Missed Opportunities: Closing Gaps in Identifying Forced Labor Involving Children

Labor trafficking, involuntary servitude, and debt bondage can be prosecuted at the federal, state and local levels. Every level of government needs to be equipped to respond appropriately to these cases and coordinate accordingly. Trafficking manifests in many areas of the labor market - including manufacturing, agriculture, construction, entertainment, service industries, and domestic labor. Awareness of human trafficking is increasing, BUT much of this increase and resulting investigations have focused on sex trafficking, while labor trafficking continues to be underreported and undetected. These gaps get even bigger for cross-border cases, which are often tied to irregular migration and further underground and difficult to detect. To better investigate these cases, law enforcement and prosecutors must expand their network to build a multidisciplinary approach that includes non-traditional partners to prepare strong cases for prosecution. Labor trafficking victims often intersect with the justice system in cases that are not obviously related to labor trafficking, such as juvenile delinquency, child abuse, or custody or domestic violence cases, and these intersections can be vital opportunities to recognize and intervene on behalf of these victims.