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Human trafficking, as an illegal movement of people using coercions, frauds, and forces, is considered modern-day slavery. The world nowadays is experiencing severe socio-economic and cultural problems as a result of human trafficking. This study examines the trends of human trafficking in Metema Woreda, Ethiopia. The study also investigates actors and modus operandi of human trafficking in Metema woreda. A qualitative research method was employed—both descriptive and case study research designs were also used. Accordingly, primary data were collected by conducting key informant interviews with residents, victims, and public officials. Secondary data were collected from state documents, records, reports, articles, and official statistics. The collected data were thematically analysed. The study finally concludes that despite there had been increasing trends in the past, the current trend of human trafficking in Metema shows slight decreasing. The study identified traffickers, political leaders, shekaba, shekama, residents of transit places, government officials, and security forces as actors facilitating the human trafficking process. Moreover, extreme poverty and high unemployment rates are driving forces that make individuals, particularly young women, become victims of human trafficking. Generally, the study recommends the local and higher governments to address human trafficking by enforcing laws more effectively, implementing robust local security measures, generating employment prospects, and alleviating poverty. The study also recommends the local community to stop collaborating the illegal traffickers and stand for fight against the human trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since Malaysian authorities developed the Maid Online System (MOS) to recruit foreign domestic workers remotely, including Indonesian workers, the government of Indonesia has enacted a moratorium policy. The system allows Malaysian employers to have low-cost overseas workers. Nevertheless, it offends the bilateral agreement signed in the Memoranda of Understanding between Indonesia and Malaysia. Within the system, the sending countries like Indonesia cannot appropriately protect the workers who utilize MOS independently. In contrast, the host countries dominate the process from pre-departure to arrival. Without proper protection from the country of origin, the workers are more likely to become victims of human trafficking and slavery. This study investigates the positive support of online Indonesian public opinion for Indonesia's moratorium policy concerning Malaysia's Maid Online System (MOS) to recruit foreign domestic workers, including Indonesians. The paper focuses on secondary data from YouTube, Instagram, and online news. The data analysis of this paper utilizes netnography to elaborate on domestic politics in which public opinion (comments on YouTube, Instagram, and online news) strongly supports Indonesia's moratorium policy. Considering Putnam's two-level game theory, this article argues that netizens support Indonesia's moratorium policy because of cost and benefits considerations, rivalry among states, and meritocratic authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assistance following acute violence was previously regulated by the Victim Compensation Act (OEG). At the beginning of the current year it was replaced by the Social Code XIV (SGB XIV). The SGB XIV defines new groups of beneficiaries, outpatient trauma clinics must be provided nationwide and binding criteria for the quality of care were established. The aim of this study was to map the current status of care in outpatient trauma clinics in accordance with the requirements of the new SGB XIV. With respect to new beneficiaries, the status of services for victims of human trafficking was recorded as an example. Methods: Outpatient clinics that provide rapid assistance under the OEG or SGB XIV were surveyed on structural and content-related aspects of their work. An online survey consisting of 10 thematic modules was used. Data were obtained from a total of N = 110 outpatient clinics (response rate 50%). Results: The participating outpatient clinics reported a wide range in terms of the number of staff and the number of people seeking counselling. Some of the outpatient clinics reported deficits with respect to structural aspects, such as the waiting time for the initial consultation and specific training in trauma treatment for staff. The majority of outpatient clinics were uncertain about how to deal with victims of human trafficking. Discussion: Outpatient trauma clinics appear to reach their target population and provide appropriate services for their care; however, a significant number of outpatient clinics need to make improvements in order to fulfil the quality criteria of SGB XIV and provide adequate care to new groups of beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The externalization of migration control undermines the protection of victims of trafficking in human beings. Pushbacks and pullbacks at sea, as well as simplified or accelerated identification procedures, exacerbate the risk of trafficking and retrafficking and prevent victims from accessing the protection to which they may be entitled in European States. In this scenario, the European Court of Human Rights can play a crucial role among international bodies and courts in ensuring effective remedies for victims in case of repatriation to their countries of origin and transit. This study examines the applicability of the prohibition of slavery, servitude and forced labour enshrined in Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights—whose scope now undisputedly includes trafficking in human beings—in the context of the externalization of migration control. It demonstrates that litigating unlawful refoulements under Article 4 ECHR might be very worthwhile to raise awareness of migration-related risks for victims, to strengthen the legal framework of positive obligations in trafficking cases, and to ascertain violations of anti-trafficking international obligations by European States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human trafficking is a modern-day slavery that mostly disproportionate women in the society. This study aimed to fill the knowledge gaps regarding the aftercare experiences of human trafficking survivors as they navigated their recovery and reintegration into society, with a specific focus on the Philippines. The research investigated the effectiveness of aftercare interventions provided by agency, highlighting the importance of comprehensive and customized support systems. It drew on Empowerment Theory and Ecological Systems Theory to inform its analysis. The study utilized a qualitative intrinsic case study design, employing purposeful sampling to gather insights from social worker, psychologist, house parents, survivors and other professional involved in aftercare. Collecting data using typically involved conducting in-depth interviews, engaging with key informants, and facilitating focus group discussions. Emerging themes were analyzed using Braun and Clarke's method of thematic analysis. The study uncovered two main themes: "Grappling with Adversities" and "Socio-emotional Transformation." It provided insight into the challenges and situations experienced by survivors, as well as the influence of support systems, healing processes, and personal development initiatives on their recovery. The research highlighted the significance of education, development of independent living skills, and provision of emotional support in empowering survivors. Suggested measures involved the establishment of thorough post-treatment support initiatives, public initiatives to raise awareness within the community, and ongoing professional training for workers. This study added to our knowledge of survivor empowerment within the realm of human trafficking and emphasized the importance of continued research and evaluation of aftercare programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex trafficking is a national issue. The U.S. Department of State estimates there are 600,000 to 800,000 victims of sex trafficking in the United States each year. Victims are physically, emotionally, or sexually abused by their trafficker and experience indescribable trauma. This trauma has lasting biological and psychological consequences and often leads to criminal behavior. Because of the trauma and abuse, victims cannot be held morally culpable for the crimes they commit due to their victimization. However, most states punish rather than rehabilitate victims. One way to protect victims is through affirmative defense laws, yet forty-two states have improper affirmative defense laws. This Article proposes that those states adopt a unique affirmative defense for victims who commit a crime as a result of their sex trafficking victimization. For brevity, one of the forty-two states, Arizona, is used as a case study state to illustrate the importance of such a defense. The defense is not only victim-centered but also trauma-informed. It considers the needs and wants of the victim during the criminal justice process. It also recognizes that a victim's trauma can lead to criminal behavior, thus negating moral culpability. Finally, it is in line with feminist legal reasoning. The defense allows victims to present their story to the court, reclaim their autonomy, and integrates perspectives other than those in the dominant culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research solidly documents the victim-offender overlap in various crimes, including human trafficking. Given the hidden nature of this exploitative crime, increasing the identification of victims is crucial. One way to do this is through the creation and implementation of screening tools. To date, most screening tools for human trafficking victims are created by and implemented in the field of health care or with youth or young adults, particularly those who have experienced housing instability. However, the use of these tools to identify victims of human trafficking in correctional settings—where victims are often misidentified as offenders—is limited. To address this deficiency, a victim-centered, trauma-informed screening tool was implemented in a local detention center to identify human trafficking victims, with the purpose of offering them resources to facilitate their exit from trafficking situations. This article outlines the creation and implementation of the tool and discusses its successes, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Sexualforschung is the property of Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Ciencia y Educación (2707-3378) is the property of Duanys Miguel Pena Lopez and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction. Patients with complex forms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may benefit from schema therapy. While a small number of studies point to the effectiveness of individual schema therapy in refugees with PTSD, no evidence on group schema therapy (GST) in refugees exists. To illustrate and advocate for the use of GST in refugee patients with treatment-resistant PTSD and comorbid personality pathology, a case report is presented. Presentation. The case concerned the treatment of an East African female refugee who survived sexual and physical violence and loss as a child, as the hostage of a rebel army, and as a victim of human trafficking. She was diagnosed with PTSD, major depressive disorder, and borderline personality disorder. Trauma-focused therapy was hampered by insufficient treatment attendance due to current stress factors and early destructive coping strategies. One year of GST enabled the patient to overcome treatment-undermining patterns and benefit from subsequent trauma-focused therapy. Conclusion. This case suggests that GST may have the potential to improve treatment adherence and the effectiveness of trauma-focused treatment in complex refugee patients. Clinical impressions need to be confirmed in a study that examines the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of GST in refugees with treatment-resistant PTSD and personality pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trafficking in Persons (TPPO) is a grave human rights violation because it causes various negative impacts on victims physically, psychologically, or socio-economically; one of the efforts to restore victims of TPPO is through restitution. This research explores the role of restitution in the context of TPPO. This research adopts a qualitative approach by collecting data through a literature study. Furthermore, the data is analysed through three stages: data reduction, presentation, and conclusion drawing. The findings of the research indicate that restitution plays a vital role as a remedy and legal protection for victims of human trafficking. In its application, the punishment for the obligation to pay restitution can be replaced with imprisonment. Criminal punishment is not merely a deterrent effect on the convicted person, but recovery for the victim of the crime itself through restitution must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study takes a cognitive view of metaphor to investigate the terms designating vulnerable people used in two legal languages, namely English as used in the European Union and Mandarin Chinese. We applied a discourse dynamics approach to metaphor to explore the implicit connotations of the terms identifying different groups of vulnerable people (e.g., minors, disabled people, victims of human trafficking). The findings show that even when appearing in legal texts, many of the key terms for these groups are not objective, nor are they unbiased and detached from our subjective and bodily experience of the world. When these terms are connoted, they tend to have negative connotations, raising concerns about their social implications. This study highlights the entailments of embodiment theories for terminology and proposes that the identification of groups of vulnerable people is a social product motivated by unconscious relations of power rather than relations of assistance and reciprocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Victims of trafficking in persons are understood as Victims of crime are persons who have suffered personal or collective harm, including physical or mental injury, mental suffering, financial loss, or substantial damage to their basic rights, as a result of acts or omissions that violate applicable criminal laws and laws. That prevents criminal abuse of power. Victims of human rights crimes, namely the right to obtain restitution, medical rehabilitation, social rehabilitation, social reintegration, and refoulment. This study uses normative legal research methods with a research approach, namely the statutory approach and the legal concept analysis approach. As well as the data analysis technique used is a qualitative descriptive analysis technique. the result of the social reintegration of victims of trafficking in persons as a process of reuniting victims with their families or communities includes physical, psychological and rehabilitation protection and ensures that the reintegration process of applicable social norms can be understood by victims who wish to return to their hometowns. In the Indonesian context, especially the Social Service in Malang, victims must also ensure that they have identity cards, family cards, and other supporting data as tools for identification and a complete assessment of human trafficking victims. However, considering that human trafficking victims are vulnerable, especially in population data and administration, other identification options are needed to make integrating human trafficking victims easier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hotel industry is a critical component of sex trafficking in the United States; yet not a single Hotel chain has been held civilly liable for their compliance in sex trafficking under the current legal landscape. This Note compares state and federal civil liability laws targeting hotels and their participation in sex trafficking, with a focus on the variance in required mental states. This Note argues for a stricter standard to hold hotels liable, applying per se liability where Hotels fail to comply with mandated sex trafficking training, therefore providing victims with a real chance at receiving recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions surrounding mobility and migration are often connected to matters of language, citizenship, socio-economic status and class that are inherently unequal between developed and less-developed nation states. Scholars of geography and demographics have conceptualized both internal and external/international migration with "push" and "pull" factors as salient reasons for mobility. Traditional causes of external migration and so-called "push factors" include conflict, natural disaster, economic collapse, war, and transformations of socio-political systems as well as more promising employment options and decent incomes as contributing factors to external migration (Gonçalves & Schluter, 2020, p. 3). Such "forced moves" affect largely disadvantaged populations that are at risk (i.e. asylum seekers, refugees, victims of human trafficking) (Castles, 2003). For individuals engaging in lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities and considered voluntary migration, their life circumstances are extremely different in that they are often equipped with "privileged preconditions" (Mancinelli, 2020, p. 419) as "nomads from affluence" (Cohen, 1973) including for the most part, education, specialized skills, high standards of living and favorable visa regimes of their home countries (primarily in the West). These factors facilitate a range of choices in terms of where they travel to (i.e. place), also known as network capital, the kind of work they engage in and the rate of their mobility. Based on years of ethnographic work, in this paper, we investigate the different dimensions and discourses of lifestyle migration and lifestyle mobilities, both of which we argue presents a new trajectory and venue to explore within the field of migration linguistics (Borlongan, 2023). By focusing on two different case studies within Norway, we also draw on the notion of mediational repertoires (Lexander & Androutsopolous, 2021) as part of the communicative ecology in which jobs are found and where communication takes place among different types of migrants and their new permanent or temporary homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human sex trafficking represents a pressing social problem that has garnered a significant amount of attention. A great deal of research has focused on key issues related to human sex trafficking, including factors associated with being trafficked and where human sex trafficking is most likely to occur. A body of research has also examined some of the potential consequences associated with being a victim of human sex trafficking. The current study adds to these findings by analyzing unique self-reported data to examine whether human sex trafficking in adolescence is associated with adulthood depression, suicidal ideation, intimate partner violence victimization, and criminal involvement. To do so, data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) were analyzed. The results revealed statistically significant associations between four human sex trafficking measures and the outcome measures for males and females. However, these associations were somewhat inconsistent, relatively small in magnitude, and the patterns of significance varied between males and females. We conclude by discussing limitations of the study and offering avenues for future research on human sex trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper assesses the current circumstances regarding the protection and rights of victims of human trafficking in Kazakhstan. The study aims to evaluate Kazakhstan's main national instruments and laws adopted to combat human trafficking. Methods: The study employed several key methodological approaches, including a systematic approach, which involves the study of combating human trafficking in conjunction with the provision of guarantees of human rights; an integrated approach that consists of the study of objective and subjective factors, as well as an analysis of internal and external (socio-economic, demographic, geopolitical, etc.) factors that are the causes of illegal migration and human trafficking; an empirical approach involving research, taking into account the application of relevant experience available in Kazakhstan and abroad; a formal-legal approach to analyse the existing regulatory framework for combating human trafficking and ways to improve it. Results and Conclusions: Based on the study's results, several practical proposals are put forward to eliminate the identified shortcomings and gaps in the legal framework of Kazakhstan and law enforcement practice. This paper concludes that Kazakhstan's response to its international obligations to prevent human trafficking has some shortcomings. However, we conclude that significant improvements are possible through the adoption of a special law, as well as in cases of implementation of special organisational measures, strengthening legal responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit monitoring is a preventive approach used to identify possible cases of human trafficking before exploitation while an individual is in transit or before crossing a border. Transit monitoring is often conducted by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that train staff to identify and intercept suspicious activity. Love Justice International (LJI) is a well-established NGO that has been conducting transit monitoring for years along the Nepal-India border at multiple monitoring stations. In partnership with LJI, we developed a system that uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to help LJI decision makers evaluate the performance of these stations at intercepting potential human trafficking victims given the amount of resources (staff, etc.) available and make specific operational improvement recommendations. Our model consists of 91 decision-making units from seven stations over 13 quarters and considers three inputs, four outputs, and three homogeneity criteria. Using this model, we identified efficient stations, compared rankings of station performance, and recommended strategies to improve efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of DEA in the anti-human trafficking domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Frónesis is the property of Universidad del Zulia (Fronesis) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Human trafficking, which a type of modern slavery, has been discussed in many studies under international law or transnational crimes. However, it has not been discussed in Türkiye so far from the victims’ perspective. This study investigates the effectiveness of public services such as voluntary repatriation and support programs for victims intended for human trafficking victims in Türkiye. Finally, the effectiveness of these practices is evaluated through qualitative research conducted with 14 Immigration Experts working in the Presidency of Migration Management by applying the participatory method. The study results have shown that the laws and regulations written on the desk have difficulty going beyond theory, and there are a set of troubles in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of this article is human trafficking in the context of endangering personal security, with an individual as a referent object in need of protection. The author employs a literature review as the primary research method. The aim is to synthesize available scholarly literature and gain insights into existing theoretical generalizations and findings of empirical research examining human trafficking as a threat to personal security. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the subject, the analysis encompasses scholarly articles from various fields, particularly security studies and migration studies. The findings reveal that victims experience physical, psychological and sexual violence throughout different stages of the trafficking process, extending beyond the exploitation phase, as commonly acknowledged. The primary objective of employing various forms of violence is to maintain victims in a submissive and slave-like position, reinforcing the belief that escape is impossible. It is worth noting that researchers primarily focus on sexual exploitation, resulting in a larger body of work addressing women and girls as victims of human trafficking. Future research should aim to explore further other less visible forms of human trafficking, which may have equally severe implications for personal security. Additionally, the ongoing challenge of identifying these victims perpetuates the vicious circle of victimization. For holistic insights, it is necessary to examine this issue from a broader perspective on human security [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relatively recent period can be characterized by a lack of involvement of the national legislator towards the system of protection of crime victims. This aspect is proven both by the lack of reaction of the legislator, who failed to correct some provisions with an impact on the prescription of criminal liability, as well as by some uninspired interventions made on several general provisions of the Criminal Code, which established the non-prescriptive character of crimes of trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable people. As a result of the Decisions of the Constitutional Court of Romania no. 297/2018 and no. 358/2022, by which it was found that the legislative solution, which provided that the interruption of the period of limitation of criminal liability is achieved by fulfilling any act of criminal procedure, is unconstitutional, the effects of the special prescription were removed retroactively. These effects were consolidated in the national jurisprudence and as a result of the direct incidence of the principle of applying the more favorable criminal law, provided for by art. 5 of the Criminal Code, which the High Court of Cassation and Justice, through a decision pronounced in the resolution of some legal issues, considered it applicable in the matter of the rules regarding the interruption of the prescription course. In turn, some of the legislative interventions that appeared in 2020 also concerned, in a critical manner, the institution of the prescription of criminal liability, since the legislator, out of the desire to increase the protection granted to minor victims, omitted to recompose the legal norm of art. 154 para. 4 Criminal Code, on the occasion of the amendments introduced by Law no. 217/2020. This fact had the consequence of returning for a short period to the way of calculating the limitation period in the case of crimes of trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable persons and child pornography committed against a minor, in a way specific to the more favorable criminal law. In this context, the legislator's intervention on the punishment limits and the declaration of the non-prescription nature of some crimes of trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable people seems to be a rather late reaction, which cannot cancel the harmful consequences of the inactivity of the actors with a decision-making role in correcting the criminal legislation. In the pages of this study, we will try to analyze the negative aspects generated by these legislative events, which determined a much lower standard of protection for victims of human trafficking and which are likely to violate the positive obligation of the Romanian state to investigate and sanction a series of serious acts repressed by international conventions ratified by Romania. Failure to fulfill this positive obligation on the part of the state and the implications of a defective legislative policy leave their mark on the way the rights and freedoms guaranteed to victims are protected in our country, because the criminal justice system must ensure a real and effective protection of the values protected by law, so that the objectives pursued by the various international legal instruments do not become mere intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: Human trafficking is a widespread public health problem across the United States. In recognition of the incredible need among victims and survivors of human trafficking for longitudinal, trauma-informed care, the Medical Safe Haven (MSH) was developed in 2016 through the Dignity Health Family Medicine Residency Program in Sacramento, California, and subsequently expanded to 2 other Dignity Health residency program sites. The MSH program included 3 sessions of trafficking-specific curriculum for resident physicians to prepare them to provide care for MSH patients. The current study aimed to evaluate resident physician learner confidence after participating in the MSH curriculum along with perceptions of the MSH program as a whole upon their graduation. METHODS: The study was a retrospective, preassessment/postassessment design. Resident physicians completed surveys that assessed learner confidence after each of the 3 training sessions, utilizing Likert scale items. Third-year resident physicians also completed a survey that included scaled and open-ended questions. Paired t -tests were used to evaluate the data in addition to content analysis for the open-ended questions. RESULTS: There were significant increases in learner confidence after the training sessions on all items measured, including identifying and caring for victims and survivors of trafficking. Third-year residents responded that the MSH program helped them to more effectively communicate and care for victims and survivors and many planned to take the trauma-informed care model to their future practices. CONCLUSION: While generalizability of the study was limited due to the retrospective design, the MSH program was found to have a meaningful impact on the resident physicians who participated in the training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the factors that influence hotel/motel employees' helping behavior toward the victims of human trafficking. Design/methodology/approach: Using a survey-based quantitative method, this study examines and compares two models of helping behavior based on egoism and altruism theories to measure the helping tendencies of lodging employees toward victims of human trafficking. Findings: The study results show that perceived intrinsic rewards of helping and empathy with the victims are the major antecedents of employees' likelihood to help the victims. Research limitations/implications: The study contributed to the egoism school of thought and the Cost-Reward Model by showing that only perceived intrinsic rewards drive individuals' intention to help in risky covert situations, such as human trafficking, while perceived extrinsic rewards may demotivate people to help in these situations. Originality/value: Previous studies overlooked the role of the lodging industry in human trafficking. This study focuses on service employees as potential helpers of the victims as they notice in hotels/motels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research has documented the needs of human trafficking victims, the importance of such needs during the COVID-19 pandemic remains understudied. This study sought to determine the most critical and urgent service needs of social service providers who serve human trafficking victims. Drawing from survey responses collected from 100 service providers from all 15 counties in Arizona, researchers examined agency needs to serve human trafficking victims during a pandemic, the barriers/fears expressed by human trafficking victims to obtain social services, and the saliency of needs regarding training, screenings, protocols, and services provided. Respondents indicated that the most necessary needs included more training, funding, and receiving referrals. Respondents reported that most barriers/fears expressed by sex trafficking clients were feelings of shame and not self-identifying as a victim. Labor trafficking victims lack knowledge about resources and experience little to no social support. Findings highlight a sustained need for awareness building, developing strong partnerships between agencies that serve human trafficking victims, and the needed ability of social service agencies to modify their service delivery systems during a pandemic. Future research is needed to understand the lack of victim demographic data and provide clear guidelines for agencies to handle emergencies such as a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: Approximately 11,000 alleged illicit massage businesses (IMBs) exist across the United States hidden in plain sight among legitimate businesses. These illicit businesses frequently exploit workers, many of whom are victims of human trafficking, forced or coerced to provide commercial sex. Academic/practical relevance: Although IMB review boards like Rubmaps.ch can provide first-hand information to identify IMBs, these sites are likely to be closed by law enforcement. Open websites like Yelp.com provide more accessible and detailed information about a larger set of massage businesses. Reviews from these sites can be screened for risk factors of trafficking. Methodology: We develop a natural language processing approach to detect online customer reviews that indicate a massage business is likely engaged in human trafficking. We label data sets of Yelp reviews using knowledge of known IMBs. We develop a lexicon of key words/phrases related to human trafficking and commercial sex acts. We then build two classification models based on this lexicon. We also train two classification models using embeddings from the bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) model and the Doc2Vec model. Results: We evaluate the performance of these classification models and various ensemble models. The lexicon-based models achieve high precision, whereas the embedding-based models have relatively high recall. The ensemble models provide a compromise and achieve the best performance on the out-of-sample test. Our results verify the usefulness of ensemble methods for building robust models to detect risk factors of human trafficking in reviews on open websites like Yelp. Managerial implications: The proposed models can save countless hours in IMB investigations by automatically sorting through large quantities of data to flag potential illicit activity, eliminating the need for manual screening of these reviews by law enforcement and other stakeholders. Funding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [Grant 1936331]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2023.1196. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human trafficking is considered a hidden global crime with unsubstantiated numbers. Despite the challenges in counting or measuring this crime, reports revealed the presence of around 40.3 million victims worldwide. Human trafficking results in severe detrimental impacts on both mental and physical health. Given the sensitivity and negative consequences of human trafficking on the global system and victims, and considering the scarce research in this area, our current study aimed at describing the (i) Sociodemographic profiles of anonymized victims, (ii) Means of control, and (iii) Purpose of trafficking, utilizing the largest anonymized and publicly available dataset on victims of human trafficking. Methods: This is a retrospective secondary analysis of the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC) data pool in the period from 2010 to 2020. The utilized dataset is called the k-anonymized global victim of trafficking dataset, and it is considered the largest global dataset on victims of human trafficking. Data from the k-anonymized data pool were extracted and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences, SPSS® version 27.0 for Windows (IBM Corp. Version 27.0. Armonk, NY) for quality check and analysis using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 87003 victims of human trafficking were identified in the period from 2010 to 2020. The most age category encountered among victims was 9–17 years with 10326 victims (11.9%), followed by 30–38 years with 8562 victims (9.8%). Females comprised 70% of the sample with 60938 victims. The United States (n = 51611), Russia (n = 4570), and the Philippines (n = 1988) comprised the most countries of exploitation/trafficking. Additionally, the year 2019 witnessed the greatest number of victims registered for assistance by anti-trafficking agencies with around 21312 victims (24.5%). Concerning means of control, threats, psychological abuse, restriction of the victim's movement, taking the victim's earnings, and physical abuse were the most reported means. 42685 victims (49.1%) reported sexual exploitation as the purpose of their trafficking, followed by forced labor with 18176 victims (20.9%). Conclusion: Various means and methods can be used by traffickers to control the victims to be trafficked for many purposes, with sexual exploitation and forced labor being the most common ones. Global anti-trafficking efforts should be brought together in solidarity through utilizing the paradigm of protection of victims, prosecution of traffickers, prevention of trafficking, and inter-sectoral partnerships. Despite being a global concern with various reports that tried to capture the number of trafficked victims worldwide, human trafficking still has many unseen aspects that impose a significant challenge and adds to the global burden in combatting this threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) initiative was to implement a human trafficking (HT) education module for the emergency department (ED) staff and providers along with implementation of a policy and protocol for screening, identification, and referral of HT victims in the ED to increase provider knowledge of HT and ensure provider compliance with the HT protocol via documentation of red flags and screening questions in the electronic medical record along with social services referrals. The goal of the social services referral was to connect the HT victim with community resources that facilitated placement, food, and shelter in the event the trafficking victim accepted rescue. HT is a public health concern, globally, nationally, and at the state and local levels. ED providers, which include advanced practice registered nurses such as nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, are positioned to be able to identify and treat victims of HT. Therefore, HT victims are being seen and treated in EDs; however, health care providers are not recognizing them. Project design was a QI initiative, which utilized a convenience sample of ED providers. All ED providers and staff completed the HT Education module in Health Stream with pretest/posttest assessments via the PROTECT instrument, which evaluated ED staff/provider knowledge, perceived, actual, and confidence of HT, demographics, previous contact with HT victims, and participant preference for future HT training. HT Education resulted in improved knowledge of participants' perceived, actual, and confidence of HT as demonstrated by statistical significance from pretest to posttest scores; therefore, the HT educational training proved to be beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human trafficking is a burgeoning crime, which is often inadequately measured by researchers and misunderstood by policy-makers and the public (Dottridge, [3]; Fedina, [4]; Guilbert, [5]). Reforming response: generating new approaches to disrupt human trafficking In the second part of this special issue, three articles make a substantial contribution to pushing forward new approaches toward disrupting human trafficking. With this special issue, we aim to respond to the criticisms of the criminal justice response to human trafficking by highlighting advances in criminal justice research, with the aims of informing and reforming how the criminal justice system responds to those who are victimized by human trafficking and those who perpetrate human trafficking. [Extracted from the article]

The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) includes children who are sexually exploited for commercial purposes in its definition of human trafficking victims. However, most states criminalize sex trafficked minors for prostitution. Despite this tension, little research exists on variation in state-level child sex trafficking statutes. Studying this legislation is necessary because state-level statutes often determine if children are treated as criminals or victims. Local law enforcement and service providers interact with this population more often than federal officials. This mixed methods study uses Event History Analysis and interviews with anti-criminalization advocates, state legislators, state legislative aides, and state prosecutors to examine social, economic, and political factors associated with legislative decisions prohibiting the arrest and/or prosecution of sexually exploited minors for prostitution. Statistical analyses suggest that states with a higher prevalence of concentrated disadvantage are more likely to criminalize this population. Similarly, participants in qualitative interviews describe conditions of structural economic inequality as a primary risk factor for child sex trafficking. For that reason, addressing socio-economic factors such as jobs, wages, and housing are essential for preventing minors from being commercially sexually exploited, and, as a result, being criminalized. Theoretical implications and policy recommendations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]