Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

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!