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

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

A great deal of research has been conducted on trafficking in persons, particularly since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (2000), which provided guidance for identifying and defining sex- and labor-related human trafficking. Compared with research on sex trafficking, much less is known about trafficking for the purposes of labor, particularly regarding within the United States with U.S. citizen victims. Additional complexities needing examination include how labor trafficking differs from exploitation among U.S. citizen adults and children, how labor trafficking is experienced by youth who are U.S. citizens compared with foreign nationals, and differences in how labor and sex trafficking victims are treated, how their cases are handled, and whether the traffickers are prosecuted and convicted. The studies in this panel, funded by the National Institute of Justice, are the first to address these critical knowledge gaps, advancing our understanding of how labor trafficking and exploitation occurs in the United States. Promising practices in labor trafficking identification and response are identified, and the final study explores how law enforcement and victim service providers may need to differently tailor their approaches for labor trafficking versus sex trafficking investigations. Implications for policy will be discussed.

Sub Unit

• Area III. Types of Offending / 18. Human Trafficking

Individual Presentations

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

• Understanding Child Labor Trafficking in the U.S. - Amy Farrell, Northeastern University; Meredith Dank, New York University; Katherine Kaufka Walts, Loyola University Chicago; Callie Hansson, Northeastern University; Chlece Walker-Neal-Murray, Loyola University Chicago

• Understanding What Works in the Successful Identification, Investigation, and Prosecution of U.S. Labor Trafficking Cases - Rebecca Pfeffer, RTI International; Kelle Barrick, RTI International; Meredith Dank, New York University; Elizabeth Tibaduiza, RTI International; Peyton Attaway, RTI International

Chair

• Jennifer K. Grotpeter, National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice

Discussant

• Jean Bruggeman, Freedom Network USA