00:00Most of us picture labor trafficking as a stranger lurking in the shadows or a distant crime overseas.
00:06A symposium in Nebraska wants to end misinformation and raise awareness.
00:11It is local, it is quiet, and it is often unseen.
00:17We're really talking about screening, identification, cultural considerations,
00:24what we should be aware of in our community, what oftentimes labor trafficking looks like versus what it doesn't look like.
00:33Heartland Family Service says labor trafficking in Nebraska rarely looks like a dramatic rescue or a white van in a parking lot.
00:40Andrea Carey is a program director leading the nonprofit's trafficking initiative.
00:45She says the first step is clearing up what trafficking actually looks like.
00:49Your child isn't going to be snatched in a parking lot.
00:52It is going to be somebody that they meet online, that they're groomed, talking to, somebody that they have a relationship with.
01:01Instead, it looks like someone working long hours in a restaurant, a factory, or a field, afraid to leave because they may lose everything.
01:09When it comes to adults, they're typically very vulnerable individuals.
01:13And so when we talk about substance use, mental illness, homelessness, housing instability, being a single parent, having experienced domestic violence, and or any form of trauma,
01:26those are all preceding conditions to experiencing trafficking.
01:32Traffickers often position themselves as helpers, someone offering work, a place to stay, or a way to support family.
01:38But Carey says what starts as a promise quickly turns into control.
01:43Oftentimes starts as maybe a wage violation, but can quickly turn into more than just a wage violation,
01:53where there is control, coercion, manipulation to help keep that person in that position.
02:02Carey says screening is often the only way their team uncovers a trafficking case.
02:06This is not just a, you know, survivor issue.
02:11This is an everyone issue.
02:13Just like substance use, just like homelessness, or poverty.
02:17Like, these issues are going to continue to compromise our system until we start having larger conversations
02:25around how do we address the unmet needs in our community.
02:31Nationally, labor trafficking is part of a much broader trend.
02:34The National Human Trafficking Hotline reports 11,999 trafficking cases identified in 2024, involving more than 21,000 victims.
02:45Of those cases, 2,220 were labor trafficking.
02:49Homeland Security says global data shows about 77% of trafficking victims are in forced labor.
02:56The data also shows trafficking affects men, women, and children across all ages.
03:01Identifying and responding to trafficking in general is really challenging, both for law enforcement and service providers.
03:09We are a lot better at detecting sex trafficking than we are labor trafficking.
03:15Labor trafficking can be even more hidden.
03:17Teresa Coolidge is a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Omaha who studies both sex and labor trafficking.
03:23Her team led one of the most detailed reviews of labor trafficking in the state, taking two years to complete.
03:30Researchers surveyed nearly 600 providers across Nebraska.
03:34170 said they had worked directly with labor trafficking survivors.
03:39Anyone can be trafficked.
03:41They were both adults and kids who were exploited.
03:44They were primarily Hispanic or Latino.
03:47However, there were other respondents who noted that they had worked with survivors of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
03:54The findings match what providers see firsthand.
03:57The crime is often hidden in plain sight.
04:00Coolidge says labor trafficking often stays hidden because it doesn't require a public transaction.
04:06Many victims are isolated in homes, factories, or rural areas where cases go unseen.
04:23The common thread, at least from our study, was that it was less about the specific venue and it was more about very difficult labor-intensive work that people were being exploited in.
04:34The study also highlighted solutions, including screening tools, more cross-agency collaboration, and a centralized approach that doesn't leave a complex crime just to individual agencies.
04:46I do think that Nebraska is really well-situated to tackle trafficking.
04:51From our study, when we're thinking about labor trafficking, some of the things that came up, though, is really this need to prioritize raising awareness.
05:01For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey.
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