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.
00:53It 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, those 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.
01:39But 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, where 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 survivor issue.
02:11This is an everyone issue.
02:13Just like substance use, just like homelessness or poverty, these issues are going to continue to compromise our system until we start having larger conversations around 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.
03:10We 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.
03:24Her 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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