Human Trafficking

When Forced Marriage and Human Trafficking Intersect

What is Forced Marriage? Forced marriage occurs when one or both parties do not or cannot give consent to be married and in which there is force, fraud, or coercion. This coercion can manifest as physical, emotional, psychological, cultural, or … Read More

Audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Handling of Tips of Hands-on Sex Offenses Against Children

Introduction In July 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report on the Investigation and Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Handling of Allegations of Sexual Abuse by Former USA … Read More

Human Trafficking Response Guide for The Hospitality Industry

ABOUT THIS GUIDE As a hospitality industry professional, you are in a unique position to recognize and report potential human trafficking violations. You play an important role because you regularly interact with guests and the greater public in general. You … Read More

Media Guide FAQs

ABOUT THIS GUIDE As the long-time operators of the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Polaris knows how pervasive human trafficking is in the United States. Every year, we answer calls, texts, and chats from tens of thousands of people impacted by … Read More

Human Trafficking Response Guide for School Resource Officers

ABOUT THIS GUIDE As a school resource officer (SRO), you are in a unique position to reach students considered vulnerable to exploitation and human trafficking. You play an important role because you may regularly interact with different students as part … Read More

The 2023 Federal Human Trafficking Report

INTRODUCTION The methods used by traffickers to recruit, coerce, and exploit victims of trafficking are ever-changing. For this reason, we turn to data to help us better understand how traffickers operate and to create informed and targeted solutions to protect … Read More

Webinar Explores Strategies for Engaging Lived Experience Experts of Human Trafficking and Domestic and Sexual Abuse

Futures Without Violence, a health and social justice nonprofit dedicated to preventing and ending violence against women and children, recently held a roundtable webinar on the value of collaborating with lived experience experts of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual … Read More

Survivor-Informed Services Among Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs

Human trafficking survivors, of all ages, are the experts of their own experiences. Their experiences can provide a powerful insight on how youth-serving organizations can integrate survivor-informed practices to enlighten services, interventions, as well as decisions impacting young people, especially … Read More

Economic Empowerment for People Who Have Experienced Human Trafficking: A Guide for Anti-Trafficking Service Providers

Introduction Human trafficking is a crime inextricably tied to economic victimization. Economic instability is a common precursor to human trafficking exploitation. During a trafficking experience, economic instability may be made worse if individuals are prevented from keeping or controlling their … Read More

Engaging Survivors of Human Trafficking

Survivor Engagement in the Anti-Trafficking Field: History, Lessons Learned, and Looking Forward Survivors of human trafficking play a vital role in combating this crime. Their perspective and experience should be taken into consideration to better address this crime and to … Read More