Abstract
There have been both challenges and improvements in reporting human trafficking crimes in transportation. This paper explores one element of data collected through the 2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation (NOST). Through the NOST, trafficking survivors, victim service providers, transportation personnel, and law enforcement documented unresolved challenges, identified areas of success and those needing improvement on the frontlines, and contributed to recommendations for counter-trafficking efforts. Participant responses reinforce the documented perceptions, limitations, and challenges in understanding and improving the reporting of human trafficking. Distrust and fear of repercussions, whether inflicted by traffickers or by deficiencies in the justice system, were recurring reasons for underreporting noted by participating survivors and victim service providers. Respondents from multiple transport modes also provide valuable insight into industry training gaps and recommendations for how personnel and industry leaders can help to strengthen reporting channels. For the primarily U.S.-based transportation respondents, half expressed concerns about misidentifying signs of human trafficking at work, with another quarter stating their concerns would prevent them from reporting suspected trafficking. Future directions for the transportation industry to address these challenges are provided.
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Data availability
Data discussed in this paper can be found in the full NOST report available at https://www.unitedagainstslavery.org/nost-2021.
Notes
Results within the text are presented with the total n and/or proportion who provided an answer for that population (i.e., service providers only), while any figures presented include the total n of survey respondents who answered that question (i.e., service providers and transportation workers).
A separate NOST question (QID_166) that was more focused towards respondents in law enforcement revealed victim identification and indicators of human trafficking as the top choices for desired training also.
Human trafficking in vulnerable populations is addressed in multiple chapters within the NOST final report (Wigle and Baglin 2023).
This respondent pool represents a small group of the total survivor and victim responses shared in the NOST.
Note: statistics include responses from participating survivors of labor and/or sex trafficking and may not represent any larger population segment.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the USDOT for their support. The thoughts expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of USDOT. The authors would also like to thank the field experts who reviewed the study materials and partook in the study and the larger NOST team for their support in undertaking this large and crucial project.
National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP to 233733
Funding
This work was conducted by United Against Slavery and supported by the first-ever Combatting Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation [Agency ID/Contract number 27231]. Additionally, Morristown Airport MMU and the Maryland Transportation Institute and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering each donated $2,500 to support survivor participation.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by C.W. and C.B. The first draft of the manuscript was written by M.E.A and K.Y.S. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Global IRB approval was provided for the NOST study from IRB Solutions, LLC, USA (Protocol ID 2021/05/29).
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Highlights
• Transportation workers want additional training on human trafficking.
• Fear of misidentifying traffickers and victims is a barrier for reporting.
• Improved communication on reporting in the airline industry was strongly suggested.
• Future directions for the transportation industry are provided.
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Auguste, M.E., Sokat, K.Y., Wigle, C. et al. Reporting on human trafficking crimes: a national transportation survey. J Transp Secur 17, 7 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12198-024-00277-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12198-024-00277-5