Global Trafficking

Scoping review

10 June 2026 · Online

International migration and sex trafficking: A scoping review

Higinio Fernández-Sánchez et al.
Social Science & Medicine

10 countries · 22 studies

Synthesizes 22 studies from 10 countries (2003–2024) on migrant vulnerability, coercion, health needs and support barriers.

Free abstract

Scoping review

31 May 2026 · Online

Interventions to Support Substance Use Recovery Among Human Trafficking Survivors: A Scoping Review

Nathaniel A. Dell et al.
Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work

United States & Israel · 6 studies

Reviews six studies of substance-use recovery programmes for trafficking survivors.

Free abstract

Qualitative study

29 June 2026 · Online

“People are going to do drugs:” harm reduction as a strategy for survivors of sex trafficking who use substances

Lindsay B. Gezinski et al.
Harm Reduction Journal

Southwestern United States · 21 providers

Interviews with 21 U.S. providers examine harm reduction, trust, peer outreach and institutional barriers.

Free article via PubMed

Peer-reviewed conference paper

2026 · CHI

Characterizing Scam-Driven Human Trafficking Across Chinese Borders and Online Community Responses on RedNote

Jiamin Zheng, Yue Deng, Jessica Chen, Shujun Li, Yixin Zou & Jingjie Li
CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

China–Southeast Asia · 158 posts

Qualitative analysis of 158 RedNote posts on recruitment, reintegration and community responses to scam trafficking.

Open author manuscript; CHI acceptance recorded

Mixed methods

7 March 2026 · Online

Resilience Among Survivors of Human Trafficking in Uganda: A Mixed Methods Study

Violet Nkwanzi et al.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence

Uganda · 350 women; 25 interviews

Mixed-methods study of 350 women receiving NGO services in Uganda, including 25 interviews on resilience and community support.

Free abstract

Thematic Reading Library

Studies on disability, survivor services, criminal justice, AI and supply chains.

Provider survey

6 April 2026 · Online

Housing for Survivors of Human Trafficking in the United States: Service Provider Perspectives

Lindsay B. Gezinski, Cynthia Fraga Rizo, Jennifer E. O’Brien & Logan L. McKibbin
Journal of Human Trafficking

United States · Housing & services

A cross-sectional survey describes housing models, eligibility practices and perceived barriers. Useful for understanding service availability and planning evaluations.

Publisher page

Qualitative research

18 February 2026 · Online

Disability and Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia: Vulnerabilities and Victim-Survivors’ Experiences

Elisabeth Jackson, Cucu Saidah, Abner Manlapaz & Alisa Sivathorn
Journal of Human Trafficking

Indonesia, Philippines & Thailand

Examines how disability interacts with poverty, discrimination and barriers to education and work. Offers recommendations for accessible prevention and survivor services.

Open access

Scoping review

2026 issue · Online 18 December 2025

Human trafficking for sexual exploitation in the Americas: Scoping review

Paola Contreras-Hernández, Daniela Poblete Godoy & Valeria Stuardo Ávila
Health Care for Women International

Americas · 22 publications

Maps structural vulnerability and gaps in prevention research across the Americas, including opportunities for collective and community responses.

Free abstract

Qualitative study

25 December 2025 · Online

Culturally Competent Mental Health Care for Imprisoned Black Survivors of Sex Trafficking

Nathaniel Sawyer & David Hoskins
Journal of Human Trafficking

United States · 12 survivors

Interviews with 12 formerly incarcerated Black survivors examine therapy, racialized punishment and trust.

Publisher page

Journal article · Technology analysis

20 October 2025 · Online

The AI-Enhanced Trafficking Threat: Examining the Technological Evolution of Trafficking in Persons Operations with AI Tools

Joel Levesque
Journal of Human Trafficking

AI & technology-facilitated trafficking

Examines the use of AI tools in trafficking operations.

Publisher page

Retrospective study

April 2026 issue · Online 10 March 2026

Human Trafficking: Emergency Department Screening and Referral

Christa Pulvino et al.
JACEP Open

One U.S. emergency department · 2022–2023

Describes a year of emergency-department screening and referral using the Rapid Appraisal for Trafficking tool.

Open full text

Qualitative study

March 2026 issue

Identifying and supporting trafficked individuals: provider and community organization perspectives on existing sociotechnical approaches

Michelle Gomez, Ellen W. Clayton, Colin G. Walsh & Kim M. Unertl
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association

19 healthcare & community professionals

Examines trust, technology, privacy and safe documentation in healthcare. Highlights both benefits and harms of digital tools for people experiencing trafficking.

Open full text

Preprint / working paper

25 May 2026 · Revised 30 July 2026

The Traffickers’ Pitch: Detecting Deceptive Recruitment in Online Job Boards

Siyi Zhou et al.
arXiv

AI, recruitment & job advertisements

Presents a network-based labelling method and ensemble classifier for trafficking risk in job ads.

Open preprint

Measurement framework

26 April 2026

Measuring Risk-based Human Rights Due Diligence: Sourcing and labour outcome metrics

Jason Judd & Sarosh Kuruvilla
Anti-Trafficking Review, 26, 71–96

Supply chains & labour rights

Proposes 25 metrics for sourcing practices and labour outcomes to assess corporate accountability, moving evaluation beyond descriptions of company programmes.

Open access

Policy review & interviews

26 April 2026

Traceability Problems in the Peruvian Amazon’s Timber Supply Chain: Illegal logging, exploitation, and forced labour

Christian Campos-Vásquez et al.
Anti-Trafficking Review, 26, 32–48

Peru · Timber supply chains

Combines regulatory review, worker interviews and expert analysis to examine why traceability rules can coexist with exploitation and weak accountability.

Open access

Peer-reviewed conference paper

July 2025 · ACL

AIMSCheck: Leveraging LLMs for AI-Assisted Review of Modern Slavery Statements Across Jurisdictions

Adriana Eufrosina Bora et al.
Proceedings of ACL 2025, Volume 1: Long Papers

Australia, United Kingdom & Canada · Corporate disclosures

Evaluates language models against jurisdiction-specific reporting rules for modern slavery statements.

Open paper, PDF and citation

Peer-reviewed conference paper · Dataset

2025 · ICLR

AIMS.au: A Dataset for the Analysis of Modern Slavery Countermeasures in Corporate Statements

Adriana Eufrosina Bora, Pierre-Luc St-Charles, Mirko Bronzi, Arsène Fansi Tchango, Bruno Rousseau & Kerrie Mengersen
International Conference on Learning Representations

Australia · 5,731 company statements

Introduces sentence-level annotations of corporate modern slavery statements for NLP research.

Open author manuscript; ICLR camera-ready version

Methods & Research Data

Methods, datasets and practical research tools.

Find biomedical literature

PubMed & PubMed Central

Search trafficking literature, with links to free full text.

Plan a review

PRISMA 2020 & extensions

Checklists and flow diagrams for systematic and scoping reviews.

Measure forced labour

ILO indicators of forced labour · 2025 revision

Practical indicators for identifying and documenting potential forced labour.

Work with case data

CTDC Global Synthetic Dataset · 2026 release

Synthetic assistance and hotline records from 2002–2024, with codebook and data dictionary.

Understand estimates

Global Slavery Index methodology

Methodology and uncertainty behind 2023 country estimates based on 2021 data.

Research & survivor support

NEXUS Institute publications

Research and practitioner resources on identification, protection, reintegration and the experiences of trafficked people.

Academic Journals

Journal of Human Trafficking

Peer-reviewed journal publishing interdisciplinary research on the complexity of human trafficking patterns and solutions.

Anti-Trafficking Review

Open-access journal exploring the human rights impact of anti-trafficking interventions and critical perspectives.

Journal of Modern Slavery

Scholarly publication dedicated to research on contemporary slavery and human trafficking across disciplines.

Violence Against Women

Peer-reviewed journal that publishes research on gender-based violence including trafficking and exploitation.

Open issue: Corporate Accountability and Forced Labour in Value Chains

Anti-Trafficking Review, No. 26 · Published 26 April 2026. Research on sourcing, worker representation, recruitment and the limits of supply-chain regulation.

Read the complete issue

Other Academic Journals

Conferences & Research Events

Past event

International Human Trafficking & Social Justice Conference

23–25 September 2026 · Virtual

Research, practice and survivor perspectives across trafficking and social justice. The organizer's website provides event details and available materials.

Event website

Other 2026 events

Past events retained for their programmes, recordings and research resources.
Conference	Date	Location	Status	Resources
Freedom Network USA Anti-Trafficking Conference	25–26 March 2026	Virtual	Past event	Event page · registration closed
OSCE 26th Alliance Conference	20–21 April 2026	Vienna & online	Past event	Recordings & documents
Modern Slavery PEC Conference	21 April 2026	London	Past event	Agenda & resources
Freedom from Slavery Global Forum	11–12 May 2026	Istanbul	Past event	Event page

Research Centers & Networks

Leading institutions and networks advancing the study of human trafficking

United Nations University

Centre for Policy Research on trafficking and modern slavery

Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

International association promoting criminal justice education and research

International Association for the Study of Forced Migration

Research network on displacement, migration and human trafficking

International Studies Association

Academic organization focused on international studies including human security

Stanford Human Trafficking Data Lab

Interdisciplinary research using data science to combat human trafficking

University of Denver: Human Trafficking Research

Faculty profile documenting the University of Denver program and its work on trafficking, forced labor, and human rights.

Center on Human Trafficking Research & Outreach

University of Georgia research hub focused on trafficking measurement, survivor-centered interventions, and policy impact

Rights Lab

University of Nottingham's research platform on modern slavery

Policy & evidence

Modern Slavery and Human Rights PEC

Research reports, policy briefs and projects connecting academic evidence, lived experience and public policy.

Research library

Freedom Fund

Anti-slavery evidence, evaluations and programme research across labour exploitation and survivor support.

Survivor leadership

Survivor Alliance

A survivor-led network with resources on participation, leadership and partnership in anti-slavery work.