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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Identifying Challenges To Improve The Investigation And Prosecution Of State And Local Human Trafficking Cases, Amy Farrell, Jack Mcdevitt, Rebecca Pfeffer, Stephanie Fahy, Colleen Owens, Meredith Dank, William Adams Jun 2012

Identifying Challenges To Improve The Investigation And Prosecution Of State And Local Human Trafficking Cases, Amy Farrell, Jack Mcdevitt, Rebecca Pfeffer, Stephanie Fahy, Colleen Owens, Meredith Dank, William Adams

Stephanie Fahy

This report examines challenges faced in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking in the United States. The research targeted counties across the U.S. for a systematic review of human trafficking case records and interviews with police, prosecutors, and service providers. The study found that there was a significant lack of awareness about human trafficking among practitioners and the law enforcement community, as well as a focus on sex trafficking (which is disproportionate to the larger issue of human trafficking). The study provides recommendations to help improve the identification, investigation, and prosecution of human trafficking cases in the United States.


Understanding And Improving Law Enforcement Responses To Human Trafficking: Final Report, Amy Farrell, Jack Mcdevitt, Stephanie Fahy Apr 2012

Understanding And Improving Law Enforcement Responses To Human Trafficking: Final Report, Amy Farrell, Jack Mcdevitt, Stephanie Fahy

Stephanie Fahy

Though recognition of the importance and severity of human trafficking has grown in recent years, the identification and investigation of human trafficking cases remains a complex undertaking for local law enforcement. Effectively responding to human trafficking requires officers to notice and identify victims who often have been hidden from or had poor relationships with law enforcement in the past (e.g., women in prostitution, migrants, immigrant community member, and poor women). Sometimes officers may be reluctant to intervene in sex and labor trafficking situations due to a belief that victims were complicit with their own victimization. Local law enforcement response is …