Understanding Human Trafficking Organizations and Facilitators: Preliminary Results from Research on Convicted Traffickers

• In Event: Understanding the Scope, Scale, and Perpetration of Human Trafficking in the U.S.

Abstract

This presentation provides a summary of interim results from an ongoing study of sex trafficking organizations and facilitators, conducted pursuant to a grant from the National Institute of Justice. The project addresses both labor and sex trafficking, and is divided into two phases. Phase I is designed to provide typologies and modalities of trafficking organizations, detailed descriptions of how trafficking organizations are structured, and how their operations are facilitated by others (e.g., legitimate businesses or storefronts, money launderers). This portion of the study features review of United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) monitoring data and Pre-Sentence Reports (PSRs) of over 2,000 convicted offenders, and extraction of data for developing typologies, profiles, and descriptions. Phase II features interviews with convicted traffickers identified and sampled in Phase I. The interviews seek information about motivations and decision-making processes of labor and sex traffickers, including their perceptions of risks and rewards – particularly, how law enforcement efforts are perceived by individual traffickers and how individuals and organizations respond to enforcement threats to their operations.

Author

• Michael Shively, Abt Associates, Inc.