Reporting on human trafficking crimes: a national transportation survey

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.