Human Trafficking Research Portfolio
Human trafficking is not a problem of the past. In fact, we're just beginning to grasp the extent of human trafficking and the forms it takes, from the commercial sex trade to domestic servitude to child trafficking to sweatshops.
Using quantitative and qualitative approaches and working with major players in human trafficking research and regulation, the Urban Institute provides new insight into this complicated and nuanced issue. Our research seeks to better understand and describe the forces that drive trafficking and the effect it has on everyone involved. Our research has informed policy and practice, and we continue to publish groundbreaking studies shedding light on the lives of trafficking victims and the people who prey on them.
Sex Trafficking
- Perceptions of Justice (March 2018 briefs)
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Changing immigration policies may prevent human trafficking survivors from seeking help and justice April 2018 blog
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Federal Prosecution of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Cases, 2004-2013 October 2017 report (PDF)
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Consequences of Policing Prostitution
April 2017 report -
Access to Safety: Health Outcomes, Substance Use and Abuse, and Service Provision for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex
February 2016 report - LGBTQ youth locked in a cycle between the justice system and the streets
October 2015 blog post - Locked In: Interactions with the Criminal Justice and Child Welfare Systems for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex
September 2015 research report - Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex
February 2015 research report - Surviving the streets of New York
February 2015 blog post - Estimating the Size and Structure of the Underground Commercial Sex Economy in Eight Major US Cities
March 2014 research report - Misconceptions about our report on the underground commercial sex economy
March 2014 blog post - New research sheds light on America’s underground commercial sex economy
March 2014 blog post - The Super Bowl and human trafficking: What we know, and what we don't
January 2014 blog post - Four steps for keeping at-risk youth from engaging in the sex trade
October 2013 blog post - Human Trafficking Reporting System
April 2011 research report - An Analysis of Federally Prosecuted Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) Cases since the Passage of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
December 2008 research report - Comprehensive Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking: Findings from Clients in Three Communities
July 2007 research report
Labor Trafficking
- Why the human trafficking case against Signal International matters
January 2015 blog post - Understanding the Organization, Operation, and Victimization Process of Labor Trafficking in the United States
October 2014 research report - Hidden in plain sight: labor trafficking in the United States
October 2014 blog post - Funding services for human trafficking victims is imperative for policing the crime
June 2013 blog post - Identifying Challenges to Improve the Investigation and Prosecution of State and Local Human Trafficking Cases
July 2012 research report - Human Trafficking Reporting System
April 2011 research report - Comprehensive Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking: Findings from Clients in Three Communities
July 2007 research report
International Human Trafficking
- Why the human trafficking case against Signal International matters
January 2015 blog post - Comprehensive Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking: Findings from Clients in Three Communities
July 2007 blog post - Something Borrowed, Something (Black and) Blue
July 2006 research report
Monitoring Human Trafficking
Urban researchers have been asked to help design or evaluate monitoring programs for the federal government. Though these efforts did not produce public research, they did contribute substantially to efforts to end human trafficking.
Projects in Progress
NIJ-funded evaluation of the enhanced collaborative model to combat human trafficking
In 2010, the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) developed and began funding multidisciplinary “Enhanced Collaborative Model” (ECM) anti-trafficking task forces, comprised of law enforcement agencies and victim service organizations, to provide a comprehensive array of services and to enhance the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking.
The Urban Institute is conducting an evaluation of ten ECM task forces, with the goal of assessing the impact they have on identifying and assisting human trafficking survivors and investigating and prosecuting human trafficking crimes. The evaluation will also examine differences among task force models in an effort to identify features of task forces that enable successful investigations and prosecutions of human trafficking.
OVC-funded specialized human trafficking training and technical assistance
The Urban Institute will partner with the Justice Program Office (JPO) at American University to evaluate the launch of Maximizing OVC's Survivor Assistance in Court Settings (MOSAICS), a program intended to assist court personnel in creating and implementing effective, responsive interventions for human trafficking survivors.
In collaboration with a team of nationally recognized human trafficking experts and trafficking survivors, MOSAICS will provide trauma-informed, resilience-based, and survivor-centered training and technical assistance (TTA) to a broad range of stakeholders in local adult criminal court settings, including attorneys, judges, probation, parole, and court and correction officers, with the goal of increasing the identification of human trafficking survivors in criminal court settings, enhancing survivor referrals to appropriate services, and decreasing re-victimization of human trafficking survivors who interact with the justice system.