Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

On January 31st, I met with Dr. Laura Dean, for whom I will be an assistant of research, to discuss the course of action the human trafficking research lab would take this semester. This meeting established the topic of study this research lab would pursue and what steps would be taken to accomplish it. However, before settling on a topic, Dr. Dean presented me with an array of potential research topics that we could expand upon throughout the semester. There were four topics: tracking convictions of human trafficking in Illinois, tracking news stories of human trafficking in Illinois, looking for other imprisoned victims, and examining migrant profiles. I utilized my free time over the weekend to research each of these potential topics to give me an idea for what sort of literature existed and what I would envision myself devoting time to. Given my proficiency in Spanish and my interest, I decided on examining migrant profiles would be the best topic for me to direct my efforts t

I have been working on reading Heterogeneous Perspectives in Coalitions and Community-Based Responses to Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Implications for Practice written by Lara B. Gerassi and Andrea Nichols published on the Journal of Social Science Research. This article has given me some background on how individuals within task forces can be driven to fulfill the agency's goals and mission. One thing I enjoyed about this article was the focus on demographics from task force membership including degree type, race, experience with human trafficking, age, and gender because all these factors play a part in decision making. This article is important because it allows for more insight into the makeup of task force membership, unlike our research which doesn't focus so much on the personal opinions or political beliefs of members within the task forces we had analyzed through our research. I have been using Raul Pacheco-Vega's Excel Conceptual Synthesis

As we arrived in Springfield for the task force meeting I realized I left my driver's license in my car by campus and was unsure if I would be able to get into the federal building. A few minutes after pressuring the security to accept a photo of my ID on my phone they unenthusiastically let me in. As we sat down we meet representatives from many different anti-human trafficking organizations and began introducing themselves and the work they do for victims. I enjoyed learning more about other organizations within our state that are proactive in ensuring victims have the resources to regain control of their lives. Although the presentation was only for a few minutes and informal I did succumb to the angst because of all the older and more experienced professionals in the room. I, however, enjoyed the practice for future presentations to audiences of experienced researchers that will be able to question the research in ways that the task force could not. After the presentation took