Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

July 30 is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. It is a day proclaimed in 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution A/RES/68/192. The day aims to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.” We usually post something on the HTRL blog today about our work in recognition of this day but this year with all of the discussions on human traffickers in the media and budget cuts to the trafficking work around the world I have felt nothing but dread and apprehension about the future of the movement. The United States has been the leader in the anti-trafficking movement and has made counter trafficking a policy priority since the bi-partisan adoption of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, devoting resources and chronicling progress and setbacks around the world through the Trafficking in Persons Report. As I wrote about in a previous article the TVPA built the foundation for traffi...

I was asked to present my research project "Identifying Potential Human Trafficking Recruitment during Humanitarian Disasters and Russia’s War in Ukraine" with colleagues from Worcester Polytechnic Institute while I am here in Regensburg as a Visiting Fellow at the The Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS). The event was sponsored by the Leibniz Science Campus Regensburg, Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), Regensburg, University of Regensburg, “Denkraum Ukraine” / “Think Space Ukraine” funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) with funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA). We only had a week to put the event together but I had a great turnout and discussion on our research project. I explored some preliminary findings from our dataset on online recruitment technologies during the first 1.5 years of the war consisting of: 482,000 collected and cleaned online posts from Telegram channels Interview data from Uk...

I found out a few weeks ago that the Illinois State Police (ISP) Division of Criminal Investigation Trafficking Enforcement Bureau was moving to Decatur. This is great news for our city because it means the main labor trafficking organization in the Illinois the Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services has an office is located in Decatur, the state's only research entity focused on human trafficking is here (the Human Trafficking Research Lab), and and now the main policing entity will also be based in Decatur. ISP also recently announced that a multiagency task force is being formed to combat human trafficking in Central Illinois and will base its operations in Decatur. The Illinois Trafficking Enforcement Group, will be led by the Illinois State Police and include the Decatur Police Department and the McLean County Sheriff's Office as partnering organizations. This group was approved by the The Decatur City Council sand you can read more about it in this story from t...

Starting my month long visiting fellow residency at IOS at the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies/Leibniz-Institut für Ost- und Südosteuropaforschung (IOS) in Regensburg Germany. I will be working on our NSF funded research project on human trafficking recruitment in Ukraine during Russia's war. The Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) is one of the largest and most traditional non-university research institutions of its kind in Germany—it dates back to 1930. I am looking forward to lots of data analysis, networking, and having the opportunity to use the amazing library here. I found out they only choose 15 fellows a year so it is an honor to be here and the first time I have ever lived in the western part of Europe. 

I attended my first RUTA Association for Central, South-Eastern, and Eastern European, Baltic, Caucasus, Central and Northern Asia Studies in Global Conversation conference in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. It was a wonderful conference focusing on anti-imperialism and the influence of colonialism around the world. I heard speakers from Syria, Palestine, Chechnya, Africa and it was amazing to meet them all in Ukraine and show solidarity with Ukrainians as they continue their battle with Russian imperialism. I presented on the panel "Visions for anti-trafficking, empowering and healing" with other Ukrainian scholars. Here is a picture one of the organizers took of me presenting in the archeology museum of  Uzhhorod National University. I also loved the inclusion of different art mediums at the RUTA Conference. Everyday during lunch they hosted "The Tent of Resilience: A Participatory Art Intervention" immersive installation. I had a wonderful motanka workshop with a master from ...

Summer is usually a slower time at Millikin, when most students and faculty are off campus. A spot opened up on the WSOY Radio with Byers and Co and since Maggie was going to be in town for basketball camps we went and talked about our work on the Joint Human Trafficking Working Group. The main goal of the group was to facilitate legislation to improve and coordinate a response and as a result the Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response to Human Trafficking Act was passed by both the Illinois Senate and House in May and is awaiting Governor Pritzker's signature. As a scholar of human trafficking policy it was interesting to be in the inner circle formulating policy and trying to improve services for victims and survivors. Here is a link to the interview if you would like to listen .  

The Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin invited to be a member of the Human Trafficking Working Group sponsored by the Illinois Human Services Department in 2024. This group was tasked with working on legislation SB2323 Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response to Human Trafficking Act. We lobbied and filled out witness slips for the house and senate bills and the Governor will sign this bill into law in summer 2025. We were proud to serve on the statewide working group that wrote this legislation and our research is featured in this WAND News story ! Great news for survivors seeking justice in Illinois!