Human Trafficking Research Lab @Augustana University

Got up early this morning to attend the September Anti-Trafficking Task Force meeting in Ukraine (Зустріч Оперативної групи з протидії торгівлі людьми). It was especially interesting meeting since we talked about the newly adopted state programme and talking human trafficking policies in Ukraine is one of my favorite topics! The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the State Targeted Social Program to Combat Human Trafficking until 2030 ( Державна цільова соціальна програма протидії торгівлі людьми на період до 2030 року ) on September 3, 2026.  The new programme promotes a trauma-informed approach where victims/survivors will no longer have to repeatedly recount their experiences to various government agencies because a unified system for data sharing will be established. There will also be an expansion of the network of support centers for victims and increased efforts to combat labor, sexual, and other forms of exploitation. Some of the key components of the program include ...

One thing that no one ever tells you about academic research is that you often bounce around from one project to the next based on different deadlines and more pressing needs. This week for me that means picking up on the literature review that I was working on for our online recruitment during war article back in May. Since I traveled with students, moved for a new job, and turned in the final round of revisions for my book I was busy all summer working on other things. Then I got a revise and resubmit on another article which pushed that to the front of my research queue, so it ended up being almost three months before I could come back to this literature review.  Thankfully I left good notes for myself about where I left off reading the literature so I can easily pick things back up...now I just have to remember what all of the literature said (but thankfully I wrote notes on that for myself too). Sometimes going back and forth between projects feels a little like whip lash and ...

  Since I moved to South Dakota I have been meeting with different anti-trafficking stakeholders working to build connections and introduce people to the lab. I was interested in joining the South Dakota East River Human Trafficking Task Force and learning more about their initiatives. Sadly the email came back returned but after a little bit of research I found the organization that used to run the task force and emailed them for a meeting. I met with them this week and learned a bit about the history of the two task forces East River and West River with the separation line of the Missouri River in the middle of the state. The East River Task Force meets twice a year in person in January and June. Previously they had subcommittees that were very active but only one focused on the trafficking of children is still active. They have to look into the bylaws to see how to appoint an individual but hopefully it will work out so I can be appointed as a representative from the Human Traff...

I am so excited to be returning to classes at Millikin and to my work at the Human Trafficking Research Lab, now located at Augustana University! With me staying at Millikin and Dr. Dean moving to Augustana, there has definitely been a transition period, but I can feel that we are getting back into the swing of things as the new school year settles in.  I have completed pulling and categorizing articles from the Chicago Sun Times and have moved on to the Springfield State-Journal Register. It’s interesting already to see how different these two newspapers are. I have noticed that much of the coverage from the Chicago Sun Times regarding Human Trafficking is related to the crime itself, while more of the Springfield State-Journal Register articles have focused on prevention and community leaders. I’ve been reflecting a lot on the opportunity I had to attend the inaugural Statewide Human Trafficking Conference in Peoria in May, just before the end of last semester. Attending the conf...

I finally submitted the revisions for our adjudication article! I wanted to get it done before school started last week but since I am new and developing a new course my syllabus preparation took longer than anticipated pushing the revisions to this article back. Still I am happy to move my post-it on my publication board from revise and resubmit to under review again. Hopefully after the second round of revisions this article will be accepted.  While I was working on the revisions an interesting story was published in the local news media  Macon County woman says justice denied in trafficking case which highlighted how human trafficking cases are charged and adjudicated for lesser sentences in Central Illinois. This case is exactly the type of case our research focuses on in Central Illinois. Police charged a variety of offenses including domestic battery, promoting prostitution, sexual assault, felon in possession of a weapon and breaking and entering. Then the case was ple...

We have a chapter on "Human Trafficking and Forced Criminality in Wartime" that is forthcoming in later 2026 in an edited volume on Crime and Justice in Wartime Ukraine published by Routledge. The book now has a cover and website  and it is exciting to see this edited volume come to fruition. Our chapter features highlights from our NSF sponsored research. We examine new aspects of human trafficking that have manifested after Russia's invasion especially forced criminality, an emerging aspect of human trafficking that is prevalent in the Russian occupied territories. We will be participating in a book panel at ASEEES in November talking about the book so it will be great to meet the other authors in person and discuss different aspects of the book.