Victim resources
No matter your situation, resources are available to help you. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but we hope it gives you a place to start.
U.S. federal and global agencies
Non-profits: General
Non-profits: Location-specific
Non-profits: Victim services
Non-profits: Supporting child victims
References
[1] Using a financial attack strategy to combat human trafficking. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (2019, May 21). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/using-financial-attack-strategy-combat-human-trafficking.
[2] About human trafficking. U.S. Department of State. (2022, August 18). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking/.
[3] Analysis of 2020 national human trafficking hotline data. Polaris Project. (2022, January 13). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://polarisproject.org/2020-us-national-human-trafficking-hotline-statistics/.
[4] Polaris Project. (2019, May 6). What is human trafficking? National Human Trafficking Hotline. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking.
[5] Understanding human trafficking. Polaris Project. (2022, May 5). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://polarisproject.org/understanding-human-trafficking/.
[6] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). Results from the 2013 national survey on drug use and health: Summary of national findings. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHresultsPDFWHTML2013/Web/NSDUHresults2013.pdf.
[7] General information/press room. American Thyroid Association. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.thyroid.org/media-main/press-room/.
[8] U.S. Office on Trafficking in Persons. (n.d.). Fact sheet: Human trafficking. The Administration for Children and Families. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/fact-sheet/resource/fshumantrafficking.
[9] Franchino-Olsen, H. (2019). Vulnerabilities relevant for commercial sexual exploitation of children/domestic minor sex trafficking: A systematic review of risk factors. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838018821956.
[10] Clawson, H. J., Dutch, N., Solomon, A., & Grace, L. G. (2009, August 29). Human trafficking into and within the United States: A review of the literature. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/human-trafficking-within-united-states-review-literature-0.
[11] Mletzko, D., Summers, L., & Arnio, A. N. (2018). Spatial patterns of urban sex trafficking. Journal of Criminal Justice, 58, 87-96. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2018.07.008.
[12] What is human trafficking? National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2019, May 6). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/what-human-trafficking.
[13] Statista Research Department. (2022, August 5). Trafficking victims globally, by gender and age (2018). Statista. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/300796/percentage-of-trafficking-victims-worldwide-by-gender-and-age/.
[14] Illinois General Assembly. (2019). Youth homelessness prevention subcommittee act. Illinois Compiled Statutes. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=4004&ChapterID=4.
[15] Homelessness and housing instability among LGBTQ youth. The Trevor Project. (2022, February 2). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/.
[16] Human trafficking. National Network for Youth. (2022, January 11). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://nn4youth.org/learn/human-trafficking/.
[17] Stern, J. (2022, August 18). Missing and murdered indigenous women: The colonizing nature of law: Immigration and human rights law review. Immigration and Human Rights Law Review. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://lawblogs.uc.edu/ihrlr/2021/10/13/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-the-colonizing-nature-of-law.
[18] Bartley, F., & Pueblo, I. (n.d.). Murdered & missing Indigenous women (MMIW). Native Women’s Wilderness. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw.
[19] Lucchesi, A., & Echo-Hawk, A. (2018). Missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (Vol. 2, Ser. Our Bodies, Our Stories, pp. 1–32). Urban Indian Health Institute. Retrieved September 23, 2022 from https://www.uihi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-Report.pdf.
[20] U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Missing and murdered indigenous people crisis. Indian Affairs. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.bia.gov/service/mmu/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people-crisis.
[21] United Nations. (2022, June 21). UN expert denounces worrying prevalence of trafficking in agricultural sector. United Nationals Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/06/un-expert-denounces-worrying-prevalence-trafficking-agricultural-sector.
[22] Polaris Project. (2021, November 10). Ending labor trafficking of migrant guest workers in the United States. Big Fight on Labor Trafficking. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://polarisproject.org/big-fight-on-labor-trafficking/.
[23] McCarthy, B. The Poynter Institute. (2020, February 28). Social media posts issue alarmist warning about zip ties, sex trafficking. Politifact. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/29/facebook-posts/social-media-posts-issue-alarmist-warning-about-zi/.
[24] McCarthy, B. The Poynter Institute. (2021, October 18). A photo shows sex traffickers using an abandoned child car seat to lure in victims. Politifact. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/18/facebook-posts/no-evidence-internet-rumor-sex-traffickers-are-usi/.
[25] Kang, C., & Frenkel, S. (2020, June 27). ‘Pizzagate’ conspiracy theory thrives anew in the Tiktok era. The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/technology/pizzagate-justin-bieber-qanon-tiktok.html.
[26] Haag, M., & Salam, M. (2017, June 23). Gunman in ‘Pizzagate’ shooting is sentenced to 4 years in prison. The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/us/pizzagate-attack-sentence.html.
[27] Seitz, A. (2020, July 16). Baseless Wayfair child-trafficking theory spreads online. AP NEWS. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://apnews.com/9d54570ebba5e406667c38cb29522ec6.
[28] Polaris Project. (2020, July 20). Polaris statement on Wayfair sex trafficking claims. Press Releases. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://polarisproject.org/press-releases/polaris-statement-on-wayfair-sex-trafficking-claims/.
[29] Putterman, S. The Poynter Institute. (2021, April 5). No, trafficked children, dead bodies were not removed from the ship that blocked the Suez Canal. Politifact. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/apr/05/blog-posting/no-trafficked-children-dead-bodies-were-not-remove/.
[30] World Health Organization. (2021, March 9). Devastatingly pervasive: 1 in 3 women globally experience violence. World Health Organization. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news/item/09-03-2021-devastatingly-pervasive-1-in-3-women-globally-experience-violence.
[31] Reid, J. & Fox, B. (2020). Human trafficking and the darknet. In B. Fox, J.A. Reid & T. Masys (Eds.) Science Informed Policing. Springer. Retrieved September 23, 2022 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342254004_Human_Trafficking_and_the_Darknet_Technology_Innovation_and_Evolving_Criminal_Justice_Strategies.
[32] U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2022, February 24). As virtual currency use in human and drug trafficking increases, so do the challenges for federal law enforcement. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.gao.gov/blog/virtual-currency-use-human-and-drug-trafficking-increases-so-do-challenges-federal-law-enforcement.
[33] U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2022, February 24). Sex trafficking: Online platforms and federal prosecutions. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-385.
[34] Kessler, G. (2018, August 20). Has the sex-trafficking law eliminated 90 percent of sex-trafficking ads? The Washington Post. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/08/20/has-sex-trafficking-law-eliminated-percent-sex-trafficking-ads/.
[35] Family & Youth Services Bureau. (n.d.). Studying the impact of social media and the internet on human trafficking. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/dcf/HumanTrafficking/Reports/HTR3InfoSheetSocialMediaandInternetpdf.pdf.
[36] Polaris Project. (2021, February 11). Love and trafficking: How traffickers groom & control their victims. Polaris Blog. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://polarisproject.org/blog/2021/02/love-and-trafficking-how-traffickers-groom-control-their-victims/.
[37] U.S. Department of State. (2021, January 10). Identify and assist a trafficking victim. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.state.gov/identify-and-assist-a-trafficking-victim/.
[38] Smiley, L., Woolf, W., Williams, S., Cho, K., & Castellanos, M. (2020, September 24). Implementing a victim-centered, trauma-informed program for survivors of human trafficking [Webinar]. Office for Victims of Crime — Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://htcbc.ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh311/files/media/document/QA_Labor_Trafficking_101_Learning-the-Basics_508c.pdf.
[39] Oram, S., Khondoker, M., Abas, M., Broadbent, M., Howard, L. M. (2015). Characteristics of trafficked adults and children with severe mental illness: A historical cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2(12), 1084-1091. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(15)00290-4.
[40] U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2018, September 13). How common is PTSD in adults? PTSD: National Center for PTSD. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp.
[41] U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2018, September 13). How common is PTSD in veterans? PTSD: National Center for PTSD. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_veterans.asp.
[42] American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.
[43] Maercker, A. (2021). Development of the new CPTSD diagnosis for ICD-11. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotional Dysregulation, 8(7). Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-021-00148-8.
[44] Evans, H., Sadhwani, S., Singh, N., Robjant, K., & Katona, C. (2022). Prevalence of complex post-traumatic stress disorder in survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery: A systematic review. European Journal of Psychiatry, 36(2), 94-105. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpsy.2022.01.005.
[45] Wirth, K. E., Tchetgen Tchetgen, E. J., Silverman, J. G., & Murray, M. B. (2013). How does sex trafficking increase the risk of hiv infection? An observational study from Southern India. American Journal of Epidemiology, 177(3), 232-241. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kws338.
[46] Casassa, K., Knight, L., & Mengo, C. (2021). Trauma bonding perspectives from service providers and survivors of sex trafficking: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020985542.
[47] Chambers, R., Gibson, M., Chaffin, S., Takagi, T., Nguyen, N., & Mears-Clark, T. (2022). Trauma-coerced attachment and complex PTSD: Informed care for survivors of human trafficking. Journal of Human Trafficking. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2021.2012386.