This study identifies high-priority needs to improve the measurement and application of human trafficking prevalence estimates.
Human trafficking is a complex and nuanced social problem that continues to be difficult to combat in the US and around the world. This report presents findings and recommendations from an expert workshop that focused on the type and level of information-related to the prevalence and characteristics of trafficking most useful for practitioners working with trafficking survivors. The workshop culminated in the creation of a prioritized list of key gaps in understanding the scope of labor and sex trafficking, solutions to begin to fill those gaps, and key indicators that should be considered as part of a broader effort to better classify types of trafficking. Key findings are that there exists a lack of consensus on indicators and definitions of trafficking; prevalence estimates are aggregate; disaggregation is important for better understanding risk; that there is limited focus on how prevalence estimates can be used to assess the effectiveness of various interventions and preventions; prevalence is measured without any discussion of what to do with those estimates or how to use them to better serve people who experience trafficking; different industries, populations, political landscapes, and forms of exploitation require different methodologies for estimating prevalence; and implicit bias is a problem for reporting, identification, recruiting, data collection, and service provision.