As a call specialist on the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline going to work can be exciting yet demanding. Calls continuously come in from around the country with requests for information, referrals, and sometimes from victims currently in crisis. Below is a single hour in the life of a NHTRC Call Specialist.

2:01 p.m. My extension rings and I answer with our standard greeting: “National Human Trafficking Resource Center, how can I help you?” A young voice explains that she is a student, working on a paper about sex trafficking. I direct her to our website and highlight the multiple resources available. [Read more →]

Since 1945, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Republic of Korea (also known as South Korea). Currently, about 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed on military bases throughout the country. Beginning in the 1950s, U.S. Forces in Korea (USFK) identified the need to provide entertainment in order to maintain high levels of morale among U.S. troops stationed there. The USFK and South Korea cooperated to establish centers of “rest and relaxation” for American troops called kijichon near American military bases. What began as a well-meaning effort to keep homesick American troops amused, and Korean citizens employed, resulted in an exploitative network that has spanned international borders and four decades. [Read more →]

Victims of human trafficking rarely see their controllers brought to justice. However, there are cases where justice is served. In one rare, but highly satisfying instance, Maximino Mondragon and eight of his co-conspirators were sentenced to 13 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.7 million in damages to his victims. The group was convicted of bringing dozens of women and girls from Latin America into the U.S. and forcing them to work and engage in commercial sex at Cantina bars throughout Houston, TX. While the outcome of this case is unfortunately unusual, the details of Mondragon’s crime are sadly all too common. [Read more →]

Summer vacation is here and many of us are looking forward to dining out, relaxing on the beach, and going to amusement parks. As you are planning your next getaway, consider that the hospitality industry is not always so hospitable, particularly for the thousands of human trafficking victims forced to work in hotels and motels throughout the United States. [Read more →]

Early each morning two white vans pull up to an ordinary home on a dead-end street and after honking the horn a group of men and women, mostly Latinos or Asians, pile into the vehicles and are taken away, not returning until late that night or early the next morning. Although this behavior would seem suspicious if it occurred in your neighborhood, how many people would actually identify this as human trafficking? [Read more →]

Slavery in agriculture has a long history in America.  It was perceived as a vital component of the economy during colonial years and nearly caused the disintegration of the United States during the Civil War.  The first abolitionists worked tirelessly to demonstrate that the economic sustainability of this young country was not dependent on slave labor, and that the people subjected to slavery were not, fundamentally, deserving of that treatment. [Read more →]

In recent weeks, neighborhood watch groups have warned community members to be vigilant for higher incidents of burglary and fraud that occasionally coincide with the seasonal influx of magazine solicitors operating without permits from out of state. But what these watch groups fail to address are the dangers posed not just to consumers, but the solicitors or salespeople themselves and the potential for human trafficking in traveling sales crews. [Read more →]

Human trafficking is a crime that largely goes unnoticed. When it’s reported, there are often news stories about sex trafficking rings in big cities, or police raids where hundreds of migrant workers are discovered being forced to work on farms. There’s not as much news about another type of human trafficking that goes on quietly everyday in regular neighborhoods, just like yours. [Read more →]

At a nail salon in a strip mall located in the suburbs of your city, a customer holds out her hands for a young nail technician. In a matter of minutes, the technician magically transforms drab nails into a bright, polished manicure. While the majority of nail salons function just like this, there are many that serve as fronts for illicit activities such as human trafficking, where women are made to work without getting paid or engage in commercial sex through methods of force, fraud, or coercion. [Read more →]

We’re unleashing a new series on the North Star Blog: Tip Tuesday. Each Tuesday for the next few months, we will write about different types of human trafficking in the United States. We hope that you’ll tune in to learn the signs of these types of trafficking. [Read more →]