The Labor Trafficking of U.S. Citizens: Findings from an Exploratory Study

• In Event: NIJ-Day: Advancing our Understanding of Labor Trafficking in the United States

Abstract

Existing research on labor trafficking in the United States has mainly focused on the experiences of legal or undocumented migrant communities. As a result, we know very little about the phenomenon of labor trafficking or the attributes and profiles of its U.S. citizen victims. There are numerous reasons to believe U.S. citizens are vulnerable to and are victims of labor trafficking. Despite the reality that U.S. citizens experience labor trafficking, researchers have conducted no studies specifically on the vulnerability of U.S. citizen populations to this form of trafficking. This presentation will highlight the findings from a recent study that surveyed over 200 people, using snowball methodology, in three different jurisdictions about their abusive work experiences. This study helps to fill the gaps by exploring labor exploitation and labor trafficking violations among U.S. citizens, with the goal of building basic knowledge about the phenomenon and the attributes of this victim population.

Authors

• Meredith Dank, New York University

• Amy Farrell, Northeastern University

• Sheldon Zhang, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Stephen B. Abeyta, Northeastern University

• Andrea Hughes, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY