Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

The Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin was asked to table at our local Walk for Freedom on October 16, 2021.  The walk is put on globally by the A21 Campaign and consisted of a 1.5 mile "silent" walk raising awareness to human trafficking in Central Illinois and beyond. The walk started at the Old State Capitol in Springfield Illinois.  Here are some photos of of the Human Trafficking Research Lab table where we provide information about the lab, highlight our research with undergraduate students, and hand out fair trade chocolate. I was also asked to be a speaker this year and I told the story of how I became interested in the issue of human trafficking and my work on the issue in Latvia, Ukraine, and Russia.

I was inspired to write an article about my experience working with students in the Human Trafficking Research Lab for the latest issue of Anti-trafficking Review on Anti-Trafficking Education and the article entitled "Pedagogical Approaches to Human Trafficking Through Applied Research Laboratories" was finally published (after four rounds of revisions) in September 2021. In the article I argue that human trafficking is a phenomenon that lends itself to hands-on pedagogical practices and undergraduate research that, in turn, can create localised knowledge with anti-trafficking stakeholders. Research labs focused on human trafficking are one-on-one or small group applied research settings that build a bridge between the university and anti-trafficking stakeholders over multiple semesters. In this paper, I argue that one way of involving students in the anti-trafficking field is through research laboratories, like the Human Trafficking Research Lab (HTRL) at Millikin Universit