case study of human trafficking

Trafficked: Three survivors of human trafficking share their stories

Date: Monday, 29 July 2019

This story was originally published on Medium.com/@UN_Women

Across the world, millions of women and girls live in the long shadows of human trafficking. Whether ensnared by force, coercion, or deception, they live in limbo, in fear, in pain.

Because human trafficking operates in darkness, it’s difficult to get exact numbers of victims. However, the vast majority of detected trafficking victims are women and girls, and three out of four are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation .

Wherever there is poverty, conflict and gender inequality, women’s and girls’ lives are at-risk for exploitation. Human trafficking is a heinous crime that shatters lives, families and dreams.

On World Day against Trafficking in Persons, three women survivors tell us their stories. Their words are testament to their incredible resilience and point toward the urgency for action to prosecute perpetrators and support survivors along their journeys to restored dignity, health and hope.

Karimova comes full circle.

When she was 22 years old, Luiza Karimova left her home in Uzbekistan and travelled to Osh, Kyrgyzstan with the hopes of finding work. However, without a Kyrgyz ID or university degree, Karimova struggled to find employment. When a woman offered her a waitressing job in Bishkek, the capital city in the north of Kyrgyzstan, she welcomed the opportunity.

But things took a turn for the worse after arriving in Bishkek. Karimova recalls that, “They held us in an apartment and took away our passports. They told us that we’d be photographed again for our new employment documents, to be registered as waitresses. It felt strange, but we believed them.”

Then, Karimova and the other women were put on a plane to Dubai, handed fake passports instead of their real ones, and shepherded to an apartment after landing. “We were to be sex slaves and do whatever the clients wanted. The next day I was sent to a nightclub and told that I would have to earn at least 10,000 USD by the end of the month,” says Karimova.

For 18 months, her life was consumed by the nightclub work. Upon leaving the club one evening, Karimova saw a police car approaching, and instead of running away, she stayed to let the police arrest her.

“I was deported back to Osh, and since my ID was fake, I spent a year in jail. I filed a police report, and three of the traffickers were captured”.

However, after being released from prison, Karimova was left to live on the streets, ashamed and unemployed. She went back to work in the sex industry until she was approached by Podruga, an organization that assists women subjected to sex and drug trafficking. “They offered me work. I wasn’t sure that I would fit in, but slowly I began to trust them,” she says.

Now, Karimova works to prevent the exact situation in which she found herself. As an outreach worker with Podruga, she visits saunas and other places where sex workers may be. “I often meet girls who dream of going to Turkey and Dubai, to earn more. I tell them, ‘please don’t go...There is nothing good for you there.’”

To prevent their futures from unfolding as hers did, Karimova provides the women with health and safety resources and information about legal aid. “To stop trafficking of women and girls, we have to inform people about the full consequences of human trafficking and how to detect the signs. It is critical to start raising awareness about this in schools, starting young, so that they do not become victims.”

To read more of Karimova’s story and her work to prevent human trafficking in Kyrgyzstan, see her full interview .

Life in limbo.

In the Lake Chad region of West Africa, the Boko Haram insurgency has taken a drastic toll on millions of families. Thousands of people leave home every day, putting their lives in the hands of smugglers in search of a better life.

At 17 years old, Mary did just that. She felt there was no future for her in her home of Benin City, Nigeria, so she sought opportunities elsewhere. She was put into contact with a man, Ben, who promised to pay her way to Italy and use his connections to find her a restaurant job.

Soon after meeting Ben, Mary was called to his house and made to swear that she wouldn’t try to run away. In March 2016, she, along with a group of boys and girls, left for Libya—a stop along their route to Europe.

In Libya, Mary found herself in peril. “Ben took two of us girls one night. He gave the other girl to another man, and he said to me if I didn't sleep with him, he would give me to another man and not bring me to Europe. He raped me,” Mary says.

She wanted out but had no means of contacting anyone back home. “I had to stay there for months until they called me to go on the boat,” she says.

When she was finally put on a boat to Italy, Mary was informed she would be living in a camp and work as a prostitute—unjust conditions that she had never agreed to and couldn’t escape.

“I can't go stand on the side of the road in the name of money," she says, her voice rising. "I have a future. Standing there, selling myself, would destroy my life. My dignity. Everything.”

Now, the people who paid Mary’s way to Italy are demanding money and threatening her mother back in Nigeria. Her voice falters as she explains that, “they said they would do something very bad to her if I don't send money.”

She waits in anguish until her documents are processed. “I'm so sad. I'm under so much pressure. I don't know what to do… I just want to be free. I want it to be over, even for just one day.”

Despite the immense suffering she’s experienced as a victim of human trafficking, Mary’s dream of a better life holds strong. “One day I will have my documents, I will have an education, I will have work,” she says with hope. She wants to become a lawyer and serve those who’ve been trafficked like she has. “I want to give justice to the girls that have to use their bodies for work.”

For more of Mary’s story and UNICEF’s efforts to end the trafficking of children, read the full article .

“I no longer feel alone.”

Khawng Nu, now 24 years old, is from Kachin, a conflict affected and impoverished state in northern Myanmar. There are few job opportunities, so when a woman from her village offered her work in a Chinese factory, Khawng Nu accepted the offer. However, upon arriving in China, Khawng Nu quickly learned that she had been deceived. The situation wasn’t at all what she was told it would be.

Khawng Nu had been trafficked to birth babies, a type of trafficking that accounts for 20 per cent of the trafficking of women in Myanmar . Khawng Nu recalls seeing more than 40 women on the floor of the building where she was kept, some as young as 16.

“They give pills to women and inject them with sperm for them to carry babies for Chinese men,” explains Khawng Nu. They were beaten and bullied at any sign of resistance.

Once the baby was born, the women would supposedly receive 1 million MMK (USD 632).

Khawng Nu managed to send a message home to her family, and, with the help of community leaders, the trafficking broker in her village was arrested, although he refused to disclose Khawng Nu’s location.

Eventually, Khawng Nu’s family was able to gather enough money from neighbors to pay the ransom for her return. When she came home to her village, Khawng Nu shared the names of other girls she had met in China with local authorities, and five were rescued and brought back.

Through the help of a local organization that partners with UN Women, Htoi Gender and Development Foundation, Khawng Nu is working toward a brighter future. “At first, when I returned, I felt ashamed and I didn’t want to show my face,” she recalls. “Now, after meeting with other women trafficking survivors through the peer group organized by Htoi, I no longer feel alone and seeing that there are other women who went through the same experience gave me courage.”

Read the full article for more of Khawng Nu’s story and how UN Women is working to end human trafficking in Myanmar.

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By Margaret Henderson

While human trafficking has existed for centuries, communities are paying new attention to the problem. Some high-profile cases — such as the massage parlor investigation in Jupiter, Florida, in March 2019 — have generated extensive media coverage about a specific type of trafficking. There have also been improvements in legislation that address associated crimes, public funding opportunities that focus community attention on improved interventions and response, and — perhaps most importantly — evolving cultural attitudes that are willing to name the illegal behaviors as unacceptable.

Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel another person to perform labor or a sex act for the profit of a third person. Victims can be adults or children, foreign or domestic born. The trafficking can involve purely labor or purely commercial sex or can be a blend of both.

The forms and dynamics of trafficking can vary widely and typically take advantage of local community characteristics. A convention center or military base might generate a market for sex trafficking, for example, whereas seasonal farm work and restaurants might generate a market for labor trafficking (see sidebar, “Environmental Conditions That Enable Trafficking”).

Tracking Trends

The Polaris Project is affiliated with the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Using statistics from callers, the project identified 25 business models of human trafficking. 1 In research conducted in 2018 by the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, focus groups of local government workers in the state reviewed the business models to assess which might be visible to staff of any department. 2 (See sidebar, “Business Models of Human Trafficking Most Visible to Local Government Staff.”)

This research illuminated the critical importance of training first responders and inspectors for any purpose—environmental health, code enforcement, fire codes, and so forth. But the focus groups also pointed out the importance of building awareness more broadly among staff who work in libraries, handle registration or licensing functions, manage water/sewer/solid waste/recycling, respond to parking violations or nuisance calls, or work in public waiting areas.

SIDEBAR: ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT ENABLE TRAFFICKING

The following are environmental conditions that enable sex or labor trafficking, either by generating a market for the act, amplifying a vulnerability, transporting victims, or facilitating contact with buyers.

• Tourist destinations
• Large public events
• Seasonal farm work
• Online advertising opportunities
• Highway rest stops
• Military bases
• International borders
• Colleges and universities

Building Awareness

Terra Greene, city manager of Lexington, North Carolina (pop. 20,000), attended a basic awareness training event hosted by the fire department that was open to all city and county staff. “One key note that was so disturbingly impactful for me to hear in the awareness training … human trafficking is incredibly profitable because the controller or profiteer can sell the same human being over and over again.”

For local governments, the default setting might be to assume that dealing with trafficking falls to law enforcement, social services, or possibly public health clinics. However, research, educational efforts, and real-life scenarios 3 together indicate that additional city and county departmental staff have the potential to identify and report the indicators of trafficking, to build community awareness, and to strengthen local systems of response and intervention.

Greene confirms the access city staff have to homes, businesses, and the community at large and goes on to acknowledge the discomfort they might have about reporting indicators of trafficking. “It is critical that public servants take their role one step further when it comes to overall public safety and speak up if they see something. That step can feel like it taps into tremendous inner courage because oftentimes it is innate behavior to mind your own business, especially when on private property.

Donald Duncan, city manager of Conover, North Carolina (pop. 8,000), began his process of strengthening local government response in a similar way, by immediately integrating the content of a “Human Trafficking 101” training event into the content of his public work.

“After sitting through the session, I began to realize how often we see signs of human trafficking, but do not realize it. It was sobering and admittedly depressing. I had been on the periphery of human trafficking and did not understand that until taking the initial training.”

He thought back to the time his wife, an elementary school teacher, suspected one of her students was being abused. Ultimately, it was discovered the child was being prostituted by her own family. While the situation was obviously harmful to the child, no one called it “human trafficking” at the time, but that is what it was.

SIDEBAR: BUSINESS MODELS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING MOST VISIBLE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT STAFF

Almost all of the 25 business models of trafficking identified by the Polaris Project can be visible to local government staff:

• Escort services
• Illicit massage, health and beauty businesses
• Outdoor solicitation
• Residential brothels
• Domestic workers
• Bars, strip clubs, and cantinas
• Traveling sales or clean-up crews
• Restaurants and food service sites
• Peddling and begging rings, fundraising sales
• Agriculture and animal husbandry
• Personal sexual servitude; forced marriages
• Health and beauty services
• Construction industry
• Hotels and hospitality industries
• Landscaping businesses
• Illicit activities operated by gangs and organized crime
• Forestry and logging
• Health-care settings
• Recreational facilities

The four business models of trafficking that are not likely to be seen by local government staff in the course of their regular duties are the production of pornography, commercial cleaning services operating at night, arts/entertainment functions, and remote, interactive, commercial sexual sites.

Taking Action

Conover allows for itinerant merchants to conduct door-to-door sales. After a rash of harassing salesmen, the city council directed Duncan to strengthen the policy governing such sales. “We now require these sales groups to present their identification and pay for a permit. The officers on duty run a quick search through National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to make sure there are no outstanding warrants or prior convictions of fraud or violent crime. After implementing this new procedure, one group came to the police department, and we noticed one person bringing in members of the sales crew, handing them their identification documents 4 as they approached. Staff never suspected trafficking until the group was gone.”

Moving forward, Duncan will promote one general and two specific initiatives. First, he decided to offer the basic training to all city staff as part of the safety training regimen and is working with an area service provider to arrange that training.

Second, he is building on a tradition of training staff to be aware of indicators of criminal activity. In the past, the city implemented Fleet Watch, an initiative of the NC Crime Watch program. “To support community policing, the police department-initiated training for sanitation, meter readers, code enforcement, and fire crews to recognize signs of crime and domestic abuse. The idea of broadening awareness to include indicators of human trafficking will not be a stretch,” said Duncan.

Third, Duncan will work with key city staff to consider trafficking through the lens of organized crime, using strategies that evolved from intelligence gathering methods used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The logic underlying such strategies is that gangs represent domestic terrorism and organized crime.” Through peer pressure and forced initiations, they also act as human traffickers. The tactics used to identify foreign terrorists work just as well in North Carolina with NC GangNET 5 and other gang intervention models currently in use. With slight modifications these could all be applied to combat human trafficking.”

City Manager David Parrish, of Greensboro, North Carolina (pop. 287,000), learned human trafficking was allegedly taking place in the Gate City during a council meeting. One evening, a resident raised a concern, outlining what types of services were for sale at a local massage parlor. The resident referenced how the city had responsibilities for business licensing that should not enable associated illegal activity.

In response, Parrish immediately deployed city staff from police, engineering and inspections, and code enforcement to investigate the massage parlor to determine if illegal activity was happening on the premises. The investigation included a review of the licensing and on-site activity. The multidepartment team effort uncovered evidence confirming the owners were in violation of the law. Charges related to human trafficking were filed against them. Since then, police routinely follow up with code enforcement to make sure businesses are operating legally.

“We appreciate residents being vigilant and willing to say something when they suspect criminal activity is happening. This is an example where multiple city departments worked together, using existing resources, to address and resolve this incident of human trafficking,” said Parrish.

SIDEBAR: VULNERABILITIES = OPPORTUNITIES FOR TRAFFICKERS

In general, human traffickers look for points of weakness to exploit. These vulnerabilities can be social, political, financial, or situational, taking many different forms. Here are some examples:

• Family conflict/instability
• Financial stress
• Social isolation
• Homelessness
• Limited English proficiency
• Immigration status
• Unsafe community or living conditions
• Sexual orientation/gender identity
• Lack of transportation
• Rejection by family or community
• History of physical or sexual trauma
• Foster care placement; aging out of the child welfare system
• Political instability
• Cultural background
• Natural disasters

Key Strategies

Addressing the problem of human trafficking is not simple or easy. Here are some initial strategies to consider.

Build awareness of the indicators and basic dynamics of trafficking across all governmental departments, beyond law enforcement and social services.  Suggestion: Invite area service providers to provide basic training, describe local resources for intervention, and begin to build relationships across organizational lines. Encourage self-education through online resources and state or national training opportunities. (See sidebar, “Online Resources for Local Governments.”)

• Develop protocols for reporting in dicators of potential trafficking. Debrief and adjust as needed, once reports are made. Suggestion: At a staff meeting, discuss and decide on the preferred options for reporting (e.g. , local law enforcement, local rapid response team, or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733), as well as expectations for informing departmental supervisors, the city/county manager, or elected officials.
• If your community has a particular challenge with any of the environmental conditions that enable trafficking or any of the business models that traffickers employ, consider taking a focused approach. (See sidebars, “Environmental Conditions That Enable Trafficking” and “Business Models of Human Trafficking Most Visible to Local Government Staff.”) Suggestion: Convene a multi-departmental team to apply existing processes, policies, and procedures to the challenge that relates to trafficking, in order to develop strategies of prevention or intervention.
• If your community is working to address any wicked problem (e.g. , homelessness, food scarcity, substance abuse, success in school), know that you are also working to prevent trafficking.  Suggestion: Take time out in those existing work groups to consider the issue through the lens of human trafficking. For example, is there a particular way that the local homeless population is being manipulated? (See sidebar, “Vulnerabilities = Opportunities for Traffickers.”)

SIDEBAR: ONLINE RESOURCES FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS*

• Public Management Bulletin #12: “Human Trafficking in North Carolina: Strategies for Local Government Officials.” This bulletin covers ways in which human trafficking can be viewed through the lens of local government. The bulletin begins with a discussion of the basics—what human trafficking is, how it operates, and where it tends to turn up—followed by an examination of human trafficking as a local government concern. The author concludes the bulletin by outlining six strategies that local government leaders can take to address human trafficking in their communities.
• Public Management Bulletin #15: “Exploring the Intersections between Local Governments and Human Trafficking: The Local Government Focus Group Project.” This bulletin focuses on the business models traffickers use to manage their human trafficking enterprises and reports on focus group discussions with local government officials to determine how greater awareness of these models and their various signs within the community might be incorporated into their daily work.
• Public Management Bulletin #16: “Labor Trafficking—What Local Governments Need to Know.” This bulletin focuses on what labor trafficking is and how it shows up in North Carolina.

* from the School of Government, UNC-Chapel Hill, available at www.sog.unc.edu.

While the concept of human trafficking is overwhelming to most of us, there are specific steps any community can take to begin to address the issue. Once local government staff members learn about the indicators of trafficking, they tend to respond in the same way as other professional groups: “We’ve been seeing the signs all along, but we didn’t know that it was trafficking.”

The responsibilities of local government staff put them in homes, businesses, and public spaces on a regular basis. They also tend to be people who care about, and are connected to, their communities. Given that trafficking often operates in plain sight, local government staff offer untapped potential for noticing its indicators.

As Terra Greene observes, “Human trafficking is a very real humanitarian issue, which requires acute awareness and courage to actively contribute to the solution.” Remember: Human traffickers only need local governments to do one thing—nothing. Hopefully, these examples and insights from local government managers in North Carolina can inspire other cities and counties to begin their own efforts to stop human trafficking.

1 “The Typology of Modern Slavery: Defining Sex and Labor Trafficking in the United States” at https://polarisproject.org/typology

2 For a discussion, see PMB No. 15, June 2018, “Exploring the Intersections Between Local Government and Human Trafficking: The Local Government Focus Group Project,” available at www.sog.unc.edu

3 Media reported that law enforcement used the observations of a health inspector to build the investigation in the Jupiter, Florida, illicit massage parlor case, in early 2019.

4 One indicator of trafficking is that a third party takes and controls access to the identification documents of victims. Traveling sales crews are a business model that traffickers employ.

5 https://www.ncdps.gov/Our-Organization/Law-Enforcement/State-Highway-Patrol/NC-GangNET NC GangNET is a database that has a web-based capability of allowing certified users to enter and/or view information on gang suspects and members that have been validated as such using standardized criteria.

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A Case of Human Trafficking

A disheartening encounter with a young patient convinced physician Kimberly Chang, MPH ’15, that medical professionals can play a key role in protecting victims of coerced sex and labor.

Kimberly Chang was fresh out of medical residency in 2003 when a 14-year-old girl stumbled into her exam room at Asian Health Services in Oakland, California. Reeking of marijuana, with bloodshot eyes and bruises all over her body, the girl asked to be checked for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Chang, MPH ’15, diagnosed several STDs in the teen—and, with a sinking realization, also determined that her patient was being forced into sex, addicted to drugs, and getting beaten up regularly. Over the next few years, Chang would see the scenario repeated again and again among her mostly poor, immigrant patients.

Yet she continued to view her job as primarily treating their medical problems—until the day a young teen girl arrived at the clinic, acutely ill. She had a high fever, a racing heart rate, and a rash all over her body. She’d lost 30 pounds in three months. But she refused to go to the hospital because she feared she’d be arrested on a previous warrant for prostitution.

Chang spent the entire evening negotiating with her. The girl was willing to drive only with her “purchaser”—a man who bought unprotected sex from her three times a week. For two hours, Chang tried to persuade the man to drop the girl off at the emergency room. They never made it, and it took another day before Chang and her colleagues tracked down the girl through her MySpace page and community contacts. This time, Chang personally arranged for someone to drive her to the hospital, where she spent two months recovering.

“But guess what happened when she got out?” Chang asks, still incredulous. “She was sent to jail.” Although the teenager was essentially an abused child, the police and courts considered her a criminal. That 2008 crisis became the catalyst for all that followed in Chang’s career. She evolved from physician to physician-activist to—bolstered by her new master’s degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—policy advocate. Today, she is propelled by a strong belief that human trafficking should not be a law enforcement but rather a public health issue.

TEACHING PATIENTS THEIR RIGHTS

Chang grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, in an ethnically Chinese family. Only recently did she learn that her great-grandmother, born in Vietnam, was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Hong Kong before escaping and starting a family in Hawaii as a plantation worker. “Given the work that I’m doing now,” Chang observes, “I thought that was an interesting connection.”

As a young child, Chang would watch her mother, a speech pathologist, work with children with cerebral palsy. “That care and compassion made a big impact,” she says. At age 12, she set out to be a doctor, calculating to the exact year when she would begin her training as a physician and proceeding straight through college, medical school, and residency before landing at Asian Health Services as a family doctor.

Many of her teen patients came in high on drugs and physically battered. She learned to speak with them bluntly yet sympathetically, to identify who was being forced into sex, and to care for them without judgment. She also made a point of teaching them their rights. In the case of adult patients working as domestic help, for example, she’d explain: “It’s not OK for your employer to hold your passport and stop you from leaving the country.”

Chang was soon promoted to director of a satellite clinic of Asian Health Services. The site served 10 Asian refugee communities but had to turn down many more for lack of language abilities and staff. “It bothered me when I thought about who gets access and who doesn’t. Where is health equity in this?” she says. “I felt I needed to acquire the policy tools to be able to elevate the issues of immigrant and refugee health and of trafficking in the health care, community health, and public health arenas.”

That quest brought her to Harvard Chan through the Commonwealth Fund Mongan Fellowship in Minority Health Policy . There, Chang met people who, like her, were working for populations shut out of mainstream culture and medicine. Her driving goal: to turn human trafficking into a frontline health issue. “How could I make the health care system stronger, so that it could go toe-to-toe with the criminal justice system?” she recalls. “Harvard Chan has given me a platform to make practical changes and reach more patients—not just through my health center but through every health center that wants to take on this issue.”

Commonwealth Fellowship program director Joan Y. Reede, MPH ’90, SM ’92, notes that Chang stood out for her compassion, her creativity—and her impatience at the slow pace of change. “Kim is an extraordinary individual who does not recognize how extraordinary she is,” Reede says. “She hadn’t realized her full potential when she arrived, and over the course of the year she had an awakening that you can make a difference—not by aiming low, but by aiming high.”

Helping young people avoid the sex trade, or get out early, can slow the problem downstream. “By reducing the number of victims,” says Chang, “you can reduce the number of traffickers.”

At Commencement, Chang received the School’s Dr. Fang-Ching Sun Memorial Award for her commitment to vulnerable populations. According to Reede, “It comes out of a deep awareness of the responsibility that accompanies the title of physician—to take care of everyone—and an understanding that the system has that responsibility as well.”

LOOKING UPSTREAM

With MPH in hand, Chang is back at her clinic in Oakland, where she continues to see patients part time. In collaboration with the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations , she’s also putting into action a policy brief she wrote while at Harvard Chan for the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In line with that effort, she hopes to collaborate with HHS to create pilot models at federally qualified health centers for step-by-step protocols for trafficking victims, from outreach to long-term chronic care, providing the medical roadmap she wishes she’d had when starting out as a community doctor.

As befits a newly minted public health professional, Chang is also looking upstream at original causes. She believes the first step to stop trafficking at its source is to treat it as a disease. “I see this as community surveillance,” she says. “We talked to the Cambodian elders about this problem, and they started looking out and noticing that, oh, their daughters aren’t just going out and having fun. They’re coming home with bruises.”

Although Chang’s patients were typically trafficked by men outside the family—pimps and boyfriends, for example—it’s not uncommon for people to traffic their own family members for economic reasons. Targeting the poverty that leads these families to such desperate measures is critical, Chang says. So is persuading them to reassess what may have become commonplace—in the exam room, in schools, at community gatherings. “We need to change the social norm,” she says, “and redefine what communities consider acceptable.”

In the complex world of trafficking, a victim today may become a recruiter tomorrow. Chang contends that helping young people avoid the trade, or get out early, can slow the problem downstream. “By reducing the number of victims,” she says, “you can reduce the number of traffickers.”

On a more systemic level, Chang urges public health leaders to join initiatives against human trafficking. “At the moment, most of these are run by criminal justice,” she says. “There’s a scarcity of health care and public health in there.”

LIFE AFTER TRAFFICKING

Looking back at her most disturbing cases, Chang has seen that the right treatment and policies can change lives. The first 14-year-old girl who came in high and bruised? Chang treated her STDs, encouraged her to leave the sex trade, and wrote her a letter of support to get into a health assistant training program. Now in her twenties and in a stable relationship, the young woman has a new outlook on life. “Her main challenge today,” notes Chang, “is college algebra.”

But not all stories from the clinic have happy endings. Chang lost touch with the 15-year-old patient who went to jail for prostitution. She heard the girl became pregnant and was still engaged in sex work. Yet such setbacks don’t discourage Chang.

“I have the privilege of being asked the question, ‘How do you not get demoralized?’ My patients don’t have that privilege,” she explains. “I don’t get demoralized because I have the power to change things. If I don’t use that power, who will?”

Karen Brown is a public radio reporter and freelance writer based in Western Massachusetts who specializes in health and mental health issues.

Watch a video or listen to a podcast of Kimberly Chang and other Harvard Chan students.

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Tonya spent night after night in different hotel rooms, with different men, all at the command of someone she once trusted. She was held against her will, beaten and made to feel like she had no other option at the time, all by the man she thought she loved.

She felt she deserved it. Tonya felt she couldn’t escape. Afraid and confused, she thought the emotional and physical abuse she endured was her own doing. 

Tonya (a pseudonym) was a victim of human trafficking. “He made me feel like I was doing it because I loved him, and in the end, we’d have a really good [financial] reward,” Tonya said.

When Tonya was 13, she met Eddie (a pseudonym) at the apartment she was living in with her mother in the Dallas, Texas, area. His estranged wife was the property manager. Tonya was classmates with Eddie’s stepdaughter, so the two would often see each other at the apartment and in the local grocery store. It was there that the two first exchanged numbers.

“It was a casual relationship at first. You could see there was a mutual connection. I thought he was cute,” Tonya recalled. “I could tell he was really flirtatious with me. We would talk and flirt a lot, but it was not much more than that until we met again when I was 15.”

Things began to change one night when Tonya ran into Eddie at a bar. The two reconnected, the flirting picked up where it left off and Tonya went home with Eddie that night. Tonya was a runaway at the time, so she eventually moved in with Eddie and the two began a relationship.

It was a “normal” arrangement at first. Tonya would cook, clean and look after Eddie’s kids from time to time. However, it was when the two were at a party filled with alcohol and drugs that the relationship took a turn.

“He approached me and told me in so many words, ‘I want you to have sex with this guy for money,’” Tonya said. “I was very uncomfortable and I kept saying no, I didn’t want to do it. He kept telling me, ‘If you love me, you’ll do this. It’s just one thing. Just try it.’”

After nearly 30 more minutes of constant pressure, Tonya agreed to have sex with the man. What she thought would be a one-time thing became an everyday routine for the next few weeks. Night after night and bar after bar, Tonya would go out with Eddie while he advertised her to potential “suitors.” Tonya thought she loved him. She felt she could deal with the physical toll the trafficking took on her body. It turned out that the hardest part to deal with was the emotional and psychological effects. 

“Being able to sleep with that many people and live with myself and get up every day and keep doing it and just lying there being helpless was so hard,” Tonya said.

Help eventually came for Tonya in the form of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Keith Owens. The Grand Prairie, Texas police department had received a tip about Eddie’s crimes and passed the case on to HSI Dallas. Owens and his team took over, moved in and arrested Eddie. 

Eddie pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison on May 29, 2015. During the sentencing hearing, Tonya had to testify. Having to hear and see the man who trafficked her was difficult, especially not knowing what the outcome would be and whether he would be convicted. 

“Telling people publicly about what I’d been through made me feel more ashamed because I’d never told anyone or was open about it,” Tonya said. “Keith and [HSI Dallas special agent] Allison [Schaefer] were the only two people I’ve really told everything to.”

Tonya feels her life is a little better now. She doesn’t think or talk about what she’s been through and doesn’t want people to know that was once a part of her life. Her focus is on moving forward.

“I want to finish getting my GED and go to community college, take on journalism, go to college and study political science and pre-law,” she said. “I just want to live a normal life, accept my past and not run from it.”

Eventually, Tonya knows that she will have to talk about her experience again. If she has kids one day, she wants to be able to tell them what their mother went through. She wants them to know what to look out for and how to avoid going through something as awful as she did.

Until then, she passes along her words of encouragement to anyone who may be experiencing what she did. She wants any victims out there to know they are not alone.

“You’re worth something. You’re very important to someone,” Tonya said. “No matter what he says, it’s not true. You’re worth something.”

Part 1: The Beginning

It was just supposed to be something to make money, but it quickly turned into much more than she ever imagined. In part one, Tonya (a pseudonym) reveals how she initially became a victim of human trafficking.

Part 2: An Emotional Toll

Dealing with the physical toll the trafficking took on her body was “easy.” It turned out that the hardest part to deal with was the psychological effects. In part two, Tonya discusses the emotional toll of being a victim of human trafficking.

Part 3: A Painful Relief

Although she was ultimately able to “escape” from her trafficker, the experience of being a victim of human trafficking still haunted Tonya. In part three, she talks about the lingering pain that existed even after her ordeal was over.  

Part 4: You Deserved It

Like many victims of human trafficking, Tonya felt that she deserved it. In part four, Tonya explains how she and many victims like her feel that way.

Part 5: Knowing What To Look For

What can be done to prevent human trafficking? How can potential victims protect themselves from perpetrators? In the final segment, Tonya discusses what potential victims should look out for, and what law enforcement officials need to do to combat human trafficking.

National Human Trafficking and Slavery Prevention Month

The month of January has been designated by the White House as National Human Trafficking and Slavery Prevention Month. Millions of women, men and children around the world are subjected to forced labor, domestic servitude, or the sex trade at the hands of human traffickers. A form of modern-day slavery, the inhumane practice of human trafficking takes place here in the United States as well.

Human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes investigated by ICE. In its worst manifestation, human trafficking is akin to modern-day slavery. They are forced into prostitution, involuntary labor and other forms of servitude to repay debts – often incurred during entry into the United States.

ICE recognizes that severe consequences of human trafficking continue even after the perpetrators have been arrested and held accountable. ICE’s Victim Assistance Program helps coordinate services to help human trafficking victims, such as crisis intervention, counseling and emotional support.

In their own words

Disclaimer: The following passages contain first-person accounts from victims of sex trafficking. Names have been altered to protect their identities. Homeland Security Investigations worked in collaboration with the FBI on their case.

“I was 17 around when I met ‘Robert.’ It started off with me and my friend meeting him for social purposes. It just went on for about nine months and we were living in different hotels the entire time and I don’t even remember how many men there were. I was a runaway and wasn’t living anywhere stable, so since I was underage most of the time, I sort of needed him in order to get hotels and move around.

I had already been a prostitute since I was 15 and I think I just didn’t even know what was right or wrong and how I should be treated. Towards the end, he held me against my will in a hostage situation and forced me to prostitute and took all the money and just beat me severely.

The last time I saw him, he was just beating me until he was absolutely tired. I was covered in bruises, my face was completely disfigured and it’s causing me issue with my back to this day because of the way he was beating me and torturing me. That was probably the worst. There was a client in the room and he was having an issue with something I couldn’t do because I was all beat up. I didn’t want to do it anymore. I didn’t want to do anything. He wanted the money back. When Robert and him were talking I ran out of the room and somehow was able to run faster than him.

I didn’t tell anyone. I kept it to myself until I got a call from the FBI that he’d been arrested for something else and asked would I talk. Having to go face everything and realize how serious everything was. For the longest time I didn’t even think it was that serious.

At the trial, it felt empowering to look at him the entire time. I’m sure it drove him crazy. He can never touch me but he had to look at me and listen and it made me feel good.

I had to learn that if I don’t at least have some kind of love and value for myself, no one ever will. My advice to other girls would be to let people help you. It’s not your fault and that you didn’t deserve it. It’s OK to be hurt about it because a lot of people will act like it never happened, because that’s what I was going to do too.

– “Laura” 21

“I was 15 at the time and was a runaway. ‘Tom’ wanted to be a pimp, so I would be in his room in his apartment and he would not let me go out for anything. He tried to intimidate me by threatening to beat me up if I tried to leave. I was scared of him so I wouldn’t leave. He would drop me off at a hotel while he went to work.

It lasted from March until June or July. Sometimes it would be every day, sometimes he would say, ‘not today, but tomorrow.’ Out of the week, maybe 4-5 times a week, I was with different men.

I just felt like that it was my fault and I deserved it and nobody would ever believe me or try to help me, so I just let them control how I thought about myself. They were always verbally abusive and putting you down and it got to the point that I actually started believing it. Just letting someone control your own freedom take over just what you do. I couldn’t leave the room. It was like ‘wow, I’m letting someone make me feel so scared.’

I never called the police because I felt it was my fault. I felt at the time like I had to stay. One day the FBI ended up coming to my house and contacted me because my name came up in their investigation.

You have to know your self-worth. It’s OK to ask for help. They don’t know they are a victim. They feel like it’s their fault. We are victims. You can have the worst past, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a successful future.”

– “April” 18

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Challenges to Reintegration: A Qualitative Intrinsic Case-Study of Convicted Female Sex Traffickers

Debra a. love.

1 Department of Criminal Justice, Lone Star College–University Park

Annie I. Fukushima

2 School for Cultural and Social Transformation, University of Utah

Tiana N. Rogers

3 David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah

Ethan Petersen

4 Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine

Ellen Brooks

Charles r. rogers.

The authors extend appreciation to the participants who made the study possible. In addition, the successful completion of this study would not have been possible without support from Drs. Michael Webb, Heather Miller, Nathan Moran, Larry Flowers, Robyn Ring, Stephen Morrison, and Peace Ezeogba-Odoemena; Major Edwin Davis; Sgts. Karen Jacobs and L.M. Johnson; Deputy Willie Drew; Lt. B.G. Conway; Katherine Griffin; Arnetta Washington; and Victory C.O.G.I.C.

Associated Data

Limited research focuses on the nature of the lived experiences of women engaged in sex trafficking. This study employed qualitative methods of in-depth structured interviews with ten convicted sex traffickers (ages 24–56; 100% identifying as female). Participants’ lived experiences revealed circumstances that led them to trafficking, specific needs, and the stigmatization they faced after exiting economies tied to trafficking. Inductive analysis yielded three key barriers to reintegration success: limited choice; negative labeling; and unmet physical, emotional, and social needs. These findings enhance understanding of the factors influencing the successful reintegration of convicted female sex traffickers into mainstream society.

Introduction

The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 defines sex trafficking as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act in which the commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age.” Any person who experiences sexual exploitation as a child is considered trafficked by legal definition.

Trafficking is difficult to identify due to challenges with tracking victims, misidentification, plea agreements, decisions to not prosecute, and communication issues ( Jordan et al., 2013 ; Smith et al., 2009 ). Additionally, a duality in anti-trafficking response creates additional barriers for trafficking victims by furthering the notion of a “perfect victim” and criminalization ( Fukushima 2019 ). Consequently, many victims of sex trafficking are arrested and prosecuted, illuminating an overlap between traffickers and trafficked victims ( Mogulescu 2012 ). Moreover, in cases where victims entering the criminal justice system are seen as “sources of evidence” or “offenders,” or when victims participated in criminalized activities, they are less likely to be identified as victims of trafficking (Villacampa & Torres 2019). Sex trafficking remains a complex phenomenon with a wide range of theoretical perspectives that leads to myriad physical, psychological, social, and financial harms ( Barnert et al., 2017 ; Kara, 2009 ; Lange, 2011 ; Musto, 2009 ; Ottisova et al., 2016 ; Parreñas et al., 2012 ).

This study focuses on convicted female sex traffickers, some of whom also identify as survivors of trafficking, poverty, and intersecting forms of abuse such as child abuse, domestic violence, and assault. Treated as offenders within the criminal justice system, they often participated in the exploitation of others. This study focuses not on the participants’ offenses but on their lived experiences and survival strategies. We recognize the dual identities of some participants as both traffickers and trafficking survivors; however, it is not our intent to conflate all traffickers with victims of trafficking.

Research on sex trafficking has largely focused on exploring male traffickers’ attitudes toward their clients and those whom they traffic, their interactions with those whom they traffic, physical and sexual violence, and their perceived place in the sex-trafficking economy ( Bales, 2005 ; Farr, 2005 ; Srikantiah, 2007; Troshynski & Blank, 2008 ; Troshynski & Blank, 2017 ). Few studies have addressed the specific issues faced by convicted female sex traffickers, such as separation from family, inability to obtain other employment, poor housing conditions, substance abuse, poor medical services, poor social skills, lack of education, and the role of stigma in their continued marginalization after returning to the community ( Belenko, 2006 ; Bloom et al., 2003 ; Broad, 2015 ; Celinska & Siegel, 2010 ; Cobbina, 2010 ; Davidson & Chesney-Lind, 2009 ; Hipp et al., 2008 ; Iacono, 2014 ; Leverentz, 2011 ; Wijkman & Kleemans, 2019 ; Yea, 2020 ).

For many convicted female traffickers, their victimization serves as an entryway to the practice ( Broad, 2015 ) and they begin selling/trading other women and children to exit their own trafficking and prostitution ( Iacono, 2014 ). Because trafficked women are often exploited at lower positions in the sex-trafficking economy, they are subject to increased rates of detection and criminal punishment ( Broad, 2015 ). Illegalized activities associated with trauma and sex trafficking (e.g. drug use), as well as continued impoverishment, increase the likelihood of future incarceration ( Grittner & Walsh, 2020 ; Hipp et al., 2008 ; Nyamathi et al., 2016 ; Pogorzelski et al., 2005 ; Yea, 2020 ). Additionally, both trafficked women and female traffickers are often in intimate and abusive relationships with other traffickers, prolonging their exposure to trafficking and increasing the likelihood of incarceration ( Broad, 2015 ; Verhoeven, 2015). While being a trafficking victim is one path to becoming a trafficker, some female traffickers appear to be motivated exclusively by profit ( Arsovska & Allum, 2014 ). This article contributes to the limited scholarship focused exclusively on the lived experiences of cisgender convicted female sex traffickers and their specific needs for successful reintegration into mainstream society after incarceration ( Wijkman & Kleemans, 2019 ).

Some research has explored female traffickers’ pathways into sex trafficking; however, it is critical to achieve a better understanding of the factors contributing to the failure of female sex traffickers and survivors to successfully reintegrate following incarceration ( Broad, 2015 ; Cobbina, 2010 ; Iacono, 2014 ; Wijkman & Kleemans, 2019 ). Formerly incarcerated people are more likely to recidivate when they face reintegration barriers ( Cobbina, 2010 ). The pathway perspective emphasizes a need for gender-specific reintegration efforts for female offenders due to gender-specific circumstances such as survival of physical or sexual abuse, poverty, and substance abuse, which lead them into crime and create unique mental health, educational, vocational, and family needs that, when unmet, can result in reintegration failure ( Belknap, 2001 ; Bloom et al., 2003 ; Bloom, Owen, & Covington, 2004 ; Heilbrun et al., 2008 ).

Social bond and risk-need-responsivity theories have been used to conceptualize recidivism risk ( Adams et al., 2003 ; Belenko, 2006 ; Bonta & Andrews, 2007 ; Chiricos et al., 2007 ; Cobbina, 2010 ; Laub & Sampson, 2003 ). According to social bond theory, stronger ties to individuals and institutions facilitate positive identities, mitigate negative peer contact, and reduce the impulse to commit crime ( Laub & Sampson, 2003 ). Even while incarcerated, women’s relationships with their families of origin remain important to their identity ( Leverentz, 2011 ). Motherhood is arguably one of the most stable social identities for women; consequently, coping with separation from family can negatively affect reintegration ( Celinska & Siegel, 2010 ; Sandberg, Agoff, & Fondevila, 2020 ). Reclaiming relationships with children can be difficult for the formerly incarcerated due to financial hardship, social stigma, shame, and struggles with recovery from addiction ( Celinska & Siegel, 2010 ; Cooper-Sadlo et al., 2018 ; Larsen, 2017 ; Nyamathi et al., 2016 ). Gender-specific interventions focused on supporting these relationships can increase reintegration success ( Cobbina, 2010 ; King, Massoglia, & MacMillan, 2007 ; Richie, 2001 ).

Convicted female sex traffickers face myriad challenges following incarceration. Many are ill equipped to reintegrate ( Deshpande & Nour, 2013 ). They often face challenges such as substance abuse, family conflict, low educational attainment, a lack of strong social support networks, and psychological trauma ( Hipp et al., 2008 ; Davidson & Chesney-Lind, 2009 ; Davies, 2012 ; Mciver, 2020 ; Nyamathi, 2016 ) that diminish their ability to function successfully in society and increase the likelihood of recidivism ( Deng, 2020 ; Le et al., 2019; Mciver, 2020 ; Ottisova et al., 2016 ; Stewart, 2016 ; Such et al., 2019 ). Their return to communities that lack reintegration services further increases this likelihood ( Hipp et al., 2008 ), as does the criminalization of activities and behaviors associated with having been trafficked ( Larsen, 2017 ; Nyamathi, 2016 ).

Formerly incarcerated women have described having their own home, being able to help family, and persevering through challenges as important to avoiding recidivism, with education and employment part of achieving these goals ( Davies, 2012 ; Logan et al., 2009 ; McIver, 2020 ). Some studies have shown an inverse relationship between having children and recidivism, further demonstrating how public policy can increase recidivism ( Benda, 2005 ; Enos, 2001 ; Nyamathi, 2016 ). Some legal commentators’ arguments for more stringent punishments and sex-offender registration for former female traffickers may further exacerbate obstacles to reintegration ( Brown, 2011 ).

Risk-need-responsivity theory analyzes risk to reoffend by conceptualizing seven major risk factors, which include procriminal attitudes, family and marital relationships, and social support for crime; to successfully decrease recidivism, supportive programs should be proportional to the individual’s risk of reoffending ( Belenko, 2006 ; Bonta & Andrews, 2007 ). Labeling and rational-choice theories play a critical role in recidivism by emphasizing the importance of negative labeling and the use of available information to compare the costs and benefits of committing a crime ( Adams et al., 2003 ; Chiricos et al., 2007 ; Cullen & Agnew, 2006 ; Grittner &Walsh, 2020 ; Meshkovska et al., 2015 ; Siegel, 1993 ; Wheaton et al., 2010 ). Evidence suggests that negative labels have stronger effects on women, who hold less power in society and therefore have more-limited opportunities to negate these labels ( Chiricos et al., 2007 ; Messerschmidt, 1993). In rational-choice theory ( Paternoster & Pogarsky, 2009 ), a key assumption is that offenders’ decisions are “purposive”—that is, deliberate acts committed intended to benefit the offender ( Lilly, Cullen, & Ball, 2007 ). For example, Bouché and Sandy (2017) used a rational-choice framework to posit that sex traffickers are rational actors who make calculated decisions to allow their victims access to the Internet and cell phones.

Despite growing interest in the trafficking of women and girls into coerced sex work ( Barnert, et al. 2017 ; Franchino-Olsen et al., 2020 ; Nawyn et al., 2013 ), public policy has ignored the context of women’s lives and the participation of women themselves in trafficking. Consequently, both female traffickers and trafficking survivors continue to suffer disproportionately from ill-informed public policies such as mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, three-strikes laws, lifetime bans on cash assistance and food stamps, denial of housing, and barriers to reunification with children, all of which increase recidivism risk ( Bloom et al., 2004 ; Deng, 2020 ). Broad (2015) contends that this disproportionate impact on women is partially due to their lower position in the sex-trafficking hierarchy.

Better understanding is needed of the factors contributing to reintegration success and failure among female sex traffickers and trafficking survivors, as reintegration directly affects criminal outcomes ( Broad, 2015 ; Cobbina, 2010 ; Iacono, 2014 ; Wijkman & Kleemans, 2019 ). This qualitative, structured interview-based study, guided by labeling and rational-choice theories ( Cullen and Agnew, 2006 ; Siegel, 1993 ), contributes to research on female perpetrators and their reintegration needs by focusing on the lived experiences of convicted female sex traffickers ( N =10) in Texas, United States. By centralizing the voices of this subgroup, this study seeks to understand their pathways into sex trafficking, their specific needs, and the reintegration barriers they face. For the purposes of this study, we used the abovementioned definition of sex trafficking from the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Study participants were incarcerated in a jail in southeast Texas. At the time of the study, the jail housed more than 150 women and had a reentry program for sex traffickers only. This program was deemed a “last chance” for participants to make positive changes in their lives and return to mainstream society. Many participants had requested placement in the reentry program, while others had been mandatorily placed there as a condition of reentry. Verified conviction of at least two of three crimes (participation in sex trafficking, prostitution, or drug abuse) was a critical criterion for placement into the reentry program. Moreover, a judge or the program director determined that the women selected for the reentry program were at high risk for returning to sex trafficking given their history. Accordingly, eligible participants for the present study (a) self-identified as sex traffickers, (b) were aged 18 years or older, (c) had enrolled in the reentry program for at least one day, and (d) spoke English. Eligibility was verified by both the jail major and the sergeant who oversaw the reentry program’s admission records. For reasons of participant privacy, these records were not made available to the principal investigator (PI). Participants’ statements about having been forcefully sexually victimized at some point in their lives were accepted as true.

Purposeful sampling is the most common type of nonprobability sampling used by qualitative researchers ( Patton, 2002 ). This method was selected owing to its ability to select information-rich cases, with the objective of yielding insight and understanding of the phenomenon under study ( Bloomberg & Volpe, 2008 ). The interview protocol consisted of open-ended, self-constructed interview questions. The questionnaire was created with the assistance of other experts in the field with prior knowledge of the study issue. The PI also reviewed previous research ( Cobbina, 2010 ; Cullen and Agnew, 2006 ; Siegel, 1993 ) on the topic to assure that questions did not critique participants’ lived experiences but were open-ended and exploratory in nature. Prior to the study’s implementation, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Capella University (IRB #2014-93) and the Special Operations and Crime Prevention Bureau overseeing the facility where the study was conducted both approved the study protocol.

The PI met with the gatekeeper (a person in charge of the inmates and all inmate records) at the jail, presented the research question, and provided copies of the interview questions and informed consent form. The gatekeeper was informed of the possible study risks and benefits and, to ensure that appropriate participants were selected, the study inclusion and exclusion criteria. The PI also provided a written request to enter the site to interview study participants and record the interviews using a digital voice recorder. The PI obtained an approval letter to conduct the study at the jail.

After consulting the gatekeeper, the PI scheduled a meeting with all 24 women in the reentry program who initially met the study eligibility criteria. The PI explained the study and answered questions. She said that the study was focused on better understanding the challenges faced by female sex traffickers reintegrating into mainstream society, not on sex trafficking victimization. She further stated that study participation probably would not directly assist the participants but might help others. The PI read aloud the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 definition of sex trafficking and explained that a person might be labeled as a sex trafficker due to a position she had been forcefully placed in and that participants’ classification as sex traffickers was understood because they were in the reentry program.

After the women verbally agreed to participate, the PI passed out packages containing the study consent form, interview questions, and the PI’s contact information. She explained that study participation was voluntary; the women were under no obligation to participate, nor would they be compensated for doing so.

Of the 24 inmates who attended this initial meeting, 15 were ultimately deemed eligible to participate; the other nine were coming up for release. The PI asked the eligible participants not to share any information about the study and to keep their packages stored securely until she returned the following week to collect them. To conceal participants’ identities, the packages featured no outside marking. The PI explained that all packages must be returned at the second visit, and there would be no repercussions for anyone who decided not to participate in the study.

After collecting the packages the following week, the PI selected participants for the final sample by placing all 15 sealed packages face down on a table. According to Crabtree (1999), Guest et al. (2006), and recommendations from Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2007) , 6 to 12 single interviews per homogeneous group are needed to reach data saturation. Thus, ten participants were chosen in accordance with case-study guidelines ( Leedy & Ormrod, 2010 ; Onwuegbuzie & Collins, 2007; Patton, 2002 ). These guidelines—which included the research question, proper methods, data collection and sampling techniques, and theoretical framework—were in place to ensure that the PI could later present the study findings accurately and clearly. The first ten packages that were opened and found to contain a signed informed consent form were placed in a stack and labeled “Participant #1” through “Participant #10.” This blind selection method ensured that all participants had an equal chance of being selected ( Hatch, 2002 & Patton, 2002 ). One inmate did not sign the consent form; that form was shredded, even though it was unsigned.

Once the study participants were selected, the PI called the gatekeeper to request an initial 5- to 10-minute meeting with each participant. At this meeting, the PI informed the participant that she had been selected for the study and confirmed the date, time, and location of the interview. The PI also reviewed the consent form and study information with the participant and reiterated that study participation was voluntary. The PI reminded each participant that, in addition to being a researcher, she was a police officer, and that any illegal or criminal information divulged would be reported to the proper authorities. The PI thanked each volunteer and informed her that if a selected participant terminated the interview, another volunteer would be called in as an alternate.

After obtaining additional approval both in writing and in person from the gatekeeper, the PI requested an interview room with a table, chairs, telephone, and electrical outlets to plug in a laptop computer or digital audio recorder. The phone was to be used to contact a jail official if a participant wanted to discontinue the interview and needed to be returned to her cell; it could also be used to contact a counselor or chaplain should the participant request to do so or the PI deem it necessary.

Structured, open-ended interviews, each lasting 45 to 60 minutes, were conducted in April 2014. The PI arrived at the designated area at the mutually agreed upon date and time to meet with the gatekeeper and review final details. The researcher presented the gatekeeper with copies of the interview questions and the IRB approval letter. To ensure confidentiality, each participant was interviewed separately in a private room and was asked the same questions in the same order ( Supplementary Table 1 ). The PI recorded each interview on a digital audio recorder and, as suggested by Stake (1995) and Creswell (2007) , took detailed notes to facilitate accurate later recall of what was discussed ( Hatch, 2002 ; Maxwell, 2005 ).

As each participant entered the room, the PI observed body language, made eye contact, and enacted protocols including welcoming the participant, thanking her for volunteering to take part in the study, explaining the recorded interview process, reviewing the signed consent form, and reminding the participant that participation was voluntary and she could withdraw at any time without penalty. Each participant selected a pseudonym from a bag and henceforth was identified by that name. The PI answered all of the participant’s questions and concerns before beginning the interview. Once both the PI and participant were ready, the PI began recording the interview. Following every interview, three types of notes were filed: raw data (transcripts), interview audio recordings, and the PI’s notes. Interviews were transcribed verbatim within 3 days and analyzed for thematic saturation.

Data Analysis.

According to Leedy and Ormrod (2010) , the central task during qualitative data analysis is to identify common themes in people’s descriptions of their experiences. After transcribing the interviews, the PI categorized the segments of each interview into meaningful groups, looking for statements indicating that study participants had experienced the phenomenon of sex trafficking in the same or similar ways. In conjunction with other qualitative patterns, the PI followed the analysis pattern developed by Hatch (2002 , p. 153) that has proven useful in analyzing interview question data: (1) Identify typologies; (2) Read the data, marking entries related to your typologies; (3) Read entries by typology, recording the main idea in entries on a summary sheet; (4) Look for patterns, relationships, and themes within typologies; (5) Read data and coding entries according to identified patterns and record which entries go with which pattern element; (6) Describe whether your patterns are supported by the data and search the data for non-examples of your patterns; (7) Look for relationships among the identified patterns; (8) Write your patterns as one-sentence generalizations; (9) Select data excerpts that support your generalizations.

As suggested by Saldaña (2010) , after completing the participant interviews the PI used field notes and recurring words or phrases from the interviews to compile a codebook. The PI summarized the primary topic of each coded datum in a column labeled Description Code. Thereafter, she became immersed in the data by repeatedly listening to the recorded interviews; reading interview notes; and listening for patterns, themes, and other relevant information. While listening to the interviews, she re-read all field notes to identify common themes, patterns, and other pertinent information. The interviews were interpreted for meaning ( Creswell, 2007 ) using inductive analysis, which allows the researcher to discover important patterns, themes, and interrelationships in the hope of reaching a creative synthesis ( Patton, 2002 ). As suggested by Leedy and Ormrod (2010) , bracketing was used during both the interviews and data analysis to suspend any preconceived notions that could unduly influence what participants said. The PI achieved bracketing by acknowledging that she had knowledge of sex trafficking and that while working as a police officer she had arrested both sex traffickers and their victims. Yet the PI was careful to not judge any participant and to allow each participant to use language with which she was comfortable. The PI again made clear to each participant that her position required her to immediately report to the proper authorities any criminal information or threats to hurt self or others.

Demographics.

At the time of the interviews, participants were aged 18–26 (10%), 27–36 (40%), 37–46 (10%), and 47–56 (40%); 40% had some high school education or had graduated high school, 20% had less than a high school education, 30% an associate’s degree, and 10% a master’s degree; 50% were non-Hispanic White, 30% non-Hispanic Black, 10% American Indian, and 10% self-identified as Hispanic. All collected demographic characteristics are shown in Table 1 .

Participant Demographics (N = 10)

HS, high school

Note: High school is defined as Grades 9–12

Participants’ Experiences.

To provide context and examples of similarities and differences in the participants’, summaries are given below (using their assigned pseudonyms). The summary below is a synthesizing of information collected from the data gathered (interviews and information gathered from the gatekeeper). The narratives offered provide important ways to humanize the participants in the study who are involved in the criminal justice system. Providing humanized information about each participant can have a “profound impact on responses to these individuals” ( Harper et al., 2016 , p. 535). Additionally, words matter in how those who are incarcerated are perceived ( Tran et al, 2018 ), therefore, each summary enables the reader to follow the case study of traffickers through stigma-free accurate language, that includes, the narratives about the participants’ histories and their own complex relationship to exploitation as both recipients and enactors of abuse. Case-study analysis allows for reflection on “complex, situated, problematic relationships” asking “what can be learned here”? ( Stake 2005 , pp. 10–11). As historical context is central to case-study analysis, we examine participants’ perceptions of what facilitated their pathways into sex trafficking to begin to understand the barriers to fully exiting cycles of violence. This is followed by an analysis of emerging themes.

Angel (Participant 1):

Angel is a 36-year-old White woman from Mississippi, married with one son, with an associate’s degree. She was serving a five-month sentence for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated 22 times overall. Angel’s mother, who ran an escort service, had exposed her early to substance use and sexual economies. Her mother had a substance use disorder and had married a panderer (colloquially referred to as a “pimp”), who adored both Angel and her mother and never hurt her mother in any manner. At age 17, Angel realized she had a substance use problem and started dancing in strip clubs to support her addiction. When Angel became involved in sexual economies, her mother’s example taught her how to behave with her traffickers. To avoid being beaten and remain one of her trafficker’s “favorites,” she was required to earn at least $1,000 per day to give to her trafficker. Being a favorite also meant “telling on” the other “girls” if they were not doing what was expected of them and recruiting other women into sexual economies. Angel believed her upbringing and the intergenerational experiences of surviving in sexual economies contributed to her pathway into sex trafficking.

Dana (Participant 2):

Dana is a 35-year-old White woman from Missouri, with a seventh-grade education, married with nine children, none in her custody, and pregnant at the time of the interview. She was serving a 3½-month sentence for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated more than 56 times overall. Dana described her childhood as very abusive. At age eight she was raped by her stepfather. She was removed from her mother’s home and lived in multiple foster homes, where she was abused by her foster parents and by other children in the home. She ran away from foster homes to return to her mother, only to face a resumption of physical, sexual, and mental abuse. When Dana was 14, her mother sex-trafficked her by selling her in exchange for drugs. Dana then encountered several abusive sex traffickers. To avoid being beaten, she had to sexually service 30 to 40 men per day to earn her quota of $1,000 to $1,500. She also engaged in sex trafficking. After every attempt to leave her abusive conditions she was beaten and forced to return. Dana stated that she engaged in substance abuse to numb her pain and cope with her situation. She believed her upbringing and experiences with substance abuse had been pathways into sex trafficking.

Robin (Participant 3):

Robin is a 45-year-old American Indian woman from Texas, married with four children, with an associate’s degree. She was serving one month for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated more than 15 times overall. Robin described growing up in a dysfunctional family with a physically abusive mother. Her first memory of sexual molestation was by her mother’s boyfriend when she was in kindergarten. When Robin was 12, her mother trafficked her by having her sexually abused in exchange for rent money. Later, her mother gave her to a man in exchange for drugs. At age 28, she met a woman whom she thought was a friend, who introduced her to crack cocaine and took her to a “pimp” who pretended to promise her a job and “nice things.” After a short period of being treated well, she experienced what is understood as “cycles of violence,” in which requests quickly turn into demands and eventually into violence. After about six months of being trafficked, Robin realized that she had a substance use disorder, with no family, no money, and no place to go. She had to make her quota, usually $1,000 to $1,500 a day, or her abuser would beat her. In spite of her own experiences with abuse, eventually Robin became a trafficker. Robin believed her upbringing, experiences with substance use, abusive relationships, and an abusive mother were pathways into sex trafficking.

Missey (Participant 4):

Missey is a 32-year-old Black female from Texas, never married, with three children and an 11th-grade education. She had been incarcerated six times overall. Missey described growing up in a household that showed no love. At about age 16 she began participating in sexual economies to support herself and her nieces and nephews, who often came to her crying for food. She said, “I felt obligated to make money to feed them.” Eventually, Missey also became a sex trafficker. She believed growing up in a economically disenfranchised household and receiving no love from her mother had contributed to her pathway into sex trafficking.

Regina (Participant 5):

Regina is a 24-year-old woman from Texas who self-identified as Hispanic, never married, with no children and a tenth-grade education. She was serving four months for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated 16 times overall. She described how she grew up with a single-parent mother who did her best to raise her and her five siblings, but there was never enough money to meet the family’s obligations. When Regina was 17, a friend’s trafficker recruited her into sexual economies. She stated that at first, she believed the trafficker was kind to her. Her trafficker cared for her needs (food, clothes, a place to sleep) and gave her money she used to help her mother pay bills. She estimated servicing up to 50 men per day. She earned $1,000 to $1,500 per day, which she would give to her trafficker. Regina had tried to leave her abusive situation but, once she escaped, realized she had no job skills. Her trafficker would find her, beat her, and bring her back. She learned about Back Page, an escort service in which sex workers post an ad on the Internet and meet clients at a hotel to render “service.” This independent work was risky because if she went to jail, no one would bail her out, and consequently viewed that having a “pimp,” would take care of any legal issues that arose. Eventually, Regina began trafficking others. Regina believed that her pathway into trafficking was caused by a lack of money and education.

CJ (Participant 6):

CJ is a 53-year-old Black female from Texas, never married, with one daughter and a seventh-grade education. She was serving 1½ months for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated more than 30 times overall. CJ’s single-parent mother had owned an illegal gambling establishment. CJ began participating in sexual economies at age 19. She stated that she was not forced into it; she knew sex trafficking was illegal but believed it should be an individual’s choice as long as those involved were consenting adults. CJ said she believed that one “aged out” of sexual economies. She stated that the “johns” (a colloquial term for clients) would not pay as much for an “old head” as for a “fresh girl.” CJ believed that drugs, money, and abuse were her pathways into sex trafficking.

Jackie (Participant 7):

Jackie is a 49-year-old White woman from Arkansas, married, with no children and a master of arts degree. She was serving two months for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated ten times overall. Jackie grew up in a dysfunctional household where there was never enough money for necessities. Her mother experienced substance use disorders and worked for an escort service. At age eight Jackie was raped. She described becoming involved in sex trafficking as a means of survival. Strip clubs became her life and drugs her “best friend,” but she got tired of living in shelters and being abused. Feeling abandoned and depressed and yearning security, she met and married a man (“pimp”) she met at the strip club who pressured her into sex trafficking, where she earned $1,000 per day. Although her health was good, she had contracted several sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Jackie believed witnessing her mother’s drug struggle with addiction, choice to work as a stripper, and marrying a partner who was involved in sexual economies, led her to participate in the sex trafficking of others.

Trecia (Participant 8):

Trecia is a 51-year-old White woman from Illinois, twice divorced, with three children and an associate’s degree. Her current incarceration—three weeks for sex trafficking—was her first. Trecia grew up in a household with parents who were alcohol dependent. After leaving home she had acquired a decent, good-paying job. She owned a home, had fine cars, and owned an escort service. She began sex trafficking to support her own difficulties with substance use. She trafficked other women and contracted multiple STIs while participating in sex work. Trecia eventually lost everything she had worked for and informed the researcher that she welcomed police intervention. She believed being raised by parents with substance abuse disorders in a dysfunctional household had been her pathway into sex trafficking.

Penny (Participant 9):

Penny is a 56-year-old Black woman from Texas, never married, with two children and a ninth-grade education. She was serving four months for sex trafficking and had been incarcerated 20 times overall. Penny described growing up in an abusive household where she was raped by her father at the age of eight. She met her first trafficker at age 16 and started going to clubs, using drugs, and participating in sexual economies. She began using drugs to mentally prepare herself for “letting men use and abuse [her] body.” Although she earned thousands of dollars weekly, all of the money went to her trafficker. Once, when she was pregnant and hungry, her trafficker had beaten her for asking for food, illuminating the matrix of food insecurity that trafficked survivors experience ( Fukushima, 2020 ). She made several attempts to leave sex trafficking, but her trafficker found her, beat her, and brought her back. She contracted STIs twice because many clients refused to use a condom, putting her life at risk. Penny described trying to get arrested by drawing police attention to herself. Eventually she began trafficking others. Penny believed being raped, using illicit drugs, and depending on men for money had been pathways into sex trafficking.

Betty (Participant 10):

Betty is a 27-year-old White woman from Texas, a high school graduate, married under common law with eight children, and pregnant at the time of the interview. She had been incarcerated 11 times, including seven times for participation in sexual economies. She described being raised in a dysfunctional household; both parents had substance use disorders and were physically abusive. She lived in multiple foster homes where she was abused by the foster parents. At age 17 she was raped and left for dead on a roadside. She ran away from a foster home and met a trafficker who promised to take care of her. She had 17 to 24 “pimps,” all of whom abused her. She recalled being beaten badly for not earning her $1,500 per day quota. She was required to service 50 to 60 men per day but could not keep any of her earnings. She reported having had multiple STIs. To survive, Betty participated in the trafficking of others. Police intervention had been her “saving grace.” Betty believed her abusive upbringing contributed to her pathway into sex trafficking.

Emerging Themes.

Participants’ responses to the interview questions revealed several emerging themes about being a convicted female sex trafficker attempting reentry to mainstream society. Participants expressed concern about the need to be prepared mentally, socially, and emotionally for reintegration. They believed there was a need to restructure perceptions of formerly incarcerated people in regard to acquiring a job and living in a safe neighborhood. Participants stressed the need for more reentry programs like the one they were participating in and for similar post-release programs to provide ongoing help. Finally, most participants saw a need for law enforcement to be better trained to recognize and deal with female sex traffickers and place them in the reentry process.

Agency and choice.

Not all participants felt they had made rational decisions either to violate the law or concerning the consequences and benefits of their crimes. Only one participant stated that she was not forced into sexual economies. Most stated that “they had no choice” or were coerced into sex trafficking. One participant (Angel) was remorseful: “I started out stripping; I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong because I wasn’t hurting nobody… I felt like the police needed to go arrest those people that are committing real crime.…” Eventually, Angel stopped earning enough to survive as a stripper and endured by means of intergenerational sexual economies. Echoing comments made by several interviewees, Robin stated: “I was a child and my mother made the choice for me. She gave me to a grown-ass man to fuck me.… This is my mother’s fault, not mine.…”

Negative labeling.

All participants believed they were stigmatized or negatively labeled. Most believed that they would always be viewed as an “ex-convict,” “whore,” or “prostitute.” Dana stated: “People look down on me because of my past, but…I just want the same respect that regular people get. I don’t want to be treated like a whore. … Because some of us…were children and didn’t have no choice, like me – I was eight years [old] when I was raped. I was 13 and prostituting. It ain’t my fault and the drugs [are] so addictive you can’t just quit overnight. So, until you’ve been through the abuse that we’ve been through, they can’t talk and call me a whore, ‘cause I’m not anymore. I’m really trying (crying).” Similarly, Trecia stated: “Sometimes people will look at me funny but I just don’t care anymore.… I just say OK, they just want some type of reaction and I’m not going to give it to them. I have to focus on being a better person and finding a job, but everybody won’t hire ex-cons and I work really hard.”

Unmet physical, emotional, and social needs.

All participants expressed the need for a stable living environment to successfully reintegrate into society. All interviewees stated that they needed a “second chance” at life, revealing that they had tried multiple times to leave sex trafficking but ultimately returned to the sexual economies that they perceived as their only means of survival. In response to the question “Were there times you considered leaving the trade? What happened?” Missey stated: “Yes, every time I try I fail (crying). Sometimes I say I’m gonna stop, then I turn around and do it again … and every time my nieces and nephews would say that they are hungry and there’s no food in the house, I be the one to get up and make it happen. It was a method of survival (crying).” Trecia stated: “Oh yeah, I didn’t have any money and was still using drugs. I figured [I] was going to do like my friend who got her degree while sex trafficking, and then I was going to leave, but I was still on drugs.… Money and drugs don’t mix. I made the money but I spent it fast on drugs.”

Pathways into sex trafficking.

Participants consistently perceived that substance use disorders, physical and emotional abuse, childhood exploitation by a parent/family member, limited economic and social support resources, and lack of education facilitated their pathways into sex trafficking. Dana stated: “Abuse, drugs, prostitution, I was forced into it at 13 or 14.… ” Robin stated: “A dysfunctional and neglectful family…lack of rules…lack of food… no guidance, no love. [It] was a lot of abuse… lot of blood, lot of bruises.” Regina stated: “Money, bills, drugs… When I was younger, we didn’t have so much money…and I always wanted to be older so I could have money.… Then I got introduced to a ‘pimp’ and I seen how much money I was giving him and we got busted by the Feds.”

Although much research exists about sex trafficking by men, a limited body of research focuses exclusively on the lived experiences of female sex traffickers and addresses their perspective on their specific needs for successful reintegration ( Belenko, 2006 ; Bloom, Owen, & Covington, 2003 ; Celinska & Siegel, 2010 ; Cobbina, 2010 ; Cooper-Sadlo et al., 2018 ; Davidson & Chesney-Lind, 2009 ; Deng, 2020 ; Hipp et al., 2008 ; Heilbrun et al., 2008 ; Leverentz, 2011 ). Our study illuminates issues that female sex traffickers face that could lead to reintegration failure if their specific needs are not met. Study participants described several facilitators of their pathways into sex trafficking, including lack of education, limited financial resources, substance use disorders, physical and emotional abuse, and childhood exploitation. Key barriers to successful reintegration included limited choice; negative labeling; and unmet physical, emotional, and social needs.

Limited choice influences trafficker agency. While some of those engaged in sex trafficking may, as conceptualized by Paternoster and Pogarsky (2009) , be rational actors making calculated decisions, these interviews reveal how the conditions of the traffickers’ lives influenced their decision-making, wherein choice was limited due to their lived realities of substance use disorders, histories of abuse, and a lack of other realistic options. Rational-choice theory posits that people use available information to compare the costs and benefits of their decisions to commit a crime ( Wheaton et al. 2010 ). However, while traffickers may know they are taking a risk, these interviews reveal that many interviewees felt coerced. Therefore, this study offers an important rational-choice theory insight.

A phenomenon similar to the mass feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, which brought incest, domestic violence, and rape into public awareness, is occurring in the social sciences related to sex trafficking and social stigma. Study participants reported experiencing disapproval or discrimination because of their backgrounds. Fukushima et al. (2020) describe the multiplicity of stigmas that trafficking survivors face. The authors conceptualize that stigma comprises bias in access to care; barriers of shaming, shunning, and othering; and misidentification and mislabeling, with multiple levels of stigma furthering the deep misunderstanding of survivors and creating a culture of mistrust. Many traffickers were once trafficked themselves, suggesting a need to use theories that describe trafficking survivors to also understand traffickers. These negative labels and stigmatization can hinder reintegration of both sex traffickers and survivors, resulting in denied jobs, education, housing, and insurance ( Grittner & Walsh, 2020 ; Pogorzelski et al., 2005 ; Yea, 2020 ).

Our results strengthen the current female sex-trafficking literature by identifying negative labeling or social stigma as a barrier to successful reintegration ( Grittner & Walsh, 2020 ; Meshkovska, et al., 2015 ). However, as no longitudinal studies exploring the reintegration of female sex traffickers have been conducted to date, it is difficult to establish the degree to which negative labeling or stigma influences reintegration.

Study participants reported difficulty with reintegration due to multiple factors such as unmet basic needs, difficulty finding work, challenges reuniting with family and obtaining proper housing and vocational training, and health issues ( Davies, 2012 ; Logan et al., 2009 ). Research has shown that these issues can contribute to unsuccessful reintegration for female sex traffickers and survivors ( Dell et al. 2019 ; Meshkovska et al., 2015 ). Conversely, successful reintegration of female sex traffickers and survivors requires that basic needs (e.g., food, clothes, shelter, money) be met ( Dell et al., 2019 ).

Study participants voiced concerns about being able to reconnect with family, a major part of healing. They may face disappointment when family members shun or refuse to accept them. Female sex traffickers’ children may feel anger, resentment, and abandonment, making reconnection harder and in some cases impossible (Meshkoysa et al., 2015).

Our study is not without limitations. First, it included only convicted sex traffickers from a women’s jail in southeast Texas. Other programs were not included because at the time this study was conducted the reentry program in which the interviewees were participating was the first of its kind at a jail in that region. Second, the study included only English-speaking women. It may have been strengthened by including the perspectives of traffickers whose preferred language was other than English. Another weakness was the participants’ credibility, as the PI had no way of corroborating their stories. Because the PI was a police officer, the marginalized participants may have been less likely to trust her, although the PI built trust through “ice-breaking” visits to make small talk about the participants’ families and release dates and allowed them without judgment to use language they were comfortable with. Because participants were explicitly informed that disclosure of participation in criminalizing activities would be reported, they were less likely to discuss more-recent criminalized activities. Lastly, due to limited resources and the sensitivity of the topic, two or more observers were not present at interviews to achieve inter-rater reliability.

In summary, this qualitative intrinsic case study examined the lived experiences of convicted female sex traffickers engaged in a program aimed at reintegration into mainstream society. This study fills a literature gap by allowing convicted female sex traffickers to speak openly about their lived experiences and needs for the achievement of successful reintegration. We examined participants’ financial and social needs and pathways into sex trafficking, shedding light on this understudied field by providing information from the convicted female sex trafficker’s perspective. This evidence will be valuable to law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and counselors alike.

Supplementary Material

Acknowledgments.

This research was supported by 5 For The Fight, the V Foundation for Cancer Research, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and by the National Cancer Institute under Grant K01CA234319 of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH, University of Utah, or Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Debra A. Love, PhD , a Criminal Justice Adjunct Professor at Lone Star College–University Park, recently retired after serving for more than two decades as a detective with the Houston Police Department. Her primary research interests are female sex trafficking, specific needs for successful reintegration, coping with separation from family, and inability to obtain employment and decent housing.

Annie I. Fukushima, PhD, MA , is an Associate Professor in the Division of Ethnic Studies with the School for Cultural and Social Transformation at the University of Utah. Her research explores the interdisciplinary framing of the role of the law and the legal system, the notion of “perfect victimhood,” iconic victims, visuals, discourse, court records, and policy. She is the author of the award-winning book, Migrant Crossings: Witnessing Human Trafficking in the US (Stanford University Press, 2019).

Tiana N. Rogers, PhD, MA, MA , is Director of Sorenson Impact Center's Data, Policy, and Performance Innovation team within the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. Her research interest includes child welfare and maltreatment, welfare system improvement, public policy, social impact, and barriers to social services.

Ethan Petersen, BS, is a medical student at the University of Utah School of Medicine and graduate research scholar in the Men’s Health Inequities Research Lab in the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine. His research interests involve racial, economic, sexual, and gender disparities in access to, and quality of, healthcare.

Ellen Brooks, BS , is a Master of Public Health student at the University of Utah and graduate research scholar in the Men’s Health Inequities Research Lab in the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine. Her research interests include injustices in health, disparities in healthcare access and quality, as well as community-based participatory research.

Charles R. Rogers, PhD, MPH, MS, MCHES ® , is an Assistant Professor in the Public Health Division of the University of Utah School of Medicine, Associate Member of Huntsman Cancer Institute, Associate Member of the University of Michigan–Mixed Methods Program, and Founding Director of the Men’s Health Inequities Research Lab. His research interests include cancer and men’s health disparities, behavioral and community-based implementation science, mixed methods, and survey methodology.

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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2020 Federal Human Trafficking Report

by Kyleigh Feehs | Jun 8, 2021

The 2020 Federal Human Trafficking Report is an annual publication of the Human Trafficking Institute that provides comprehensive data from every federal criminal and civil human trafficking case that United States courts handle each year. For the first time, the 2020 Report compiles data from every federal human trafficking prosecution since 2000, the year the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act was passed into law.

A team of seven attorneys and eight law school students reviewed every human trafficking case in the federal court system in 2020. Court documents, press releases, and news sources were reviewed, and prosecutors across the country were consulted, to gather a comprehensive set of data that includes: type of trafficking case, profile of the trafficker, details about the trafficking scheme, demographics of the victim, and district where the case took place, among others.

The 2020 Federal Human Trafficking Report’s findings are not a prevalence estimate of trafficking in the United States, but instead serve as an objective summary of how the federal system holds traffickers accountable for their exploitative conduct. The Report does not capture data from state prosecutions, state civil suits, or human trafficking cases that are not prosecuted.

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Human Trafficking Online: Cases and Patterns

In order to better understand patterns related to human trafficking online, this section offers a review of a set of U.S. federal cases involving human trafficking via online channels, beginning with an overview of some of the applicable domestic laws related to trafficking. The following is only a sampling of U.S laws relevant to this complex issue.

Relevant Trafficking Laws

At the federal level, numerous domestic laws might be applied to human trafficking cases. Sex trafficking was criminalized by 18 U.S.C. §1591, which makes it illegal to recruit, entice, provide, harbor, maintain, or transport a person or to benefit from involvement in causing the person to engage in a commercial sex act, knowing that force, fraud, or coercion was used or that the person was under the age of 18. Sex traffickers also may face charges under other federal statutes applicable to sex trafficking, such as 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a), prohibiting transportation of a minor with intent that the individual engage in criminal sexual activity. On the labor trafficking side, 18 U.S.C. §§1589-1590 make it illegal to knowingly provide or obtain the labor of a person by certain means, such as force or threats of force, or to traffic a person for labor or services by means of force, coercion, or fraud for the purpose of subjecting the person to slavery, involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or peonage.

Federal laws addressing human trafficking apply across the country; state laws addressing trafficking also exist, but vary in terms of definitions, penalties, and enforcement priorities. While most states have recognized and criminalized sex trafficking, 1 many have only recently done so, and with significant variations in penalties imposed on perpetrators. According to the State Department’s 2011 TIP Report , “While state prosecutions continue to increase, one study found that less than 10% of state and local law enforcement agencies surveyed had protocols or policies on human trafficking.” 2

The above laws address the criminalization of a trafficker’s conduct, but a trafficked victim can potentially face criminal charges, depending on whether the applicable law offers the victim protection. For example, under federal law, a 16-year-old engaged in commercial sex acts is a trafficking victim, regardless of whether the minor appears to have participated willingly in said acts, because the law presumes that an underage victim cannot provide legal consent. However, the protections available to trafficking victims vary between states, and minor victims of sex trafficking can face prostitution charges in some state courts. 3

In April 2010, New York became the first state to pass legislation addressing this issue, with the Safe Harbor for Exploited Children Act. 4 The act prohibits the prosecution of minors for prostitution. Several states would subsequently pass similar legislation. 5

Evidence From Federal Cases

Fiscal year 2010 saw the greatest number of U.S. federal human trafficking prosecutions initiated in a single year. According to the 2011 TIP Report , “Collectively federal law enforcement charged 181 individuals, and obtained 141 convictions in 103 human trafficking prosecutions (32 labor trafficking and 71 sex trafficking).” 6 The average prison sentence was 11.8 years, with prison terms ranging from 3 months to 54 years. 7 The Internet and online tools played roles in a number of these cases.

A scan of recent legal cases involving human trafficking and online technologies provides insights regarding details about the uses of technology by traffickers. 8 The primary sources for details of trafficking investigations were press releases from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. A search of press releases from these organizations using a combination of terms including “sex trafficking,” “forced labor,” “labor trafficking,” “human trafficking,” “minor,” “prostitution,” “online,” “advertisement,” and “Internet” produced a set of cases that were manually reviewed for relevance, with results limited to cases involving either a guilty plea or a conviction. The search did not produce any cases involving labor trafficking and online technologies; all of the results reviewed were related to sex trafficking. The following is based on a self-selected sample of 27 federal trafficking cases since 2009 involving the use of social networking sites or online classified advertisements to facilitate trafficking. A search of legal databases, using keywords including “sex trafficking,” “labor trafficking,” “human trafficking,” “minor,” “website,” “online,” and “Internet”—as well as searches for convictions under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1590-1591 9 —produced examples illustrating the use of the Internet to facilitate trafficking.

The cases collected do not indicate the totality of trafficking cases involving social networking sites and online classifieds but rather serve to demonstrate some of the ways in which technology is used to facilitate trafficking and the patterns that begin to emerge across cases.

Labor Trafficking and Technology

In the course of this study, researchers did not discover evidence of traffickers utilizing the Internet to facilitate labor trafficking, perhaps due to the circumstances typically surrounding this form of trafficking. Research suggests that victims often are recruited from impoverished regions and typically learn about opportunities via word of mouth. Once recruited, workers may be isolated, without access to technology. “Most of the victims we’re seeing are from underdeveloped countries,” said Anna Park, regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Los Angeles District Office. “In the cases we’ve had,” she noted, the use of technology “is very unlikely.” 10

Employment discrimination laws have become instrumental in the fight against labor trafficking. 11 Park was involved in a case brought by the Los Angeles District Office of the EEOC against Trans Bay Steel, 12 in which the EEOC filed a class national-origin discrimination action on behalf of a group of Thai welders who were trafficked and forced into labor. Initially recruited by an agency to work as high-skilled welders and provided with legitimate visas, the workers were subsequently “held against their will, had their passports confiscated, had their movements restricted, and were forced to work without pay all in violation of Title VII. Additionally, some workers were confined to cramped apartments without any electricity, water, or gas.” 13

What we have seen are temporary contracting agencies bringing in workers through legitimate means under the auspices of luring people with the promise of work so that they can lead a better life. However, the victims are charged exorbitant fees that the workers can never pay because, oftentimes, they are never paid for their work. This fee is used to subjugate and exploit the workers, forcing them to tolerate and endure intolerable situations. 14

According to Park, most of the targeted communities are agrarian, and people typically learn about job opportunities from neighbors and members of their communities. Newspapers in languages targeting a monolithic group (e.g., Thai newspapers) also may advertise positions that turn out to be labor trafficking, particularly in light of the fact that many of the employment agencies involved in trafficking are otherwise legitimate and likely advertise. In the event that these community newspapers move online, there may be an opportunity to evaluate how online classifieds may be used for labor trafficking.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta offered a similar assessment of technology in the context of labor trafficking, noting that labor traffickers do not use much technology and that such uses tend to be limited to pay-as-you-go cellphones. 15 However, as rural communities gain access to the Internet, there will be a need to study the benefits of online technologies as well as their potential use as tools of manipulation, depicting a false reality designed to lure persons away from their homes and into forced labor. 16

The lack of examples of online communication with respect to labor trafficking might also stem from the nature of the messages communicated by traffickers—namely employment opportunities and promises of fair wages. Unlike sex traffickers, who advertise using language that signals the nature of the available services (e.g., using terms such as “young”), labor traffickers rely on deceit, making compelling false promises. The challenge is to decipher which job advertisements will result in labor trafficking once the laborer responds to the advertisement and arrives for work. Unless the recruiters, employers, or other details of their advertisements have already been identified for trafficking abuses, it is immensely difficult to design studies wherein observing online communications alone will reveal disingenuous intentions. The unique features of the labor trafficking system make it particularly challenging to track through Internet tools and technologies at this time.

Sex Trafficking and Technology

Although easier to track than labor trafficking, determining instances of sex trafficking online poses its own complications. In particular, distinctions between advertisements of trafficking victims as opposed to sex workers who do not fall within the legal definitions of trafficking can be limited and blurred. Focusing on some of the most vulnerable victims of trafficking, this report directs its research and technological solutions toward detecting minors advertised for commercial sexual services. Under the TVPA, all minors engaged in commercial sex acts are treated as victims of trafficking. 17 Although advertisements frequently misrepresent the age of victims, certain keywords meant to serve as signals for the purchasers who drive the demand for sex with minors make detection a possibility. Although the signals and terms change frequently, the nature of advertising a minor’s sexual services to purchasers with particular age and characteristic preferences makes it possible to detect common themes across online classified ads.

Focusing on the set of cases in which the Internet is used by sex traffickers, certain patterns begin to emerge: (1) Online classified sites are used to post advertisements of victims, (2) social networking sites are used in the recruitment of victims, (3) investigations may begin with a picture of what appears to be an underage girl in an online classified ad, and (4) a number of victims have been identified as runaways.

The Internet was used to advertise the sexual services of victims in all of the cases reviewed. For example, Byron Thompson, who pled guilty to sex trafficking in Maryland in July 2009, created Craigslist and Backpage postings advertising the sexual services of his victims, who were featured in photographs in the ads. 18 In January 2011, Clint Wilson pled guilty to sex trafficking in a Texas federal court. Wilson posted ads on Backpage, offering commercial sex services by his minor victim, who was featured in the ads. 19 A Florida federal jury found Tyrone Townsend guilty of sex trafficking in February 2011. Among the evidence collected by investigators were 28 Internet ads and a Garmin GPS seized from Townsend’s vehicle. Using the GPS, investigators were able to establish locations of several customers in the Jacksonville area. 20

In a case filed in the Southern District of New York, United States v. Daniel Marino, et al., 14 members and associates of the Gambino organized crime family pled guilty to various federal charges, including sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor. 21 Several of the defendants operated a prostitution business, through which they exploited young women and girls for commercial sex. The business was advertised on Craigslist and other websites. 22

While Craigslist was the most frequently referenced website in the cases reviewed, the “Adult Services” section of the site has since closed. “The source now is Backpage,” noted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, “aside from underground and quasi-underground chat rooms.” 23

Describing the challenges of reviewing online classified ads in search of trafficking activity, the office added: “It’s not easy to quantify or to identify someone who is using code words. You would have to weed through, in theory, a hundred ads before you get the one.” 24 The task of manually sorting through myriad advertisements is a strain on often-limited law-enforcement resources. Without some technological solutions to narrow the pool of potential advertisements, the task of manually reviewing these ads exceeds the limits of what investigators can reasonably expect to achieve.

Beyond advertising sexual services, traffickers also use the Internet to interact with potential victims. In four of the cases reviewed, traffickers used social media as a recruiting tool. In June 2010, Dwayne Lawson was sentenced to 210 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking of children. The investigation began when Los Angeles police arrested a teenage girl for prostitution. Investigators learned that the girl was a runaway working for Lawson, who initially “contacted the girl in the fall of 2008 on Myspace.com and, after promising to make her a ‘star,’ gave her a bus ticket from Florida to Las Vegas, Nevada.” 25

A common starting point for investigators is the appearance of the victim in photos used by sex traffickers to advertise. According to public records, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta said, agents frequently review pictures in online classified ads, noting when a girl seems younger than her advertised age. Agents may then undertake investigations based on a picture that appears to feature an underage girl.

In August 2010, Lawrence Pruitt and Marvin Harris were sentenced to 10 years and four years, respectively, in federal prison for sex trafficking of a minor. Agents investigating the possible prostitution of underage girls arrested the pair at an Atlanta-area hotel, where investigators found the victim, a 17-year-old “whose photographs the agents had previously seen on an Internet website advertising erotic services. The FBI believed that the victim, whose advertisement listed her age as 19, was a juvenile.” 26

The investigation of Thelonious Reed, sentenced in June 2009 on charges related to sex trafficking, began when an agent discovered an ad for a young woman in the Erotic Services section of Craigslist. The ad, in which a young woman appeared topless, described the woman as 19 years old. Believing her to be younger, the agent set up a meeting posing as a client. Upon arrival, the 18-year-old victim revealed that she was trafficked for sex by Reed, who lured her by describing himself as a modeling agent. 27

However, investigating based upon a photo is not without complications, as in some cases a fake or doctored image may be used to advertise the victim’s services. “That makes it even harder to peel back the layers and get to the trafficked female,” noted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta. 28

In several of the cases reviewed, investigators discovered the victims were runaways. 29 This finding corresponds to the 2011 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report, “U.S. citizen child victims [of sex trafficking] are often runaways, troubled, and homeless youth.” 30 In May 2010, Ezekiel Alon Hampton of Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for counts involving sex trafficking. The investigation began when the police department contacted a young runaway about a reported assault and discovered that the 14-year-old girl was being trafficked, along with several other young women. The girl, who had recently left Hampton, explained that he made the girls advertise their sexual services on Craigslist. All of the victims turned out to be runaways, and Hampton provided them with housing, food, and drugs. 31

In October 2010, Sterling Terrance Hospedales, a former Army sergeant, was sentenced to 11 years for sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking of a child. The investigation began in Lakewood, Washington, when local police received reports of a young runaway posting ads selling sexual services on Craigslist. Investigators located and interviewed the juvenile, who led them to Hospedales. Investigators also discovered another juvenile victimized by Hospedales. The second juvenile had met him on Myspace. Hospedales paid for her plane ticket and, within a week, posted photos of her on Craigslist advertising sexual services. In a memo, prosecutors emphasized that Hospedales had targeted susceptible juveniles, “Hospedales intentionally sought out emotionally damaged, vulnerable victims—runaways who had no support system whatsoever and no idea of how to be in a normal, functioning relationship.” 32

The Human Trafficking Rescue Project conducted a sting operation in March 2009 targeting individuals attempting to engage in sex with prostituted children. 33 Ads were posted on Craigslist describing children available for sex; however, no children were actually involved in the operation. Richard Oflyng, a Kansas truck driver who responded to an ad describing “little girls,” was arrested after making an appointment to have sex with an 11-year-old girl. Oflyng pled guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for attempted sex trafficking. 34

“This sentence serves as a warning,” said Gilbert Trill, assistant special agent, ICE Office of Investigations, Kansas City. “Some child predators mistakenly believe the anonymity of cyberspace shields them from scrutiny. In fact, their use of the Internet gives us new tools in our efforts to investigate this insidious behavior.” 35

At the prosecution stage, a broad reading of the interstate commerce element of §1591(a)(1) 36 allows prosecutors to bring a potentially wider range of sex trafficking cases involving online activity under federal trafficking laws, as illustrated in the recent Eleventh Circuit decision in United States v. Timothy Myers . The defendants, who were charged with trafficking two girls under the age of 18 for sex, placed advertisements featuring their victims on Craigslist and Backpage. Testimony from Craigslist’s customer service manager revealed that “the data for its websites was stored on servers in Arizona and California and that Craigslist payments end up in the company accounts in California, where the company is based.” 37

The court concluded that the interstate commerce element of the statute was satisfied, by virtue of the movement of monies through accounts and information through servers in various states. 38 With many social networking and online classified sites maintaining servers in multiple states, decisions such as United States v. Myers could allow a greater number of prosecutors to bring sex trafficking cases involving online activity in federal courts, allowing victims to benefit from the protections offered under the TVPA.

Case Study: Craigslist Under Fire

Due in part to increasing reports citing Craigslist’s role in trafficking and sexual exploitation, in September 2010, the website shut down its Adult Services section in all U.S. cities. By December, the company closed the Adult Services sections of the website worldwide.

Since 2007, Craigslist has been criticized for its role in facilitating prostitution and sexual exploitation via its Adult Services (formerly Erotic Services) sections. 39 In November 2008, Craigslist began charging users of its U.S. sites a $5 credit card fee for adult ads, requiring a phone number to verify the identity of the user and to help police better track the postings to the actual users. 40 In May 2009, the company renamed its Erotic Services section Adult Services. 41 The change in policy included a fee increase to $10 and the hiring of attorneys to manually filter ads. 42 Craigslist reported that it would continue cooperating with law enforcement to crack down on ads selling sex. 43

But a number of politicians, advocates, and law-enforcement officials were not persuaded. “I believe Craigslist acted irresponsibly when it unilaterally decided to keep the profits from [sex ad] posts,” said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. 44 Yet when Craigslist attempted to donate monies to a nonprofit group, the Advocates for Human Rights, the unsolicited contribution was rejected. 45 Along with 17 other state attorneys general, Blumenthal in 2010 sent a letter to Craigslist demanding the removal of the Adult Services section. 46

In March 2009, Illinois Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, filed a suit in the Northern District of Illinois against Craigslist, alleging, “Missing children, runaways, abused women and women trafficked in from foreign countries are routinely forced to have sex with strangers because they’re being pimped on Craigslist.” 47 Craigslist asserted that §230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 protected it from liability for the distribution of third-party content. The court agreed that §230(c)(1) applied and granted Craigslist’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. 48

As the campaign against Craigslist continued to gain momentum, a research study commissioned by the Women’s Funding Network, conducted by the Schapiro Group, reported numbers related to the trafficking of minors via online classified ads. The report was cited in congressional hearings, despite the fact that aspects of the methodology were not rigorous.

On September 15, 2010, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security conducted a hearing on domestic minor sex trafficking and specifically H.R. 5575, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010. 49 The subcommittee expressed particular concern that advertisements for sex trafficking appeared online on Internet sites such as Craigslist. 50

U.S. Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) stated, “The activity taking place on myredbook.com, eros.com and Backpage is equally as horrific…These sites are facilitating crimes.” 51

During the hearing, William Powell, director of customer service and law enforcement relations for Craigslist, highlighted the company’s steps to address concerns that a subset of ads represented suspected cases of trafficking. “I have personally been told many times by law-enforcement agents that Craigslist is by far the most responsive Internet company that they deal with,” Powell said. 52 He continued:

We participate actively in the cyber tip line program administered by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and ads that meet NCMEC’s reporting guidelines are reported immediately. Moreover, we have been advised by NCMEC that we are the only such participant making direct reports among countless other venues that carry adult service ads. We have assisted sweeps, anti trafficking sweeps by the FBI and have been credited by agents with helping make those sweeps successful. We have engineered special tools to facilitate the work of NCMEC and law enforcement. These include creation of multiple special search interfaces that facilitate the search for missing children across all Craigslist sites. 53

In his testimony, Powell announced that Craigslist had permanently closed its Adult Services section in the United States, with no plans to reopen the section. 54 By December 2010, Craigslist closed all Adult Services sections worldwide.

The Craigslist case is striking because of (1) the lack of credible empirical research and aggregate data on trafficking and online technologies informing the debate, (2) the lack of more cooperative cross-sector partnerships and coordination, and (3) a missed opportunity to explore more creative solutions to the problem of trafficking online.

• At the end of the reporting period, only three states had yet to enact anti-trafficking laws: West Virginia, Wyoming, and Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, anti-trafficking legislation had passed but had yet to be signed into law. ^
• U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report , June 2011, 373. ^
• Carrie Baker, “Jailing Girls for Men’s Crimes,” Ms. Magazine, December 8, 2010, http://www.msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/08/jailing-girls-for-mens-crimes/ . One such example is the case of 13-year-old B.W., who was arrested in Texas for offering to perform an illegal sex act on an undercover officer, booked as an adult, and convicted, despite a state law that persons under 14 cannot consent to sex. The Texas Supreme Court reversed the decision on appeal, noting, “Children are the victims, not the perpetrators, of child prostitution.” In the Matter of B.W ., 313 S.W.3d 818, 826 (Tex. 2010). ^
• Safe Harbor for Exploited Children N.Y. SOC. SERV. LAW § 447-a (McKinney 2008) ^
• For example, see An Act Providing a Safe Harbor for Exploited Children CONN. PUB. ACT 10-115. ^
• “These numbers do not reflect prosecutions of cases involving the commercial sexual exploitation of children that were brought under statutes other than the TVPA’s sex trafficking provision.… Traffickers were also prosecuted under a myriad of state laws, but no comprehensive data is available on state prosecutions and convictions.” U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report , June 2011, 373. ^
• Several sources were used to gather evidence of trafficking cases involving social media and online classified ads. Searches were limited to federal trafficking cases, as researching state cases of trafficking poses a particular challenge, namely accounting for the range of criminal charges that could apply to trafficking cases, which vary by state. ^
• Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, 18 U.S.C. § 1590 (October 28, 2000), addresses “trafficking with respect to peonage, slavery, involuntary servitude, or forced labor,” and 18 U.S.C. § 1591 addresses “sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion.” ^
• Anna Park, regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, telephone interview by CCLP research staff, March 7, 2011. ^
• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), “Employment Discrimination Laws ‘New Frontier’ in War Against Human Labor,” press release, January 19, 2011, http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-19-11.cfm . ^
• EEOC, “EEOC Resolves Slavery and Human Trafficking Suit Against Trans Bay Steel for an Estimated $1 Million,” press release, December 8, 2006, http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/archive/12-8-06.html . EEOC v. Trans Bay was resolved in December 2006, with the parties reaching a settlement providing compensation and monetary relief to the Thai workers. ^
• EEOC Meeting, Human Trafficking and Forced Labor , January 19, 2011, http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/meetings/1-19-11/park.cfm (written testimony of Anna Park, EEOC regional attorney). ^
• U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, telephone interview by CCLP research staff, March 14, 2011. ^
• As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted upon the release of the 2011 TIP Report , “Because of the ease of transportation and the global communications that can reach deep into villages with promises and pictures of what a better life might be, we now see that more human beings are exploited than before.” Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Remarks on the Release of the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report ,” June 27, 2011, U.S. Department of State, http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/06/167156.htm . ^
• Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, 22 U.S.C. § 7102 (October 28, 2000). ^
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Maryland man pleads guilty in sex trafficking conspiracy involving 3 minor girls,” news release, July 16, 2009, http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/0907/090716baltimore.htm . ^
• U.S. Department of Justice, United States Attorney James T. Jacks, North District of Texas, “Dallas Felon Admits to Sex Trafficking a Minor and Possessing an Assault Rifle,” press release, January 18, 2011, http://www.justice.gov/usao/txn/PressRel11/wilson_clint_ple_pr.html . ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jacksonville Division, “Jury Finds New York Man Guilty of Sex Trafficking Women by Force, Threats of Force, and Fraud,” press release, February 17, 2011, http://www.fbi.gov/jacksonville/press-releases/2011/ja021711.htm . For another example, see U.S. v. Fuertes , 2011 WL 607391 (11 th Cir., Feb. 22, 2011) at *3, in which the defendant advertised the sexual services of his underage victim on Backpage. ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, “Last of 14 Gambino Crime Family Members and Associates Plead Guilty to Racketeering, Murder Conspiracy, Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes,” press release, January 10, 2011, http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/last-of-14-gambino-crime-family-members-and-associates-plead-guilty-to-racketeering-murder-conspiracy-extortion-sex-trafficking-and-other-crimes/ . ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, “Nine Gambino Crime Family Members Sentenced in Manhattan Federal Court for Racketeering, Murder Conspiracy, Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes,” press release, May 12, 2011, http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/nine-gambino-crime-family-members-sentenced-in-manhattan-federal-court-for-racketeering-murder-conspiracy-extortion-sex-trafficking-and-other-crimes . Preet Bahara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, “said the sex trafficking reflected perhaps ‘a new low for the Gambino family.’” Benjamin Weiser, “Charges Called ‘New Low’ for Gambinos,” New York Times , April 20, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/nyregion/21extort.html . ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles Division, “Man Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced to 17½ Years in Federal Prison for Sex Trafficking of Minors,” press release, June 10, 2010, http://www.fbi.gov/losangeles/press-releases/2010/la061010.htm . ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Atlanta Division, “Pair Indicted, Appear in Court for Sex Trafficking of a Minor,” press release, April 16, 2009, http://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-releases/2009/at041609.htm . For details of sentencing, see Kimathi Lewis, “Arrests made in child sex crimes as agencies join forces,” Examiner.com, August 6, 2010, http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-atlanta/arrests-made-child-sex-crimes-as-agencies-join-forces . ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Atlanta Division, “Pimp Who Claimed to Be a Modeling Agent Sentenced to Prison,” press release, June 4, 2009, http://www.fbi.gov/atlanta/press-releases/2009/atl060409.htm . ^
• Retired LAPD Detective Keith Haight described Los Angeles as “the runaway capital of the world.” “Starting out young in the world’s oldest profession: children prostitutes in L.A.,” Pat Morrison, Southern California Public Radio , October 21, 2010, http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2010/10/21/starting-out-young-in-the-worlds-oldest-profession/ . ^
• U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report , June 2011, 372. ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Seattle, “Tacoma Felon Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Offenses,” Department of Justice press release, May 11, 2010, http://www.fbi.gov/seattle/press-releases/2010/se051110.htm . ^
• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Seattle, “Army Sergeant Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking Juveniles,” Department of Justice press release, October 26, 2010, http://seattle.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/se102610a.htmDomestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Hearings on H.R. 5575, Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, 111 th Cong. 154 (2010). ^
• “Human Rescue Trafficking Project,” U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, last accessed June 27, 2011, http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/programs/humantrafficking.html . The Human Trafficking Rescue Project (HTRP) was launched in 2006. This federal taskforce is comprised of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Labor, and two local Missouri police departments. ^
• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “Kansas man gets 15 years in prison for attempted sex trafficking of a child,” news release, December 1, 2009, https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/0912/ 091201kansascity.htm. ^
• “The Human Trafficking Rescue Project conducted a sting operation [in March 2009] which targeted local customers who solicit pimps to engage in commercial sex acts with children. The ‘children’ were advertised online at Craig’s List [sic]; no real children were actually involved in the sting.” Ibid . ^
• Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1) (October 28, 2000), reads “(a) Whoever knowingly—(1) in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce , or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, recruits, entices, harbors, transports, provides, obtains, or maintains by any means a person” (emphasis added). ^
• United States v. Myers , 2011 WL 2391306 (11 th Cir., June 15, 2011), at *6. ^
• Ibid . at *8. ^
• While Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster made it clear that “[w]e do not want illegal activity on the site,” he explained that it was nearly impossible for its small staff to audit the millions of postings. Bruce Lambert, “As Prostitutes Turn to Craigslist, Law Takes Notice,” New York Times , September 5, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/nyregion/05craigslist.html?_r=1 . Craigslist also maintained that it was exempt from any legal obligation to address the advertisements under its site, citing §230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which states, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Communications Decency Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. §230 (1998). ^
• As Elizabeth McDougall, counsel to Craigslist on online safety, security, and abuse issues, noted, “[I]n terms of voluntary action by craigslist, when craigslist implemented these measures, credit card verification and phone verification, a lot of that started to migrate over to the therapeutic services category on craigslist, and voluntarily craigslist implemented these same measures there.” Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Hearings on H.R. 5575, Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security , 111 th Cong. 175 (2010) (testimony of Elizabeth McDougall). ^
• Brad Stone, “Under Pressure, Craigslist to Remove ‘Erotic’ Ads,” New York Times , May 13, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/technology/companies/14craigslist.html . ^
• Evan Hansen, “Censored! Craigslist Adult Services Blocked in U.S.,” Wired.com , September 4, 2010, https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/censored-craigslist-adult-services-blocked-in-u-s/ . ^
• Melissa Gira Grant, “The Craigslist Sex Panic,” Slate, May 27, 2009, http://www.slate.com/id/2219167/ ; Alan Duke, “Official: Craigslist to replace ‘blatant Internet brothel’,” CNN , May 13, 2009, http://articles.cnn.com/2009-05-13/tech/craigslist.sex.ads_1_blatant-internet-brothel-craigslist-ceo-jim-buckmaster-blumenthal?_s=PM:TECH . “Misuse of Craigslist for criminal purposes is utterly unacceptable, and Craigslist will continue to work with its partners in law enforcement and at nongovernmental organizations until it is eliminated,” said Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster. Brad Stone, “Sex Ads Seen Adding Revenue to Craigslist,” New York Times , April 25, 2010,  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26craigslist.html?pagewanted=1 . ^
• Brad Stone, “Sex Ads Seen Adding Revenue to Craigslist,” New York Times, April 25, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26craigslist.html?pagewanted=1 . ^
• The Advocates for Human Rights, “Human Rights Organization Declines Craigslist Grant,” press release, May 4, 2010, http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/human_rights_organization_declines_craigslist_grant.html . ^
• Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of Connecticut, et al., letter to Jim Buckmaster, CEO and Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist, RE: Adult Services Section of Craigslist, August 24, 2010, http://www.oag.state.va.us/Media%20and%20News%20Releases/News_Releases/Cuccinelli/Craigslist%20Sign%20On%20-%20FINAL.pdf . In an example of action pertaining to Backpage, a group of 45 state attorneys general sent a letter to Samuel Fifer, counsel for Backpage.com, “concerning the company’s facilitation of sexual exploitation of children, and prostitution.” The letter included a request for more information about the company’s policies and practices. George Jepson, Attorney General of Connecticut, et. al, letter to Samuel Fifer, counsel, Backpage.com, August 31, 2011, http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/239593/backpage-letter.pdf . ^
• The Associated Press, “Illinois Sheriff Sues Craigslist,” New York Times , March 5, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/us/06brfs-SHERIFFSUESC_BRF.html . ^
• Dart v. Craigslist, Inc. , 665 F. Supp. 2d 961 (N.D. Ill. 2009); Editorial, “A Win for Internet Speech,” The New York Times , October 26, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/opinion/27tue3.html?_r=2&th. In a more recent case brought against an online classified site for its alleged role in trafficking online, a 15-year-old sex trafficking victim sued Village Voice Media, claiming that §230 of the Communications Decency Act does not apply. Complaint for Damages, M.A. v. Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC. , Case 4:10-cv-01740 (E. Dist. Mo. Sept. 16, 2010).On August 15, 2011, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Mummert dismissed the case, stating, “Plaintiff artfully and eloquently attempts to phrase her allegations to avoid the reach of §230. Those allegations, however, do not distinguish the complained-of actions of Backpage from any other website that posted content that led to an innocent person’s injury. Congress has declared such websites to be immune from suits arising from such injuries. It is for Congress to change the policy that gave rise to such immunity.” M.A v. Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC., No. 4:2010cv01740, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90588 (E. Dist. Mo. August 15, 2011), at *48-49. ^
• Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Hearings on H.R. 5575, Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security , 111 th Cong. (2010). On the eve of the hearing, 100 anti-trafficking organizations and experts sent a letter to Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, and Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist, calling for the closure of the Adult Services sections of the site worldwide. Mark Logan, executive director, Polaris Project, letter to Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster, “Craigslist Must Complete the Job,” September 14, 2011, http://www.polarisproject.org/media-center/press-releases/307-craigslist-must-complete-the-job-september-14-2010 . ^
• That same month, Craigslist removed the adult sections in U.S. cities due to pressure by federal lawmakers, anti-trafficking groups, and the media. The section was first blocked on September 3, 2010 and replaced with a black label with the word “censored,” which was later removed. CNN Wire Staff, “Adult services censored on Craigslist,” CNN, September 4, 2010, http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-04/justice/craigslist.censored_1_prostitution-ads-craigslist-ceo-jim-buckmaster-founder-craig-newmark?_s=PM:CRIME . ^
• Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Hearings on H.R. 5575, Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security , 111 th Cong. 10 (2010) (statement of Rep. Jackie Speier). ^
• Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Hearings on H.R. 5575, Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security , 111 th Cong. 169 (2010) (testimony of William Clinton Powell). ^
• Powell also stated, “Those who formerly posted ads in the adult services category will now have to advertise elsewhere, and in fact, there is evidence that this process began immediately.” Ibid . ^

• Original Article
• Open access
• Published: 29 October 2020

Public perception of human trafficking: a case study of Moldova

• Ludmila Bogdan   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4151-3411 1  

Comparative Migration Studies volume  8 , Article number:  42 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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For two decades, counter-trafficking organizations have been operating under the assumption that rural populations are less informed about human trafficking. Based on a public survey of 300 people in Moldova, I found that anti-trafficking organizations operating in Moldova have flawed assumptions about the public knowledge. Findings show that rural people are, in fact, more knowledgeable about human trafficking than other surveyed groups. In-depth interviews revealed that these people are more informed than others because (1) anti-trafficking organizations mainly have targeted them, (2) they are more likely to know families who have lost members to the traffickers, (3) they tend to think of themselves more likely to be trafficked because they share the same characteristics with the trafficked victims. These findings suggest that counter-trafficking organizations have to revise their anti-trafficking efforts and re-conceptualize the targeted population for their work to be more efficient in tackling this problem.

Introduction

The United Nations agencies argue that the most significant challenges in tackling human trafficking are targeting criminals, protecting victims, and educating the public about trafficking risks (UNFPA 2011 ; UNODC 2014 ; UNODC 2008 ). Worldwide, international organizations and national governments have enhanced their efforts to combat factors and drivers of human trafficking by raising public awareness on this issue to women and rural people in particular (IOM 2013 ; OSCE 2018 ). The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in cooperation with local governments, United Nations agencies, the European Commission, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have conceptualized, produced, and implemented anti-trafficking measures in Europe. After that, I will use only ‘anti-trafficking organizations,’ ‘counter-trafficking organizations,’ or ‘organizations’ to avoid repeating the list of the entities mentioned above involved in counter-trafficking work in Europe.

Anti-trafficking organizations operate under the assumption that poorly educated, rural residents and people from economically deprived backgrounds lack both resources and capabilities necessary to educate themselves about human trafficking (Arap 2017 ; COE 2012 ; GRETA 2016 ; Ghimpu et al. 2011 ; IOM 2013 ; OSCE 2018 ; Radeva 2013 ; Rusu 2013 ; UN 2015 ; UNFPA 2011 ). Since 2000, IOM has sustained that “the population that lives below or near the poverty line, [with] low level of education, as well as [fewer] job prospects within the country or the local communities” (IOM 2018 , p. 3) continue to be vulnerable to trafficking.

In this paper, I test if these organizational assumptions about public knowledge coincide with the actual public knowledge on this problem. First, I had consulted secondary published reports from 2000 until 2014 to investigate organizational assumptions about public knowledge. Then, I conducted a public survey and measured how informed the public is about different aspects of this problem. Later, I compared if the organizational assumptions coincide with the reality reflected in my survey. This observation is essential because this is one indicator of whether organizations base their anti-trafficking prevention policies on accurate and updated information.

The paper is structured in the following way: the first section provides general information about human trafficking. The second section presents background information on Moldova and the main reasons why it is used as a case study. The following part lays out the main arguments of this paper and the hypotheses that are tested. Section four details the data and methodology used to test the proposed hypotheses. In section five, I discuss the main results. Findings show that rural people are more knowledgeable about human trafficking because (1) anti-trafficking organizations mainly have targeted them, (2) they are more likely to know families who have lost members to the traffickers, (3) they tend to think that people are more likely to be trafficked, and (4) they share the same characteristics with the trafficked victims. The last two sections elaborate on broader explanations of the main findings and provide recommendations to policymakers.

A case study of Moldova

Moldova is a small country between Romania and Ukraine that gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Shortly after, the transition from a communist system to a free market-economy caused an economic crisis, which consequently led to high rates of poverty and unemployment. The country went from one of the most flourishing countries in the Soviet Union to the poorest country in Europe (World Bank 2019). After 1991, the slow development in the agricultural sector worsened the quality and access to health and education in rural areas. Since the Moldovan economy depended on agricultural exports to the Soviet republics, the dissolution of the union brought down the food prices in the weak economy (Clark and McArthur 2014 ). The negative impact in the agricultural sector affected almost half of the Moldovan population that was employed in that sector.

Poverty in Moldova has been characterized by low wages, unemployment, and limited political participation among citizens. While poverty has affected the entire population of Moldova, it affected more severely vulnerable populations such as those residing in rural areas, those without jobs, and educational training (Nanu 2010 ). Several faulty economic, political, and social factors – such as economic deterioration, increased violence, discrimination, and political instability – led Moldova to become a significant source for trafficking in human beings (UNDP 2006 ). Transnistrian conflict only fuels the problem of human trafficking. In 1990, the “Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic” (Transnistria) self-proclaimed independent from Moldova with its capital located in Tiraspol. In 1992, the political tensions escalated into a civil war and eventually evolved into a frozen conflict. The conflict remains unresolved until this day.

Although in the 1990s, Eastern Europe has surfaced as a substantial source of victims of human trafficking (Kartusch 2001 ), Moldova has been considered to have the highest rates of trafficking victims (IOM 2019 ). A study compared the most severely affected countries by this problem in Eastern Europe, including Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, and found that Moldova has had by far the highest prevalence of human trafficking among the studied countries (Mahmoud and Trebesch 2010 ).

Counter-trafficking organizations operating in Moldova have been actively engaged in drafting and implementing prevention campaigns targeting women, poorer, and rural people in Moldova (Arap 2017 ; Botchkovar et al. 2016 ; COE 2012 ; GRETA 2016 ; GRETA 2012 ; IOM 2013 ; Motriuc 2012 ; Radeva 2013 ; UN 2015 ). They have been raising awareness about this problem to the general public by conducting educational programs for youth, training a wide range of professionals such as social assistants, police, and local administrative officials, and holding national and international conferences (Arap 2017 ; COE 2012 ; GRETA 2016 ; IOM 2018 ; LaStrada 2017 ; OSCE-Moldova 2016 ; Rusu 2013 ).

Moldovan case study is essential due to several reasons. First, Moldova is a country with some of the highest rates of outmigration, poverty, and human trafficking in the region (World Bank, 2018 ). Second, Moldova has attracted a lot of anti-trafficking funding and efforts (UNODC 2014 ; UN-Moldova 2007 ; UNFPA 2011 ). Third, Moldova is an understudied area when it comes to academic research on migration and human trafficking (Robinson 2011 ; Rusu 2013 ; Surtees 2005 ).

I have looked at the anti-trafficking organizations’ assumptions, operating in Moldova, regarding what groups of people are less informed about human trafficking and what my data shows regarding the knowledge levels of human trafficking. Revised literature showed that anti-trafficking organizations act on the assumption that “rural people,” “poorer people,” “lower social class people,” and “less educated people” are less informed about human trafficking because these people are more likely to be trafficked. Based on these assumptions, I propose to test the following:

H1: The level of education does not influence the knowledge levels of human trafficking.

Anti-trafficking experts claim that the level of education is directly correlated with the knowledge level of human trafficking – more education translates into more knowledge about human trafficking. However, I hypothesize that education levels do not have a significant impact on public knowledge of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a social problem, which can be understood by all citizens regardless of their educational background.

H2: Social class negatively correlates with knowledge levels of human trafficking.

Anti-trafficking organizations have been targeting, through its awareness campaigns, more frequently people from lower social classes. Thus, I hypothesize that social class will negatively correlate with knowledge about trafficking, which means that people from lower social classes will be more informed about human trafficking, and people from higher social classes will be less informed about different aspects of this problem.

H3: Salary negatively correlates with knowledge levels of human trafficking.

Human trafficking policymakers explain that the more impoverished people have less knowledge about human trafficking as a result of their lower education, fewer economic resources, and less access to information compared to those who are from more prosperous economic backgrounds. Human trafficking, as many other problems have been framed as “the problem of the poor.” This framing convinces these people that this is a problem they need to be informed about. Thus, I hypothesize that people with lower wages, which indicates an unfavorable economic background, would be more informed about this problem.

H4: Rural residents are more knowledgeable about human trafficking, while urban residents are less knowledgeable about human trafficking.

Anti-trafficking organizations operating in Moldova have been targeting through prevention programs and information campaigns, mainly people from the rural area, because they believe these people are less informed about this phenomenon. The rural area has been targeted because residents are more impoverished, with lower education rates, fewer economic resources, and less access to information compared to those who reside in urban areas. I explain that precisely because of these targeting strategies, people from the rural area would be more informed about different aspects of this problem.

Data and methods

For this study, I used a mixed-method approach. First, I analyzed the policy reports published on people’s vulnerability to human trafficking, provided by anti-trafficking organizations (such as UN agencies, IOM, OSCE, and local NGO chapter LaStrada) between 2000 and 2014. Then, I conducted a public survey to measure the general knowledge about this problem. Finally, I compared the public knowledge about this crime with organizational perception about public knowledge.

The data analyzed here have been generated by a face-to-face public survey based on a questionnaire to study public perception about social problems in Moldova, including knowledge about human trafficking. The survey concentrated on the Moldovan general public, investigating the main aspects of human trafficking — knowledge, experience, and expectations regarding the problem of human trafficking. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews of a national sample of people (aged 14 and older) living in Moldova between May 2013 and September 2014 based on one questionnaire to gather information on public perception about social problems in Moldova. I collected the interviews based on randomization, considering the group of regions and households. Three randomization stages were applied: locality – selected randomly for each stratum using a table of random numbers; house – in each district, based on street routes, which were designed depending on the number of interviews per locality.

The random selection of locality was followed by choosing the household from the center of the locality following a route. The route captured people from the center of the residential area to its periphery. Most households directed me to talk to younger members of the family, which perhaps biased my study towards more youthful people. Respondents were told that they would be asked personal-opinion type questions emphasizing that there were no wrong or right answers, but that the researcher was interested in their views on some social issues. The questionnaire was translated into the two mainly spoken languages in Moldova, Romanian, and Russian. I speak both languages fluently. Then the questionnaire was pre-tested by asking ten people during the pilot research. This approach helped identify questions that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted by respondents. Subsequently, the questionnaire was improved and adapted to the target.

The survey consisted of approximately fifty questions aimed at obtaining information about critical issues such as level of education, occupation, earnings, family status, prior migration and mobility experience, knowledge, and perception about human trafficking in Moldova. In general, questions related to human trafficking were mixed with other questions regarding the general opinion about the situation in Moldova, including demographic information. All questions were open-ended to allow respondents to express their views, opinions, and experience without biasing their responses with a pre-determined list of answers.

In this article, I focus specifically on the awareness and knowledge about human trafficking among Moldovans. An average respondent of this survey is a middle-class citizen, between 14 and 25 years old, with a finished high school degree, residing in rural areas in the central part of Moldova, and earning less than 300 USD/month (see Table  1 ). My survey has 300 valid responses from people residing in Moldova. Women constitute 54% of the sample, and men – 46%.

This article combines a descriptive statistical analysis of the main features of respondents with a qualitative discourse analysis of their in-depth answers to the open-ended questions. The in-depth answers to questions related to migration motivations were analyzed following the method of qualitative discourse analysis. I looked at the discursive strategies that respondents used to explain their perception of this problem and its consequences on the society and them personally. The analysis of these discursive strategies helps to understand how their discourse over knowledge and awareness about human trafficking matters related to their social life and experiences.

The public knowledge about human trafficking is measured based on how accurate the given definition was. There have been several indicators to measure the accuracy of human trafficking definition – age and gender of people who can be trafficked, how often people hear about this problem, and how many types of trafficking people could enumerate.

Dependent variables

Trafficking definition (gender).

Respondents were asked people of what gender can be trafficked? Their responses ranged from “females,” “males,” “any gender.” About 33% of respondents said that only ‘females’ could be trafficked; the rest, 67% said that people of any gender could be trafficked.

Trafficking definition (age)

Respondents were asked people of what age can be trafficked? Their responses ranged from “young,” “mature,” “any age.” The majority of respondents, 54%, said that people of any age could be trafficked, followed by those (23%) who think that only young people can be trafficked, and those (22%) who think that only mature people can be trafficked.

Trafficking information exposure

Respondents were asked people how often they hear about this problem without actively seeking information on this topic. Their responses ranged from “Weekly,” “monthly,” “yearly.” The opinion poll shows that 40% of respondents have heard of human trafficking during the week they have been surveyed, followed by 31% of those who have heard of it in the same month they have been surveyed, and 29% have not heard about this crime in years.

Trafficking types

Respondents were asked to identify and enumerate all types of human trafficking they knew. Most people (42%) identified three types of human trafficking, followed by those (35%) who identified two types of human trafficking. The third group (10%) identified four types, and 2% identified five types. Another 10% identified only one type of human trafficking (sex trafficking). The rest, 1% could not identify any type of human trafficking.

Independent variables

Respondents in the sample are categorized into three distinct categories: rural, urban, and capital city residents. Most of the respondents reside in rural areas in 54% and 46% in the urban area, from which 20% reside in the capital city, Chisinau.

Respondents were asked how many years of education they had completed (numerical variable). However, for the regressions, a new categorical variable with four categories was created: Middle School – those who have had nine or fewer years of education; High School – those who have had between 12 and 10 years of education; Undergraduate education – those who have had between 13 and 15 years of education; Postgraduate education – those who have had more than 15 years of education. About 45% of polled people had a high school education, 36% have had an undergraduate education, 17% have a middle school education, and 2% have a postgraduate education.

Social class

Respondents were asked to what social class they belonged to. Therefore, their responses might have been biased, but there was no better way to find out what their social class was than asking them about it. According to their responses, the overwhelming majority (64%) identified as middle-class citizens, followed by lower social class citizens (27%) and higher social class people (9%).

Respondents were asked about their monthly salaries. They had the option to choose between three categories: low salary when monthly wages were less than 3000 Lei; average salary when between 3000 and 6000 Lei, and high salary when more than 6000 Lei. About 60% of respondents have low salaries, 24% have average salaries, and 17% have high salaries.

Opinion poll shows that 98% of respondents heard of human trafficking. Additionally, Moldovans have shown an intricate understanding of different aspects of human trafficking. More than half (54%) of the respondents said that people of any age could be trafficked. Polled citizens also have shown concern about the rates of human trafficking in Moldova. More than 64% of people said that the problem of human trafficking is aggravating, and more people are trafficked compared to previous years.

Furthermore, over 70% of people said that they have heard of human trafficking in the past weeks or months. These results show that overall the general population is highly aware and concerned with this problem. The rest of this section presents the results of tested hypotheses by comparing different groups of people based on their years of education, social class, wages, and residential area.

Education and knowledge

I hypothesized that education levels do not have a significant impact on public knowledge of human trafficking. This hypothesis is rejected (see Table 2 ). The results show that there is a negative correlation between level of education and knowledge about human trafficking. People with less education have a more accurate definition of human trafficking; they have the highest tendency to say that people of any gender and any age can be trafficked; they also are the largest group of people who have heard of human trafficking in the last weeks and months. The only indicator that shows support for the organizational assumption is that people with more education can identify more types of human trafficking (see Table 2 ).

Social class and knowledge

I hypothesized social class negatively correlates with knowledge about trafficking. These findings find support for the second hypothesis. People from the lower social class are more informed about different aspects of this problem than people from higher social classes. People from lower classes think that people of any gender and any age are at the risk of being trafficked. Furthermore, they enumerated more types of human trafficking (see Table 3 ).

Wages and knowledge

I hypothesized that wages negatively correlate with knowledge about trafficking. These findings do not find support for this hypothesis. Instead, these findings find support for organizational assumption, namely that people with higher wages are more informed about different aspects of this problem. However, people from disfavored economic backgrounds with lower wages are more exposed to anti-trafficking information (see Table 4 ).

Residential area and knowledge

I hypothesized that area of residence correlates with knowledge about human trafficking. These findings support this hypothesis. I found that people from the rural areas are more informed about different aspects of human trafficking than urban people. I explain that these sharp differences in knowledge based on area of residence arise from several factors. First, rural people are the most informed about this problem because organizations have been targeting, mainly people from the rural area. As has been mentioned before, the strategy of targeting rural residents has been based on organizational assumption that these people are more susceptible to this phenomenon and less informed about trafficking risks.

While anti-trafficking organizations operate under the assumption that poorly educated rural residents do not have the capability or necessary resources to educate themselves about human trafficking, I found the opposite. Counter-trafficking organizations have reached their target audience: rural residents, people from lower social classes, and less education are more informed about human trafficking. Despite the organizations’ assumptions, another study also found that accurate information can empower rural people with knowledge on human rights, health, and employment, among others (Hoq 2012 ).

There are several explanations of why poorly educated rural inhabitants are more informed than others. First, rural residents from lower social classes are more informed about this problem because anti-trafficking organizations have been targeting them more frequently through awareness campaigns (Arap 2017 ; Rusu 2013 ). While awareness-raising has been homogeneously distributed throughout the country, targeting vulnerable groups has been performed by portraying these groups of people as more vulnerable to trafficking (Andrijasevic 2007 ; Revenco 2020 ). For example, trafficking victims have often been portrayed as women and people from rural regions (IOM 2013 ; IOM 2018 ). Also, human trafficking has been occurring more often in rural communities, which means that these residents are exposed to trafficking to a more significant extent (Botchkovar et al. 2016 ; Buckley 2009 ; COE 2012 ; Ghimpu et al. 2011 ; Panzaru 2013 ; Robinson 2011 ; Rusu 2013 ).

Organizations’ assumptions that human traffickers are more successful in rural areas because people have less access to objective information are also aligned with some scholars’ views as well (Van Impe 2000 ). In Albania as in all countries of origin of victims, organizations “run prevention programs including outreach to vulnerable populations such as street children and women in rural areas” (Botchkovar et al. 2016 , p. 12) because these people are considered unaware about trafficking risks. Several researchers surveyed the Albanian and Moldovan public and asked, “Who do you perceive to be at greatest risk of being trafficked?” and found the following. In Albania, the public thinks that teenage girls, ethnic minorities, and rural residents to be most at risk of human trafficking. In Moldova, the public thinks individuals from vulnerable families, teenage girls, and rural residents to be most at risk to trafficking (Botchkovar et al. 2016 ). These findings suggest that organizations’ assumptions have been transmitted to the public as well. Mainly, the public has been informed that people with these characteristics are more likely to be trafficked, and that information can prevent them from being trafficked (Andrijasevic 2007 ; Arap 2017 ; Robinson 2011 ).

However, I found this not to be true in Moldova. In fact, throughout my interviews, many rural respondents have said that they know someone who has been exploited abroad or unpaid for their work, which prompts them to share this news and inform themselves about these risks. Thus, I explain that people in those areas are more incentivized to learn about this problem because it happens in their proximity. With this said, people rarely see labor exploitation risks abroad as trafficking-related risks.

Another nuance is that information and news spread differently depending on the locality (Uzezi 2015 ). Localities in Moldova range from small rural villages, small towns, to suburban areas, including the Capital city with only half a million people. Due to a small population and heavy reliance on mass media, the Moldovan public has been exposed to the same frequency of anti-trafficking campaigns (Revenco 2020 ; Rusu 2013 ). I observed that the same campaigns have been influencing public perception in distinctive ways, specifically billboards and educational programs in schools. While urban residents have been exposed to an abundance of information due to broader access to resources and information, massive exposure to anti-trafficking campaigns was something new to rural residents in the early 2000s. In the beginning, people in rural areas showed great interest in finding out more about human trafficking, with time; however, the rural public became uninterested in anti-trafficking campaigns as those became a regular occurrence.

Furthermore, information and news travel faster in small places by word-of-mouth from person to person (Rusu 2013 ). This practice does not only facilitate a more natural flow of trafficking-related information but adds a twist. The twist occurs when information has been altered when shared from person to person. I have observed this in more than 30 % of people from rural areas. For example, one villager told me that he has heard on the news that several trafficked people were identified in Italy, in the same region of Italy, where he has a cousin. He expressed his deep concern and called his cousin to warn him that there are trafficking risks. This villager has shared this news by adding the story of his cousin.

Personal stories add credibility to the mass media news and bring the problem closer to people in that community (Bradner and Mark 2002 ). Social psychologists have demonstrated through repeated experiments that information persuades people when it is distributed and shared by people similar to the recipients (Holmes and Singh 2012 ), which might explain why people are more likely to inform themselves about risks abroad when they know that their friends or relatives inform themselves about these risks. Furthermore, it is not so much about the information circulation as it is about the way people perceive this problem. When a social problem occurs in someone’s community, one is more likely to think that he/she is at a higher risk of being exposed to this problem as well.

Third, data revealed that rural people think of themselves as being at higher risk of trafficking compared to other people. More than 70% of rural people and only 35% of urban residents said that they could be trafficked when asked, “If you can be trafficked if you travel abroad uninformed?”. On the one hand, counter-trafficking organizations targeted rural people and convinced them that they were prone to being trafficked. On the other hand, many people in rural areas experienced instances of human trafficking in their communities and were more likely to think that this might happen to them too. Hence, these two key elements have played an essential role in leading rural people to believe that they are prone to trafficking. The assumption that the internalization of victimhood leads people to take additional care when seeking employment abroad has not been proved (Andrijasevic 2007 ). Many studies have shown that an increase in knowledge does not translate in the prescribed behavioral change (Hyman and Sheatsley 1947 ; Nieuwenhuys and Pécoud 2007 ; Pécoud 2010 ), which can explain why some categories of people are more informed about human trafficking yet fail to take proper care when traveling abroad.

For almost two decades, anti-trafficking organizations, including the UN and EU, have been operating under the assumption that rural populations lack awareness about human trafficking. These organizations have been claiming that if they educated uninformed people to this crime, people would be less susceptible and better informed about it. In this paper, using a mixed-method approach, I tested several hypotheses about whether anti-trafficking organizations have correct assumptions about the public knowledge of human trafficking. First, I analyzed the policy reports published on people’s vulnerability to human trafficking, provided by anti-trafficking organizations between 2000 and 2014. Then, I conducted a public survey to measure the general knowledge about this problem. Finally, I compared the public knowledge about this crime with organizational perception about public knowledge. I found that counter-trafficking organizations have reached their target audience.

Organizations assume that human trafficking flourishes more in rural areas because people have less access to objective information (Van Impe 2000 ). They have repeatedly been claiming that poorer and rural people are vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation because of “lack of access to information, knowledge, contacts, and networks” (UN/EU 2011 , p. 97). Thus, anti-trafficking organizations have been using information campaigns as an indispensable tool in fighting trafficking because they believed that “they contribute to raising awareness among potential victims regarding the risks of being caught in criminal networks and thus reduce their vulnerability” (Nieuwenhuys and Pécoud 2007 , p. 1678). However, my findings show that counter-trafficking organizations do not know what the public knows about this problem.

Despite organizational assumption, I found empirical evidences that rural people are, in fact, more knowledgeable about human trafficking. Rural people are more incentivized to learn about human trafficking because anti-trafficking organizations mainly have targeted them. Rural residents are more likely to know families who have lost members to the traffickers. Rural people tend to think that they are more likely to be trafficked if they would have traveled abroad uninformed.

While organizational assumptions might have been accurate at the beginning of the 2000s – when human trafficking has emerged as a social problem – this is no longer enough to explain the high rates of trafficking. I argue that information campaigns of anti-trafficking organizations need a complete overhaul and redesign. The depicted range of human trafficking should be expanded to include all possible forms of human trafficking, and not just sex trafficking. By clearly identifying the causal problems of human trafficking and tracking public perception through public surveys, anti-trafficking organizations can better support victims. Releasing concrete guidelines on information around human trafficking and analyzing campaign effectiveness through focus groups would help anticipate and mitigate potential misunderstandings. Close collaboration with local authorities and communities and tailoring campaigns to said local communities (rather than reusing what has been designed by officials in Brussels and Geneva) would dramatically improve public information quality and; aid consistent monitoring of how public perception shifts over time.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the fact that data contains audio and video recordings of the surveyed subjects but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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The Case for Qualitative Designs in Human Trafficking Research

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This chapter describes the use of qualitative research designs and methods in expanding the knowledge base about human trafficking. An overview of the designs is presented, and the usual methods of data collection are described. Relevant disciplines were examined for recent theses and dissertations that relate to the topic. A few studies were selected for a brief description in order to give readers a sense of what is being studied in their own fields. Qualitative studies have merit on their own—that is, they are sufficient to tell a story without planning further study on the topic with that sample. Qualitative studies can also be the foundation for building theory. Human trafficking is such a complex phenomenon that both types of qualitative research are needed even as the search continues for best practices in prevention and intervention through quantitative designs.

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Improving the Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking Cases

Researchers in an NIJ-funded study focused on the challenges faced in identification, investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases at the state and local levels. The researchers’ primary goal in identifying these challenges was to improve law enforcement efforts to locate victims of trafficking and prosecute their traffickers.

The study addressed three main questions:

• What are the characteristics of local human trafficking investigations and prosecutions?
• Do certain types of human trafficking offenses, such as offenses with particular victims or characteristics of those committing the crime, predict whether prosecution occurs under human trafficking laws or other criminal statutes?
• What are the organizational, structural or cultural factors that inhibit or facilitate the prosecution of human trafficking cases?

The researchers identified challenge in three areas of human trafficking casts -- challenges in identifying victims, investigating cases, and prosecuting cases.

Challenges in Identifying Victims. Some of the challenges in identifying victims are inherent to human trafficking cases, such as the covert nature of the activity, victims’ inability or unwillingness to seek help and the fear many victims had of law enforcement. Identification also lagged due to a failure of police agencies and other first responders to train all officers/front-line individuals on how to recognize victims.

Challenges in Investigating Cases

• Law enforcement agencies do not uniformly make human trafficking a priority.
• Many agencies do not have the resources needed to train, staff and investigate cases — especially patrol officers and first responders.
• Agencies do not have officers who are sufficiently trained in appropriate interviewing techniques or who have the foreign language skill necessary to facilitate identification.
• Law enforcement officers were often unprepared to deal with the amount of trauma suffered by victims. Trauma-related symptoms made investigations more difficult, and victims often required more services and for longer periods than law enforcement could provide. Consequently, law enforcement often resorted to using tactics they would normally use on suspects, including the use of arrest to secure victim cooperation.

Challenges in Prosecuting Cases. State prosecutors were reluctant to use new human trafficking laws and instead charged individuals with offenses they were more familiar with, such as rape, kidnapping or pandering. No state prosecutor in the study had ever prosecuted a labor trafficking case. Background characteristics of the victims often influenced prosecutor decisions about charging, so most cases identified by local law enforcement were prosecuted federally.

The researchers provide several recommendations for improving the identification of human trafficking, including:

• Prioritizing human trafficking identification in communities and law enforcement agencies
• Providing institutional resources specifically for human trafficking
• Using proactive investigation strategies

They also identified several strategies to improve investigations, including:

• Providing adequate and comprehensive victim services, including adequate shelters
• Developing long-term plans to help survivors reintegrate into society
• Improving law enforcement training, especially on interviewing techniques
• Establishing open relationships between police and prosecutors

The researchers used multiple methodologies, including analysis of quantitative data from 140 closed human trafficking case records; analysis of in-depth interviews with 166 police, prosecutors, victim service providers and other court stakeholders; and descriptive analysis of information from incidents that were never classified as human trafficking but might contain elements of human trafficking. They collected data in 12 study counties representing three different levels of state human trafficking legislation (none, basic or comprehensive), as well as states with and without federally funded human trafficking task forces.

About this Article

The work discussed in this article was completed under grant number 2009-IJ-CX-0015 awarded by NIJ to Northeastern University. The article is based on the grant report Identifying Challenges to Improve the Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking Cases by Amy Farrell, Jack McDevitt, Rebecca Pfeffer, Stephanie Fahy, Colleen Owens, Meredith Dank, and William Adams.

This study built on a 2008 study of the same topic, which was completed under grant number 2005-IJ-CX-0045 awarded by NIJ to Northeastern University. Read the grant report, Understanding and Improving Law Enforcement Responses to Human Trafficking , by Amy Farrell, Jack McDevitt, and Stephanie Fahy.

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• Identifying Challenges to Improve the Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking Cases

Child Labor Trafficking Is Ensnaring Both US- and Foreign-Born, Study Finds

Labor trafficking affects children in industries ranging from domestic work to forced criminality, entertainment, and agriculture.

Child labor trafficking remains a “largely hidden” phenomenon that imperils economically and socially vulnerable youth in the US, encompassing 58% of youth who are from other countries and 42% who are American citizens, a new study conducted with support from the National Institute of Justice finds.

Examining 71 cases of child labor trafficking prosecuted by US officials or served by legal advocacy agencies in recent years, the study found strong evidence that labor trafficking ensnares teens and younger children widely, far from being made up of migrants alone—in industries ranging from domestic work to forced criminality, entertainment, and agriculture.

Authored by researchers from Northeastern University, New York University, and Loyola School of Law, the new report, titled “Understanding the Trafficking of Children for the Purpose of Labor in the United States,” is one of the first federally supported studies ever to look closely into the composition of child labor trafficking in the United States. Among the study’s six authors is Meredith Dank, a clinical associate professor at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management and nationally recognized expert on human trafficking.

Across the cases examined by the scholars were 132 child labor trafficking victims (with an average age of 14) and 145 child labor trafficking perpetrators. The data were supplemented with in-depth interviews with legal advocates, victim service providers, child welfare, law enforcement and other government officials, as well as adult child labor trafficking survivors.

The aim of the new study is to fill in gaps in knowledge about the persistent exploitation of the young and vulnerable in a broad spectrum of industries, from domestic work to forced criminality, entertainment, and agriculture. Perpetrators were found to be predominantly in their 20s and 30s, and commonly known to the victim, including, in 40% of the cases, a parent or other family member.

“The prevalence of child labor trafficking victims who experience exploitative labor practices (97%), fraud (91%), and/or threats of physical violence (95%) paints a distressing picture,” according to the report.

Among several recommendations in the report is improved training for first responders such as police, immigration officials, schools, child welfare systems, juvenile justice systems, and labor inspectors. “Our study shows that most first responders who engage with children, including child welfare agencies, law enforcement, labor investigators, and even schools are not identifying child labor trafficking cases, and often misidentify child labor trafficking cases,” the authors write.

“Moreover,” they add, “stakeholders and adjudicators do not apply a developmentally informed analysis of ‘coercion’ in determining if a child is trafficked or not, assuming children’s capacity to assess risk is the same as adults.”

At same time the findings show “Approximately 45% of victims demonstrated remarkable resilience by escaping the victimization situation or seeking help independently. In some cases, when they sought help, assistance was denied due to characterization of the trafficking as a ‘family problem’ or ‘labor issue”’ versus the crime of labor trafficking.”

The various situations imperiling child workers can be complex and entrenched. In one 2023 case, noted in the study, the US Department of Labor uncovered 13 different meatpacking facilities run by a single corporation, where illegally hired children were found to have worked overnight cleaning dangerous equipment while exposed to harmful cleaning chemicals. Among the remedies needed, according to the researchers, is expansion of vocational programs to provide valuable skills while offering safe, lawful employment opportunities for children. The study also underlines the need for creating safe, rapid, subsidized alternative housing options for minors, regardless of immigration status, in order to help reduce their vulnerability to dangerous forms of illegal employment.

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Towards a more evidence-informed approach to tackling human trafficking and exploitation

UCL’s world-leading Security and Crime Science (SCS) researchers are helping build a stronger evidence-base to assist policymakers, crime-prevention professionals and civil society.

28 April 2022

Research from UCL Security and Crime Sciences (SCS) has provided new evidence to improve responses to human trafficking and exploitation, tackling many myths that surround these complex crimes. 

The need for nuance 

Dr Ella Cockbain and Professor Kate Bowers analysed many thousands of cases of people trafficked in the UK (identified via the UK’s National Referral Mechanism system - the NRM). They found substantial and significant differences between key trafficking ‘types’ (sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and other labour exploitation), emphasising the need for more nuanced, disaggregated responses. 

Amid an overwhelming focus on sex trafficking, Dr Cockbain and Professor Bowers’ systematic review of the evidence base on labour trafficking in Europe identified fundamental knowledge gaps around this complex phenomenon and the effectiveness (or not) of responses to it.  

Elsewhere, Dr Cockbain conducted research with Barnardo’s and NatCen Social Research into sexual exploitation involving boys and young men in the UK. The UCL-led part of the study found that almost 1 in 3 of those affected were male and almost 1 in 5 from ethnic minority backgrounds: groups who are all too often overlooked amid the dominant focus on white female victims. Statistical analyses also showed major differences between male and female service-users, highlighting disparities in responses and the need for a more nuanced and inclusive approach.  

Challenging stereotypes & misinformation 

Dr Cockbain’s study of British trafficking for child sexual exploitation (CSE) (including now infamous cases in Rochdale, Derby and Telford) revealed the opportunity factors, social structures, and group dynamics involved in these crimes. Her work with Dr Waqas Tufail (Leeds Beckett University), delved deeper into ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ narrative associated with CSE and how it can undermine effective child protection. 

SCS research has shown that the ‘Asian/Muslim grooming gangs’ narrative around CSE is inaccurate and corrosive, decentring victims, and empowering racism and violence. Dr Cockbain has challenged stereotypes and misinformation through traditional news and social media, and prominent journalists, politicians and campaigners have recognised her efforts in counteracting these narratives. Testament to the courage involved, the work has also met with negative responses from far-right figures and groups who rely on these harmful narratives for recruitment and mobilisation. 

Informing policy and practice 

As co-chair of the UK’s Modern Slavery Strategy and Implementation Group (MSSIG), Dr Cockbain has introduced SCS findings to Government, devolved administrations, statutory agencies and NGOs. She has promoted more evidence-based working and encouraged the Home Office to produce more carefully-considered interventions and pay attention to potentially harmful consequences for already marginalised groups.  

Dr Cockbain’s contributions to inquiries into trafficking, labour abuse and child exploitation have helped to highlight the complexity and diversity of human trafficking and exploitation. Her knowledge of the ‘organised networks’ involved in CSE further helped to uncover institutional failings through the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Meanwhile, the Home Office’s research into ‘group-based child sexual exploitation’ repeatedly highlighted SCS findings, including how social networks can facilitate abuse, the role of criminal opportunism, the diversity of victims, and the dangers of racialising abuse. 

Dr Cockbain’s work with Professor Bowers on human trafficking as identified through the UK’s NRM system saw her invited to offer advice on reforms to the NRM system and to national policing strategy and data collection. She is credited with contributing to markedly stronger policing data on ‘modern slavery’.  

SCS research on crime scripting of human trafficking/CSE led to the adoption of this practical technique, first in Devon & Cornwall and then across the UK. This development has in turn reportedly strengthened the police’s strategic and tactical responses, leading to harm reduction and both national and international police analysis awards.  

Research synopsis 

Towards a more evidence-informed approach to tackling human trafficking and exploitation 

There are major evidence gaps around many fundamental issues related to human trafficking and exploitation (aka ‘modern slavery’) and myths and misconceptions abound. UCL’s world-leading Security and Crime Science (SCS) researchers are changing this situation, helping build a stronger evidence-base to assist policymakers, crime-prevention professionals and civil society. Research collaborations with the National Crime Agency and others have helped to dispel myths and misinformation associated with ‘modern slavery’, paving the way for better professional practice and more informed policy, media coverage and public discourse.  

• Dr Ella Cockbain's academic profile  
• Professor Kate Bowers' academic profile  
• UCL Department of Security and Crime Sciences  
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• UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences  REF 21
• Image credit: iStock / dragana991

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• What We Investigate
• Human Trafficking

HSI plays an integral role in combating human trafficking by working with its law enforcement partners to deter, disrupt, and dismantle the criminal networks engaged in trafficking activities.

Every year, human traffickers prey on millions of victims around the world — regardless of age, race, gender or nationality. Human traffickers will prey on anyone, but those often at the greatest risk are people who:

• Are hoping for a better life.
• Lack of employment opportunities.
• Have unstable home lives.
• Have a history of sexual or physical abuse.

HSI plays an integral role in combating human trafficking by working with its law enforcement partners to deter, disrupt and dismantle the criminal networks that engage in it. Special agents use their expertise and rely on HSI’s authorities to seize assets and eliminate profit incentives, work with nongovernmental organizations to protect and assist victims, and bring traffickers to justice.

Understanding Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a global crime that generally takes two forms:

• Sex trafficking
• Forced labor

Traffickers use various methods to control and exploit their victims, including physical violence, psychological manipulation, threats and deception. They often lure victims with false promises of employment, education or a better life.

A wide range of criminals — including individuals, family operations, small businesses and criminal networks can be human traffickers. Those working within these criminal organizations traffic people in conjunction with other criminal activities, such as money laundering and fraud.

Human Trafficking’s Impact

Human trafficking’s consequences are far-reaching and include the following:

• Individual trauma. Trafficked victims may endure physical violence, sexual abuse, forced labor and deprivation of basic needs, so they often experience severe physical, psychological and emotional trauma resulting from their exploitation. The trauma can have long-lasting effects on their mental health, self-esteem and ability to trust others. In fact, the trauma can be so severe that many don’t identify themselves as victims or ask for help.
• Social stigma. Trafficked victims often face stigma, discrimination and social rejection due to misconceptions about their experiences. This can further isolate them from support networks and prevent them from getting the help and services they need.
• Community impact . Human trafficking perpetuates cycles of exploitation, poverty and vulnerability. It drives organized crime and illicit economies, destabilizing communities and undermining laws.

HSI's Response to Human Trafficking

HSI is a leader in the global fight against human trafficking, and its mission is twofold:

• Proactively identify, disrupt and dismantle human trafficking organizations and minimize the risks they pose to national security and public safety.
• Employ a victim-centered approach, placing equal value on identifying, recovering and stabilizing victims while investigating and helping prosecute traffickers.

HSI’s strategy to counter human trafficking is modeled after the four Ps of the National Action Plan and the DHS Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking: Prevention, protection, prosecution and partnerships.

• Prevention. Reduce the threat by providing information and resources to specific vulnerable populations, schools and community groups.
• Protection. Disrupt illicit activity by identifying and helping victims toward recovery.
• Prosecution. Leverage HSI’s unique authorities to investigate, enforce the laws, and refer cases for prosecution.
• Partnership. Partner with domestic and international law enforcement agencies.

HSI leads the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking (CCHT) to advance counter human trafficking law enforcement operations, protect victims and enhance prevention efforts. The CCHT integrates the efforts of every component within DHS involved in combating human trafficking, including criminal investigations, victim assistance, identifying and reporting human trafficking, external outreach, intelligence and training.

HSI’s Victim Assistance Program provides a critical resource to HSI investigations and criminal prosecutions. The Victim Assistance Program helps preserve victims’ and survivors’ rights, helps connect them with the services they’re legally entitled to receive, and provides them with the support they need to fully participate in the criminal justice process.

HSI participates in more than 120 counter-human trafficking task forces around the country, as well as with foreign partners. We have a network of over 90 international offices that work with foreign governments to coordinate investigations, enforcement actions and prosecutions.

How We Can Help Each Other

The fight against human trafficking is a worldwide effort. You can join the fight by familiarizing yourself with indicators of human trafficking, raising awareness and educating your community or industry about the issue — and report suspected trafficking at any time.

If you suspect someone is a trafficking victim, ask yourself the following questions:

• Does the person appear disconnected from family, friends, community organizations or houses of worship?
• Has the child stopped attending school?
• Has the person had a sudden or dramatic change in behavior?
• Is a child or teen engaged in commercial sex acts?
• Is the person disoriented, confused, or showing signs of mental or physical abuse?
• Does the person have bruises in various stages of healing?
• Is the person fearful, timid or submissive?
• Does the person show signs of having been denied food, water, sleep or medical care?
• Does the person often defer to someone they’re always with, or are they always with someone who seems control what they do, where they go or who they talk to?
• Does the person appear to be coached on what to say?
• Is the person living in unsuitable conditions?
• Does the person lack personal possessions and appear to have an unstable living situation?
• Does the person have freedom of movement? Can the person freely leave where they live? Are there unreasonable security measures?

Although these indicators may signal human trafficking, every case looks different. If you suspect someone may be a human trafficking victim, call the HSI Tip Line at 877-4-HSI-TIP .

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Northeastern researcher exposes child labor trafficking as a hidden crime after investigating 132 victims

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Children trafficked for their labor often work in public view in restaurants, laundromats, agricultural fields and water parks, but little has been known about their plight.  

A new study co-authored by Northeastern University professor Amy Farrell provides insights about these children, those who traffic them and what makes children vulnerable to dangerous work — and conditions that too often rob them of a chance for an education, and leave them exhausted, hungry and sometimes injured.

Farrell, the director of Northeastern’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice , answered questions from Northeastern Global News about what researchers discovered in their investigation of 132 victims, as well as their recommendations for a better future for trafficked children.

The research says the average age of victims you studied was 14. Where do trafficked children work?

It’s shocking how many different industries where we found children trafficked for their labor. They are all around us. They are on our roofs, they are in our gardens doing landscaping.

They work cleaning dentists’ offices, for storage facilities and in restaurants, agriculture and poultry farms. They work in waterparks, hotels and in private homes providing child care and domestic labor.

There was another subset of labor in which children were trafficked called forced criminality. This is a situation where kids work in illicit economies — panhandling, organized theft and drug cultivation, packing and distribution. 

When people think about child trafficking of children, they commonly think about sex trafficking. That’s not because 90% of the human trafficking that is identified by the police is for sex trafficking, but because that’s where most of the public awareness is. 

Child labor trafficking remains very hidden.

We often think of child labor trafficking as a migrant issue. But 42% of the child victims in your study were American. What makes both U.S. and foreign-born children susceptible to trafficking?

Poverty and housing instability are really big factors. 

We find minors in situations where they’re working because they need to bring money into the family or because they’ve left their family and are unhoused and living with a group of other minors who are unhoused. 

Housing is super expensive and hard to navigate for young people who often cannot independently secure housing. Young people need to survive.

In our data, we’ve also seen cases of familial trafficking where a parent or guardian traffics kids into family businesses or into doing childcare and domestic labor in the home.

We’ve had situations where sponsors of unaccompanied minors were coercing children into work — sometimes overtly. Other times economic pressure in the sponsor’s household forced young people into jobs, in addition to trying to go to school. 

There are some well-documented child labor trafficking cases where minors got sponsored out to nefarious actors who pretend they are going to take care of these kids and end up exploiting them. 

Sponsors are needed to handle the influx of unaccompanied minors into the U.S., but much more accountability and oversight of sponsor programs are needed.

Family disruption is another huge piece of this. Lots and lots of young people, particularly those who are U.S. citizens, come from families with histories with the child welfare system. 

Those kids, both girls and boys, are particularly vulnerable to both sex and labor trafficking. In some ways, it’s about who gets to them first.

What motivates child labor traffickers?

It’s just about extracting money from them. They’re throwaway kids — no one cares about them. They are disposable.

They are going to labor until they run away, get hurt or maybe get arrested. And then there will be more kids right behind them to take their place.

There’s not a lot of care to even be sure that they can continue to be exploited because they can so easily be replaced by someone else. So if they get hurt, they don’t get medical care. 

It’s really heartbreaking.

If sounds as if it’s very difficult to leave child labor trafficking situations

They leave with nothing on their back — no money but sometimes a lot of debt to smugglers or others who have loaned them money or provided housing. The reliance on traffickers to meet basic needs is one of the mechanisms that traffickers use to keep kids laboring.

One of the victims we studied came to the U.S. from Guatemala with a group of teenagers as young as 14 or 15, many of whom were exploited in an egg farm.

Although the teen we studied avoided the exploitative farming situation, he ended up being exploited by someone else who had portrayed themselves as a good Samaritan willing to take him in. He was eventually trafficked to a woodworking factory.

It’s a really difficult situation, because even when young people get away from a trafficking situation, they are still vulnerable to being abused or re-trafficked by others.

When do labor abuse issues become child labor trafficking violations?

Labor abuses become trafficking crimes when a person is coerced, defrauded or forced into laboring.

Unlike sex trafficking, where proving force, fraud and coercion are not required for children under the age of 18, these elements are required to prove child labor trafficking. 

A major finding of this study is that coercion was omnipresent in situations where adults are providing things for kids to meet their daily needs. 

For example, adults trafficking child laborers often provided young people with a place to stay, clothes or food. In other cases, adults provide love or acceptance to young people who are seeking their approval and care. 

Fraud was another issue, even for children. People pay money to come to the United States and stay in unsafe jobs to pay off their debts or the debts of their family.

Is child labor trafficking getting worse?

We don’t know because we lack comprehensive data. We really have no way of knowing what child trafficking was like 10 years ago in comparison to what it’s like today.

This study, which was funded by the National Institute of Justice, is one of the first to lay out the kinds of conditions under which a wide cross section of children experience victimization.

Here in Boston we are undergoing a migration crisis where we have lots of families coming into Massachusetts who are not able to work or find stable housing.

That is a situation that is ripe for exploitation of both adults and minors.

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What can be done to stop child labor trafficking?

We’re not saying kids shouldn’t work. We’re not saying foreign national kids shouldn’t work. Work is often a very helpful and developmentally appropriate activity for young people. What we’re saying is kids need to work in situations where they won’t be harmed. 

One of our recommendations is that if kids experience a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act or any of the existing wage, hour and work protections, coercion should be assumed if there’s an adult involved. More attention is needed to young people laboring in situations where there is clear labor abuse.

Police and child welfare agencies have a role to prevent trafficking, but the people who may be in the best position to identify child labor violations are inspectors and regulators who ensure workplaces across a variety of industries are safe. 

.It is critically important that legal advocates and worker rights organizations are provided with resources to help serve young people who are in precarious situations of workplace abuse.  

We also recommend that vocational programs be expanded to provide teenagers with valuable skills in safe, lawful employment and alternative housing be funded for minors to reduce their vulnerability to dangerous forms of illegal employment.

Do you think efforts by states seeking to roll back child labor protections are ill-informed?

It’s important for young people to have developmentally appropriate opportunities to work.

But we don’t want young people working 12 hours overnight at a factory making potato chips or dog food and falling asleep in school — then dropping out of school and continuing to work at the dog food factory, where what they do is dangerous.

When communities face economic need and housing insecurity that drive young people into dangerous jobs, it is time to step back and ensure we have shored up the safety nets that help children and families meet basic needs without children laboring in exploitative situations.  

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