Human trafficking is a persistent problem that affects both children and adults. Though a lack of solid data exists, the International Labour Organization estimates that there are approximately 25 million victims of forced labor worldwide, with potentially more victims unidentified.¹

Perpetrators target potential victims in many ways, and some research indicates that recruiting and grooming are increasing through social media and other online means.² The Pew Research Center found that more than 95 percent of U.S. teens use smartphones, and 45 percent say that they are online “almost constantly.”³ This presents new challenges to combat human trafficking, as reliance on technology can make youth more readily available targets to perpetrators and more vulnerable to victimization. Though anyone can be a victim of trafficking, over 50 percent of victims identified in 2020 in U.S. federal human trafficking prosecutions were minors.⁴ While efforts to combat human trafficking are vital, they must be complemented by education efforts to help minors identify the crime of human trafficking and possibly prevent themselves from becoming victims.

Schools can be safe havens, particularly for students who experience a lack of safety, security, or stability in other aspects of their lives.⁵ To protect communities, families, and children in today’s online world, a new approach to bring prevention and awareness to the growing and expanding network of global human trafficking is needed. School personnel are uniquely well-positioned to educate, identify, provide awareness, report suspected abuse, and connect students to services that can prevent trafficking and even save lives.⁶

To address this issue, the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), in partnership with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of School Resource Officers, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime developed a curriculum designed to educate high school students on identifying and preventing human trafficking called TraffickSTOP (Signs to Observe and Prevent). This program takes a proactive approach to educating students on the realities of human trafficking and provides them with a safe environment to discuss and learn about the crime and related topics. TraffickSTOP is a voluntary, extracurricular activity designed for a small group of students (referred to as “team members”) to engage their school resource officers (SROs), other local law enforcement, social workers, guidance counselors, social service providers, teachers, and community stakeholders to learn about human trafficking and the impact it may have on their peers, school, community, and themselves.

TraffickSTOP consists of 12 meetings with warm-up activities, student-led interactive discussions, and time for reflection and review. The program begins with an introduction to human trafficking and incorporates information on healthy relationships, online safety, misinformation, healthy boundaries, and community risk. During one of the meetings, facilitators invite subject matter experts to talk about their experiences with human trafficking and answer questions. The program culminates in an awareness week with activities designed by team members to share information with the larger student body.

Primary facilitators for the TraffickSTOP program are SROs and other local law enforcement representatives. The curriculum may be co-facilitated by social workers, guidance counselors, teachers, and others who have experience with delivering training to youth.

TraffickSTOP was piloted at Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia, during the 2021–2022 school year. It was implemented in four additional schools during the 2022–2023 school year: Northeast and Southeast Lauderdale High Schools in Meridian, Mississippi; High Road School in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts; and Mundelein High School in Mundelein, Illinois. NW3C received positive feedback from students who participated, including the following comments:

• • • “I wish it was an everyday thing because it was very engaging.”
    • “I loved every second of it. Speaking for the program was very exciting and fun.”
    • “The program was amazing. I really feel like it opened everyone’s minds to something that isn’t really talked about that often.”

NW3C is currently seeking to identify additional schools to pilot the program during the 2023–2024 school year. The TraffickSTOP toolkit will be publicly available, at no-cost, in summer 2024. The toolkit contains materials to lead 12 meetings with students and a variety of tools to help facilitators as they implement the program, including an Activities Guide; guidance on discussing sensitive topics; instruction on adapting meeting plans for online delivery; a virtual facilitator onboarding training; a Project Planning Guide with an overview of what facilitators should be doing each week to prepare for human trafficking awareness week; and a School Year Overview describing each meeting to help facilitators plan the schedule for their team. Individuals interested in viewing the toolkit materials can email traffickstop@nw3c.org. Interested law enforcement agencies, SROs, or school personnel can email Laura Cook, NW3C Program Manager, at lcook@nw3c.org. Learn more about the program at www.traffickingstop.org.d

Notes:

¹International Labour Organization, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labor and Forced Marriage (Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2017).

²Kyleigh Feehs and Alyssa Currier Wheeler, 2020 Federal Human Trafficking Report (Human Trafficking Institute, 2021).

³Andrew Perrin and Monica Anderson, “Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018,” Pew Research Center, 31 May 2018.

⁴U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2021 (United States Department of State, 2021).

⁵Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, Human Trafficking in America’s Schools: What Schools Can Do to Prevent, Respond, and Help Students to Recover from Human Trafficking, 2nd ed. (U.S. Department of Education, 2021).

⁶Office of Safe and Supportive Schools, Human Trafficking in America’s Schools.

Please cite as

Laura Cook and Hilary Burgess, “TraffickSTOP,” IACP@Work, Police Chief 90, no. 8 (August 2023): 58–59.