Human Trafficking in the Midwest: Service Providers’ Perspectives on Sex and Labor Trafficking

This project was generously supported by the University of Kansas Department of Political Science. Additional support comes from the University of Kansas Institute for Policy & Social Research. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1624317. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.This report covers the findings of ASHTI’s two-state survey to gather information from service providers working with vulnerable persons in the Midwest. Based on previous ASHTI interviews, the research team created a survey for a broad range of service providers who worked with vulnerable or trafficked persons. These service providers were selected because of their system-wide perspective on exploitation and vulnerability as well as their in-depth knowledge of individual client cases. This survey asked a range of questions to address: 1. If service providers believe they have encountered human trafficking? 2. What markers of physical or mental health are used to identify trafficked persons? 3. Which social factors can increase the risk of exploitation or trafficking? 4. What community resources can protect against the risk of trafficking