January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month
25 Typologies of human trafficking: Answering the question, “What kinds of trafficking occur in the United States?”
Polaris Project, a survivor-centered, justice- and equity-driven nonprofit organization seeking to end human trafficking, has operated the United States National Human Trafficking Hotline since 2007 and has built the largest known database on human trafficking in North America. In 2021,10,359 trafficking situations were reported to Polaris via the National Human Trafficking Hotline, with a total of 16,554 likely victims and survivors identified.
Human Trafficking is a notoriously hidden, underground, and underreported crime. We must have a clearer idea of where trafficking occurs to know where to look for it. Polaris’s research team did just that; they analyzed data from the more than 32,000 cases of human trafficking documented between December 2007 and December 2016. You can read the report here. The research team developed a classification system, identifying 25 types of human trafficking. While we know there are two broad types of human trafficking – labor and sex – this new information offers a clearer idea of how trafficking manifests in our communities.
Out of the 25 types of human trafficking:
5 were identified as sex trafficking only,
15 as labor trafficking only, and
5 were classified as both sex and labor trafficking.
This might be surprising, as our society tends to focus on sex trafficking only.
Knowing the typologies of trafficking allows organizations and programs like the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment to implement a more concerted effort to eliminate the certain types of exploitation most pervasive in the communities we serve. Join us on a mission to end human trafficking by educating yourself about the 25 types of modern slavery here.
The YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment provides FREE and CONFIDENTIAL services to victims of domestic and sexual violence, stalking, and human trafficking in Shawnee, Jackson, Brown, and Wabaunsee Counties in Kansas. CSE Advocates are available 24/7 on our helpline: 1-888-822-2983.