Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

After starting the research in Fall 2020, I am happy to have finally finished the analysis from our adjudication project and formulated a research brief based on our results which can be read here . It took five years to file 66 Freedom of Information Requests for arrest records from 2010-2020 and then analyze 326,719 arrests from the 16 counties where we received data. In total, we filed requests to 40 States’ Attorneys offices, 19 Sheriff's Offices, four with County Clerks offices, two FOIA Officers, and one with a Public Access Bureau. Then, we conducted three cycles of coding analyzing public records (legal search databases, local court documents, and newspapers) related to the case for elements of human trafficking. Our analysis of ‘second generation’ state level human trafficking related cases between 2010-2020 revealed that the majority of the state-level trafficking-related cases in Central Illinois were charged with non-trafficking offenses. We identified twice as many...

I was able to attend the Illinois Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force meeting yesterday while I was traveling and it was eye opening. Social service providers in my break out groups reported a decrease in foreign born forced labor survivors/victims coming forward because they are afraid to seek help or even leave their houses and go outside due to immigration enforcement. Others reported an increase in victims/survivor numbers but agreed that there are long last impacts and significant impediments to identification with the large scale immigration enforcement across the state. Many organizations now have to offer online services to meet the needs of their clients because otherwise people would not seek assistance. In addition to the significant federal funding cuts for human trafficking victim services this is just another worrying trend that is emerging from the current administration that inhibits anti-trafficking work around the United States.

In the midst of all of the planning for the Global Freedom Summit this week I was asked to give an interview with WCIA News on Illinois' second place ranking for human trafficking policy in the US. Though the interview was online, a camera person came to the Human Trafficking Research Lab to get so B-roll footage to go with the story (picture below). I was proud to talk about the rankings and be part of the Joint Human Trafficking Working group that developed the Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response to Trafficking Act. It's also pretty cool to be featured in an interview along with the Illinois State Police Director. Here is the link to the story if you would like to watch the interview " Big changes in the state led to Illinois being ranked near the top for human trafficking survivor laws ." 

  Yesterday was the implementation of our A21 Global Freedom Summit class project! We had over 50 people from the community and one student went down to the cafeteria to bring up more attendees. The students in my PO 323 Human Trafficking developed an interactive game, educational information to teach people about human trafficking, a public relations strategy, and an advocacy table to advocate change in our community (with QR codes and post cards to mail to representatives). The human trafficking button making was a hit and many people played the roll your fate human trafficking scenario game that students developed. The new Millikin president even stopped by and chatted with students. We also had the event featured in our student newspaper The Decaturian " A21’s Global Freedom Summit Comes to Millikin " and the Decatur Tribune " Millikin University to host anti-trafficking Global Freedom Summit film screening ." In class the next day we debriefed on what went well...

Students in my PO 323 Human Trafficking class have been working hard to implement and host the Global Freedom Summit at Millikin this semester, a film screening event designed to raise awareness about human trafficking and equip communities to take action. Since this class is particularly grim and students can get overwhelmed at the enormity and scope of the crime, I try to organize a final project that uses things we have learned in class to improve the status quo. This year when I heard that the A21 Walk for Freedom was being transformed to a film screening I thought we could transform it in my class. We began brainstorming activities that would complement the film. Then I took this list and broke it up into four different groups: social media, education, advocacy, and activities and games. Students signed up for the group they were most interested in and we started working on the project. The social media group had to start earlier with their project and have already published a...

The Shared Hope International " Just like me Report Cards " came out this week and Illinois moved from an F with a score of 54.5 in 2023 to an A with a score of 94. This moves Illinois to the second best score in the entire United States behind Maryland for encompassing laws aimed at combatting child and youth trafficking. Illinois is one of only three states in the entire US that received an A in the 2025 report. This is the biggest increase Illinois has registered in the Shared Hope International's rankings since the rankings came out 2011 and it is also the only time Illinois has been awarded an A. This sharp increase is due to the adoption of the Illinois Statewide Trauma-Informed Response to Trafficking Act which raised Illinois scores several categories of the report though there is still progress to be made in protecting victims from unjust criminalization and survivor-centered support services. The report recognized gaps in non-criminalization and juvenile court j...

We had Millikin homecoming last weekend and the Human Trafficking Research Lab participated in the Homecoming Makers Market sponsored by Millikin's Women in Business student organization. The market was on the quad and lots of alumni, students, community members and staff stopped by to chat about our work and get some coveted fair trade chocolate. I also sold a bunch of bath bombs, buttons, and keychains and raised money to support student research assistant salaries in the lab. The candles had a lot of competition at the market and it was interesting to see what other sellers had and how they displayed their items. I also got some ideas to make magnets and possibly t-shirts in the future. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by to support the Human Trafficking Research Lab and learn more about our work!