Mission boasts of being the largest anti-slavery organization in the world. They work to set slaves free, incarcerate traffickers, and stop slave trading forever. They also address land theft, sex trafficking, police abuse of power, citizenship rights abuse, sexual violence against children, and labor trafficking.

Website: https://www.ijm.org/our-work

La Strada International

La Strada International (LSI) operates from a human rights perspective among eight member states in Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, and Ukraine. This European organization adopts a collaborative approach to service delivery that asserts that trafficked persons are in control of their agency and not passive actors in need of instructions and rescue.

Website: http://lastradainternational.org/

Reaching out Romania

Reaching out Romania has been in operation since 1998. It primarily serves Romanian women and girls who have traveled and suffered sexual abuse in European countries. Their focus is on saving and improving lives. To date, they have assisted over 470 trafficking victims.

Website: http://www.reachingout.ro/about-reaching-out-romania/

Shared Hope International

Shared Hope International has a single mission: to eradicate sex trafficking. Its three prong approach include 1) prevention; 2) restoration through strategic guidance and funding for local organizations in an effort to expand shelter housing and services; and 3) to bring justice by accelerating legislative and policy solutions.

Website: https://sharedhope.org/

National

This section focuses on the domestic organizations that fight human trafficking. The list is not exhaustive.

ECPAT – USA

ECPAT – USA’s mission is to protect every child’s human right to live free of trafficking and threats of sexual exploitation. It is a member of ECPAT International. It engages in legislative advocacy, youth education, community education, and private sector engagement.

Website: https://www.ecpatusa.org/

National Human Trafficking Hotline

The National Human Trafficking Hotline  is run by the Polaris Project. It is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls, texts, and live chats from anywhere in the United States, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Call Center has diverse personnel available who speak in more than 200 languages. The National Hotline’s mission is to link human trafficking victims and survivors to critical support and services. This linkage helps victims and survivors to get help and to stay safe. Additionally, the hotline is there to equip the anti-trafficking community with the tools to effectively combat human trafficking.

The National Hotline offers 24-hour access to a safe space to report tips, seek services, and ask for help. They can be reached at 1-888-373-7888 | Text BeFree (233733).

Website: https://polarisproject.org/get-assistance/national-human-trafficking-hotline

Not for Sale

Not for Sale is grounded in an economical approach to labor trafficking. The “Not For Sale methodology builds viable, successful companies that bake our DNA into the company to create value throughout the whole business — from the sourcing of the goods, to the manufacturing of products, to the way we sell it — and return profits back to the community through our Not For Sale projects. We fight vulnerability to exploitation at its core by strengthening communities with economic opportunity” (Not for Sale, 2016, para 2). Their projects support anti-trafficking efforts in Peru, the Republic of the Congo, Romania, Thailand, the Netherlands, Uganda, the United States and Vietnam.

Website: https://www.notforsalecampaign.org/why-exploitation/

Polaris

Take action. Join the fight by joining Polaris at this link. When you join, you will receive action alerts and updates related to human trafficking. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is operated by Polaris. Annually, it receives thousands of phone calls, online tip reports and emails. These communications are referred to as signals.

 

Below, you will find marketing materials in Spanish and English on how to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

In this section, you will find federal government resources that fall under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Labor. The breadth of departments involved in addressing human trafficking at the federal level indicates the vastness of the problem in the United States. Contrary to popular belief that human trafficking is only a developing nation’s problem, please believe that the United States government would not invest this many resources into a problem if it did not exist in this country. Human trafficking is a blight on this country’s reputation. Human rights are grossly violated every day in every person who is trafficked. America has a serious problem with human trafficking and human rights violations.

Resources & Research: Federal Government Resources

U.S. Department of Justice

Bureau of Justice Assistance
The Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, develops training for law enforcement and communities to identify trafficking in persons and funds task forces based on a sound strategy of collaboration among state and local enforcement, trafficking victim service providers, federal law enforcement, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices.

Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
The Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) works to combat incidences of child exploitation and trafficking of women and children. Issues under the CEOS umbrella include child pornography, illegal interstate or international transportation of women and children, international parental abduction, computer-related exploitation of children, and child victimization on federal and Indian lands.

Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is responsible for investigating human trafficking. The FBI also runs the Innocence Lost Initiative, focusing on sex trafficking of children within the United States.

Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit works closely with Assistant United States Attorneys and law enforcement agencies to streamline fast-moving trafficking investigations, ensure consistent application of trafficking statutes, and identify multijurisdictional trafficking networks.

National Institute of Justice
The National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, funds research on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, implements a number of training and capacity-building initiatives related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and funds the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces, which investigate Internet-related crimes of child pornography and enticement.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children & Families
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to ensuring that victims of all forms of human trafficking – adults and children; foreign nationals, U.S. citizens, and lawful permanent residents; survivors of labor and commercial sexual exploitation – have access to the support they need to foster health and well-being.

Runaway and Homeless Youth Program
Through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program, the Family and Youth Services Bureau, Administration of Children & Families, supports street outreach, emergency shelters, and longer-term transitional living and maternity group home programs to serve and protect these young people.

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Program
The Family Violence Prevention and Services Program of the Family and Youth Services Bureau, at the Administration of Children & Families, administers the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, the primary federal funding stream dedicated to the support of emergency shelter and related assistance for victims of domestic violence and their children.

Office of Refugee Resettlement
The Office of Refugee Settlement (ORR), at the Administration of Children & Families, helps refugees and other special populations, such as adult victims of severe forms of trafficking, obtain economic and social self-sufficiency in the United States. ORR is responsible for certifying adult victims of human trafficking so that they may receive federally funded benefits and services to the same extent as refugees. ORR manages the Campaign to Rescue and Restore Victims of Human Trafficking—a public awareness Web site to combat human trafficking—and supports the National Human Trafficking Hotline—a referral hotline that connects victims with programs in their local area.

U.S. Department of State

Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons conducts awareness-raising activities, diplomacy with other countries, and funding for international anti-trafficking initiatives.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Blue Campaign
The Blue Campaign provides information on training and outreach, how traffickers operate, and victim assistance to help keep the public informed.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicates applications for T and U visas, which are available to foreign national victims of trafficking. Lawyers and advocates may check on the status of an already submitted case by calling the Violence Against Women Act Unit Helpline at 802-527-4888.

U.S. Department of Defense

Combating Trafficking in Persons
The Combating Trafficking in Persons Program Office establishes policy and ensures that the services, combatant commands, and defense agencies have the necessary tools to prevent trafficking.

U.S. Department of Labor

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking
The Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking publishes reports on international child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking and provides funding to combat international child labor.

Wage and Hour Division
The Wage and Hour Division enforces federal labor laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Workers Protection Act and assists with human trafficking investigations involving the violation of these laws.

[The authors gratefully acknowledge the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime, for allowing us to reproduce, [in part/in whole], “Resources & Research: Federal Government Resources”. This list was prepared by the Office for Victims of Crime.

Local Organizations

CATCH (Changing Actions to Change Habits) Court

This court serves to try to help women who have been arrested for prostitution. The court views them as victims, not as criminals. Judge Herbert is the presiding officer in this court.

The CATCH Court is a specialized docket that is located at:

Franklin County Municipal Court

375 South High Street

Columbus, Ohio 43215

(614) 645-8214

Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition (CORRC)

This coalition of community agencies provides information and resources through their 24-hour hotline. CORRC provides free workshops and training on human trafficking. The Coalition focuses on public awareness, social services, law enforcement and legislation.

966 East Main Street

Columbus, Ohio 43215

(614) 285-4357

swo.salvationarmy.org/rescueandrestore

Freedom a la Cart Catering

Provides employment opportunities in the culinary arts arena for sex trafficked women survivors.

5000 Arlington Centre Boulevard

Columbus, OH 43220

info@freedomalacart.org

(614) 992-3252

Gracehaven

Gracehaven’s mission is two-fold: to eradicate child sex trafficking in Central Ohio, and to provide rehabilitative, trauma-informed care to survivors.  Gracehaven was founded to care for the growing number of victims of domestic minor sex trafficking. More than 1,000 minors are sexually trafficked in Ohio annually. To effectively care for victims and prevent others from being enslaved in this life, Gracehaven employs a comprehensive approach to combating domestic minor sex trafficking:

5000 Arlington Centre Blvd

Columbus, OH 43220

(614) 302-9515 https://gracehaven.me/

Reins of Freedom

An agency that provides trauma-informed mental health care focusing on children, adults, and families who have experienced sexual abuse/trafficking, while also making services available to those with anxiety, depression, PTSD, and addiction. Their scope of expertise is offering equine  assisted psychotherapy, where clients can interact with horses as part of their treatment plan.

3 West Main Street

Westerville, Ohio 43081

(614) 633-5946 reinsoffreedom.org

The Switch: National Anti-human Trafficking Network

This is a national network providing support, resources, housing, protection to victims of human trafficking, street prostitution, homelessness, and vulnerable youth. SWITCH advocates and works towards awareness, enforcement, community connections, and prevention programs.

178 West Schrock Road

Westerville, Ohio 43081

(614) 285-4433

jointheswitch.org

Assessment Tools

Several assessment tools that are well established and validated are available to identify human trafficking victims. They include:

Administration for Children & Families. Office on Trafficking in Persons. (2018, January). Adult Human Trafficking Screening Tool and Guide.

Available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/otip/adult_human_trafficking_screening_tool_and_guide.pdf

National Human Trafficking Resource Center. (2011). Comprehensive Human Trafficking Assessment tool.

Available at https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sites/default/files/Comprehensive%20Trafficking%20Assessment.pdf

Vera Institute of Justice. (2014). Screening for Human Trafficking: Guidelines for Administering the Trafficking Victim Identification Tool (TVIT).

Available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/246713.pdf

Additional human trafficking screening tools can be found below.

[Source: Administration for Children & Families. Office on Trafficking in Persons. (2018, January). Adult Human Trafficking Screening Tool and Guide. Retrieved from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/otip/adult_human_trafficking_screening_tool_and_guide.pdf]

Additional tools are listed below.

The previously stated sources are a good start to getting a sense of the depth of human trafficking in this country and abroad. “It takes a world to eradicate slavery!”

References

Enrile, A. (2018). Ending Human Trafficking & Modern-Day Slavery: Freedom’s Journey. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. (2019). Human trafficking: A human rights violation. Retrieved from https://combathumantrafficking.org/2018/12/human-trafficking-human-rights-violation/

Not for Sale. (2016). Your story is touched by modern slavery. Retrieved from https://www.notforsalecampaign.org/why-exploitation/

United Nations. (1948). United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. New York: Author.

[See above websites or hyperlinks for all organizations listed.]