ABSTRACT In some U.S. regions, laws mandate violence training for salon professionals, but Indiana has no current requirement. Our study surveyed 408 licensed salon professionals in Indiana to explore their experiences with violence and sex trafficking and their training preferences. Participants aged 18 to 70 came from all 92 counties, with most holding barber, cosmetologist, or massage therapist licenses. A significant majority (80.1%, n = 327) reported encounters with sex trafficking victims, and 88.0% (n = 359) noted interactions with intimate partner violence (IPV) victims. Barbers and instructors were more likely to encounter both IPV and sex trafficking victims compared to other professionals (χ2 = 7.45, p < .02; χ2 = 8.74, p < .01), while licensed estheticians and electrologists expressed significantly more uncertainty in responding to cases compared to non-licensed professionals (χ2 = 33.34, p < .001). Participants emphasized the need for mandatory violence prevention education covering intervention strategies, victim identification, resources, and safety plans. They also highlighted the importance of collaboration with state agencies, policymakers, and community partners. Longer-tenured professionals reported more frequent encounters with victims (F(2, 403) = 5.91, p < .01), reinforcing the need for ongoing, role-specific training to boost confidence in responding to suspected cases.

ABSTRACT This paper considers how to better support the social inclusion of survivors of modern slavery using digital technologies. As such, it explores the under-researched views and experiences of survivors themselves and representatives of civil society organizations supporting them, in relation to how they access and use digital technologies in the UK. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 survivors and 18 organization representatives, and the data collected was thematically analyzed. Key findings suggest that, to support survivors’ (re)integration, it is essential to provide them with access to technology and the digital skills to be safe and pursue opportunities online. However, while survivors value digital technologies to access support and undertake everyday activities, funding for the provision of such technologies is both limited and inconsistent. Meanwhile, in terms of digital skills and safety training, balance between individualized, tailor-made support and formal training is often lacking. Bridging research on survivors of modern slavery with broader digital inequalities work, this paper argues that digital access and digital literacy are crucial to survivors’ material and socio-cultural (re)integration in the UK. Recommendations are provided for research, practice, and policy aimed at facilitating the social and digital inclusion of survivors.

ABSTRACT Health professionals must be prepared to assist patients who may be experiencing human trafficking. The Joint Commission, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Emergency Physicians, and other organizations have made statements on the importance of education and procedures in health care settings. This Brief Report describes a U.S.-based health system’s process in developing such a policy and procedure with supporting education, as well as three key learnings from the quality improvement process. After numerous iterations, this health system now has a system-wide policy and procedure on abuse, neglect, and violence, including human trafficking, with expanded supporting education. This initiative supports progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 16, which is to promote peace, justice, and strong institutions.

ABSTRACT The article investigates cyber-trafficking, scrutinizing the utilization of cyberspace in generating victims of trafficking. Concurrently, it delves into the methods employed to induce trafficked individuals to participate in cyber-scams and underscores how the gains from these scams are subsequently used to fund and orchestrate sophisticated transnational organized crimes. Consequently, the article discusses the emerging bidirectional relationship between cybercrime and human trafficking, representing a significant trend within organized crime by illustrating a dynamic interaction where cybercrimes are committed to facilitate human trafficking, and conversely, the trafficking of individuals becomes a means to execute cybercriminal activities. The discussion further explores the critical intersections between cybercrime and human trafficking, contributing to a substantial increase in the number of victims of both cybercrime and trafficking. A notable aspect emphasized is the shift in human trafficking targets, expanding beyond traditional demographics to include individuals, especially men with technical education. This departure from the historical focus on women and children underscores the adaptability of traffickers in leveraging the skills of a new demographic. Furthermore, it evaluates the actions taken by international governmental bodies and policymakers to address this ongoing issue and discusses additional measures that could be implemented. The article aims to offer valuable insights for policymakers, law enforcement professionals, and researchers grappling with the intricacies of this evolving nexus and, therefore, advocates for an intensified focus on research in this field and urges collaborative efforts to proactively address the issue before it surpasses current capabilities.

ABSTRACT The exploitation of people in forced labor is a significant human rights violation and a threat to community safety. Despite enhanced efforts to identify and prosecute labor trafficking perpetrators in the U.S. relatively few traffickers have been held accountable. Legal advocates and providers increasingly pursue civil litigation, immigration relief, and other roads to meet victims’ needs and achieve justice. Less understood are the specific legal, structural, and cultural barriers that make the road to justice through the criminal legal system difficult for victims of labor trafficking. Utilizing a comparative case study approach, we examine the life course of five labor trafficking cases through crucial decision points in the criminal legal process. Cases were selected to provide a range of legal system pathways. Data for each case includes legal advocate case records, client interview notes, correspondence between stakeholders, court records, and stakeholder interviews. Through comparative analysis techniques, we identify barriers that derail offender accountability and stymie victim support. The findings provide guidance to improve offender accountability and suggest alternative roads to justice centering on the needs of victims. Identifying barriers in implementing anti-trafficking laws promotes more just, peaceful, and inclusive societies in furtherance of UN Sustainability Goal 16.

ABSTRACT In April 2023, The Canada Declaration for a Human Trafficking and Slavery Free Canada was unveiled and signed by select members of Canada’s anti-human trafficking movement at the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Declaration sets out several items for Canada’s attention, hoping to end all forms of modern slavery in Canada in the coming years. While the Declaration has good intentions behind it, this critique sets out to identify and discuss some of the critical issues within it and offers suggestions on how organizers, politicians, and Canada’s leading anti-human trafficking organizations can turn performative rhetoric into real change.

ABSTRACT Law enforcement efforts of the past 20 years have failed to curb human trafficking and migrant smuggling. There are many reasons for the failure of the present anti-human trafficking regime. If law enforcement and prosecution efforts against human trafficking have proved inept, it may be due less to weak international or national legal frameworks than to a general law enforcement negligence to address the problem effectively. Added to that is the progressive disinvestment from international law enforcement cooperation, which has led law enforcement agencies to ignore the transnational nature of human trafficking and redefine it as a primarily domestic problem. Enforcement agencies must move beyond reactive responses and adopt strategic and proactive approaches to investigating and prosecuting organized crime and human trafficking. Ideas are offered on how to reverse the blatant lack of law enforcement attention to human trafficking, especially labor trafficking.