Reports of human trafficking are on the rise.

A variety of sources indicate that there is an increasing number of victims of human trafficking self-identifying and requesting access to services. A large direct service provider in Seattle (REST), reported a 40% increase in the number of sex trafficking victims and survivors requesting services in the last three years. For the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, a reputable organization that runs a national Alliance Referral System connecting victims of trafficking to long-term residential programs, they processed 239 referrals in 2020, a 28% increase from 2019. 

Also, the 2019 Statistics report from the National Human Trafficking Hotline indicated that there was a 19% increase in the number of victims and survivors of trafficking contacting the hotline directly for assistance when compared with the previous year. 

More broadly, according to Seattle Against Slavery, an organization that implements software to scrape phone numbers connected to potential victims of trafficking from online advertisements used for buying and selling sex, in 2020 there were 164,000 potential victims connected to these phone numbers. Based on historical data within REST from the use of Seattle Against Slavery’s software to engage in digital outreach, upwards of 20% of potential victims who are reached respond positively to digital outreach with a request for services. 

This points to the possibility that right now 32,000 potential victims of human trafficking could respond to text outreach with interest in accessing services. While this is specific to sex-trafficking victims, it correlates well with the Polaris data and is likely still conservative as it points to only a subset of victims of human trafficking collectively.

Why can’t we just reach out to all of the potential victims?

When providers engage in outreach efforts to potential victims, it is important to be able to follow-through with available services to meet the self-identified needs of those whom respond. Otherwise, outreach efforts that lack follow-through and timely access to services end up reducing trust and furthering a victim’s belief that there is no hope for change. For that reason, we must first get real-time information on availability of services in various locations across the United States before we can outreach effectively.

This reality points to a multi-faceted gap in our current solutions for victims of human trafficking. Even with advancements to increase access to services through various directories, regional private inventory systems, and central referring centers like the National Human Trafficking Hotline and the BeFree text-line, still there is no simple way to determine if a victim service provider has an opening without calling them. Additionally, on the ground level, advocates and entities that provide referrals to services for victims of trafficking often lack the ability to search for services based on matching criteria for eligibility (let alone preferences), which further belabors the effort to find appropriate services that go beyond having an opening to being a true match with a victim’s needs and preferences.

We want to reduce wait times when it matters most.

Because no current mechanism exists to offer real-time status regarding availability of services, nor the ability to quickly match available services to a victim’s needs and preferences, advocates across the country are left to manually search for services and then literally reach out to every provider to determine if any have openings. This pushes wait times for quality referrals into several hours or sometimes days or weeks. 

In fact, according to the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance (NTSA), who have processed over 650 referrals through their referral system, it takes an average of 14 days between referral and intake into residential services for survivors of human trafficking. Yet victims of human trafficking don’t often have the luxury of waiting two weeks to access safety, and after a few days without momentum it is not uncommon for victims to lose touch or return to an exploitive relationship. 

So while we can celebrate that NTSA is actively enhancing access to residential services for victims of trafficking across the US, it is critical that we reduce the wait-times for victims who are in need of safety and services.

And we want to make entry into services feel safe and dignifying.

When a victim of trafficking is trying to get away from a trafficker, find a safe place to sleep at night, and/or begin to stabilize, it is a highly vulnerable experience. They often have to engage in deeply personal conversations with strangers to determine whether or not they will have options for safe housing. Will I be accepted? Will I answer all of the questions correctly? And then if they are rejected by a service provider it can reinforce underlying beliefs that it might not be worth it to try to leave their situation. 

In some cases, this experience can feel similar to the power dynamics within a trafficking situation and lead to increased shame or trauma responses in the early steps of trying to find services. 

Improving access to services requires a trauma-sensitive screening process and increased agency for victims and survivors in the process, balancing out this power dynamic and promoting dignified and empowering intake.