Successes and Failures in Identifying Human Trafficking Victims: Why the Domestic Violence Model Has Not Worked.

Historically, the US and other nations have used a domestic violence paradigm to assist in the identification of victims of human trafficking. These efforts have included funding public awareness campaigns, creating 1-800 numbers, and collecting random tips that are then turned over to law enforcement. The paper's author was formerly the Project Director for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center here in the US. The paper explores the successes and failures of using such models and technology strategies to identify female victims of trafficking and the distinct characteristics of these victims that work against their identification using the domestic violence model. Comparisons of rates of identification of victims in other countries using these strategies are analyzed and recommendations are provided that urge very different approaches to victim identification. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]