Human Trafficking Research Lab @Millikin

For the past few weeks, I have been working on sending Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) requests to different counties in central Illinois. By sending these requests, we are hoping to receive the jail bookings and arrest data in these counties over the past twenty years as they relate to human trafficking cases. Though most counties accept a letter of request, some have specific forms they require to be filled out in order to receive the information we require. Thus, I have been doing research on each county to determine not only if they have specific forms required, but to determine which office would best be able to fulfill my request, as each request cannot be sent to the same offices in each county. Most State Attorney’s offices are able to help us with our requests, but not all. For some counties, the Sheriff's office holds this information. So, through trial and error, I have worked to send out these requests to whichever office is best suited to help us. Due to the natur...

After reading serval different academic articles and case studies on human trafficking for an annotated bibliography, I noticed a patterned in the recommendations that were offered on the adjudication of human trafficking cases. One of the most common recommendation in the articles was that there needs to be more training of law enforcement officers and others who work in the criminal justice fields. The lack of training is one of the causes that hinders human trafficking cases from being investigated. When the Trafficking Victim and Prevention Act (TVPA) was passed in 2000, legislators were made aware of the human trafficking problem. They heard stories from victims and statistics on human trafficking and criminalized it. After the TVPA was created there was a still a disconnect between data from law enforcement and victims services organizations due to lack of training. If law enforcement officers received training on how to properly handle cases, then maybe we might see an increase ...

Dr. Dean was featured on the 21st Show with Illinois Public Radio along with Sara Sefried, Director of Human Trafficking Services at Center for Prevention of Abuse (Peoria, IL) and an anonymous, survivor of human trafficking from Grounds of Grace a shelter in Springfield, IL. In an episode entitled  Human Trafficking and How the Pandemic Plays a Role  the panelists discussed the effects of the pandemic on human trafficking and efforts in Illinois. The segment also features a powerful perspective from a survivor in her own words. Dr. Dean also discussed our work at Millikin's Human Trafficking Research Lab. You can listen to the episode here:  Human Trafficking and How the Pandemic Plays a Role .  

Our fourth annual Human Trafficking Awareness Month panel sponsored by Set Free Macon County and the Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin was online streamed live to Millikin's facebook page this year due to the pandemic. With experts from around Central Illinois we discussed the impact of Covid-19 on human trafficking services and investigations and how these changes will influence future anti-trafficking efforts in Illinois. The panel was well attended with a great audience response with lots of interesting questions so I think this year's online event was a success!  The panel has not been viewed 1400 times and if you want to watch the panel discussion on Facebook this is a link to the video .  

In October we found out that Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force was awarded Enhanced Collaborative Model Task Force to Combat Human Trafficking from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime. The Human Trafficking Research Lab was designated as a subgrantee of the grant to be used over the next three years for research on anti-trafficking efforts in 46 central Illinois counties. The Human Trafficking Research Lab, will conduct a community assessment of the Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force to determine the characteristics of human trafficking in central Illinois, and demonstrate how the data can be used to strengthen and combat trends in the region. Dean and her students work with the Center for Prevention of Abuse and Illinois State Police on reporting performance data as well as information to help develop a comprehensive understanding of the problem of human trafficking in central Illinois. They also w...

    Before I left Latvia I was able to throw a socially distant book reception at my favorite Latvian author Aspazija's house and museum in Riga. The pandemic did not hit Latvia as hard as the United States by July and so I put together a small party to thank everyone who helped me while writing my book and to donate my book to the John F. Kennedy Reading Room at the Latvian National Library. I felt throughout the event that Aspazija was watching over us figuratively and also through the hanging art installations around the room. Latvians also love to give flowers (only odd numbers as even numbers of flowers are given for funerals). I gave a speech in Latvian and English and then people could answer questions and participate in some activities. It was a great send off from my sabbatical in Latvia and also a good way to see people that I didn't get to see most of the time in Latvia due to the pandemic!

I spoke at a Ground Truth Briefing for the Woodrow Wilson Center entitled "A Pandemic of Violence: A Global Discussion of COVID-19 and Gender Based Violence" on what I have seen happening on the ground here with gender-based violence in Eurasia.  As governments around the world impose lockdowns and encourage social distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, a shadow pandemic has emerged. Reports of domestic and intimate-partner violence have spiked, and already femicide rates are rising in some parts of the world. Yet even as the pandemic has increased the incidence of violence, it has simultaneously hampered prevention and protection efforts, including reduced access to law enforcement, social services and healthcare for women.  The recording with me and a panel of experts on global discussion of gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic is available here .