The Shape of Trafficking

“Much of the popular writing on human trafficking has been anecdotal or sensationalistic, and most scholarly publications are either general overviews of the problem or critiques of the literature” (Weitzer 2014). A 2017 report estimated 24.9 million people were victims of human trafficking globally. Of those 24.9 million, 71% are women and girls and 25% are under the age of 18. Research on human trafficking is limited, and training is lacking within organizations essential to the fight against human trafficking. Additionally, members of the public are typically ignorant of the true nature of human trafficking, which is multifaceted and much more prevalent in society than the number of arrests and investigations suggests. For my honors project, I created a website with resources detailing red flags of human trafficking and links to training resources. It also contains four articles written by me on human trafficking in the area. Among researchers, it is typically agreed that human trafficking is an underestimated market and is growing. I hope my project will help health workers, law enforcement agencies, as well as the general public in identifying victims and perpetrators of human trafficking, and aid in stopping the expansion of this horrifying industry. Link to Website: http://bgsujournalism.com/theshapeoftrafficking