What Works in Human Trafficking Policy, Victim Identification, and Service Provision

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

This panel includes four talks that together depict the current state of “what works” in responding to human trafficking. The first two talks describe cutting-edge, effective approaches to identifying victims of human trafficking and providing services to address their complex needs. The first talk describes the development and evaluation of a tool that works to identify victims of labor and sex trafficking, minor and adult victims, and foreign and domestic born victims. The second talk discusses the challenges to serving minor victims and offers promising approaches to overcoming such challenges. The last two talks help to delineate how public perceptions and federal-level policies and practices might shape responses to human trafficking. Specifically, the third talk uses data from a nationally representative survey to examine whether public expectations of how the justice system should respond to trafficking change depending on the characteristics of the trafficking case (e.g., labor or sex, victim characteristics). The fourth talk provides information about the first Federal Strategic Action Plan for Services to Victims in the United States.

Sub Unit

• Area II. Types of Offending and Victimization / 19. Sex Work/Prostitution and Human Trafficking

Individual Presentations

• Improving Trafficking Victim Identification: Use of a validated screening tool to identify sex and labor trafficking victims in the U.S. - Laura Simich, Vera Institute of Justice

• What Works in Services to Minor Trafficking Victims? - Deborah Gibbs, RTI International; Jennifer Hardison Walters, RTI International; Shari Miller, RTI International; Alexandra Lutnick, RTI International

• Public Perceptions of Human Trafficking and Expectations of the Criminal Justice System - Amy Farrell, Northeastern University; Dana Wittmer, Colorado College; Vanessa Bouché, Texas Christian University

• The Federal Role in Victim Services - B. Lindsay Waldrop, Office for Victims of Crime

Chair

• Maureen Quinn McGough, National Institute of Justice

Discussant

• John Picarelli, U.S. Department of Justice