Meeting Human Trafficking Victims' Needs and Preventing Repeat Victimizations

Although trafficking victims can be U.S. citizens, one NIJ grantee (Clawson et al., 2003) who examined trafficking of foreign nationals has uncovered several key findings:

• Trafficking victims are in need of numerous services. Researchers estimate that 96 to 98 percent of victims need housing, medical attention, legal services, food, and transportation.
• Unlike domestic violence victims who run from one perpetrator, trafficking victims may be running from a whole network of organized crime. Overall, they appear to be less stable, have less knowledge about the criminal justice system, are more isolated, and have more extreme trauma and mental health needs than most domestic violence victims.
• Compared with domestic violence victims, trafficking victims do not have U.S. citizenship, which makes it harder to serve their needs. Trafficking victims' cases take longer than domestic violence victims' cases to both investigate and prosecute.
• Compared with asylum seekers, trafficking victims have different protection needs, are more vulnerable to re-victimization, are less educated, and are much more exploited once they arrive in the United States.

Learn more about services for human trafficking victims from: