Human Trafficking Awareness January is #HumanTrafficking Awareness Month. The Institute is collaborating with its affiliates, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and other stakeholders to help better identify and work with survivors.
if you suspect a child is a victim, please call the florida abuse hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE
facts & figures florida ranks
3rd
in the U.S. for human trafficking prevalence.1
Between 2011 and 2015, there were
4,413
trafficking allegations
investigated in Florida, which were coded as
sex (58.3%), labor (5.7%), or
2
unspecified trafficking (40.5%).
over
1/5
of allegations were for children in
out-of-home care (21.2%) and, of those, over
1/3
were missing from care (37.1%).3
The florida abuse hotline received
2,198
initial or subsequent
reports of human trafficking allegations in SFY 2018-2019, approximately 1/4 of which were deemed verified as trafficking.4
Compared to other types of maltreatment investigations, Florida youth with human trafficking investigations are
more likely to have previous child welfare involvement. 3
A recent review documented the consequences of youth sex trafficking, which include
significant adverse physical and mental health impacts
(e.g., injuries from violence, sexually transmitted infections, major depression, suicidality).5 To better meet the needs of these vulnerable youth, the Florida Legislature enacted the
safe harbor act of 2012 (fla. stat. § 409.1678), which encourages Departmental circuits to better address the needs of sexually exploited youth, including expansion efforts for short-term safe housing availability and use.6
institute affiliates We have several affiliates who do human trafficking-related work. Learn more about their work in our affiliate directory:
ficw.fsu.edu/affiliates
Nairruti Jani, Ph.D.
Kimberly McGrath, PsyD
Michael Killian, Ph.D.
Gihan Omar, Ph.D.
florida gulf coast university florida state university
family care network citrus health
Lisa Rapp-McCall, Ph.D. saint leo university
institute spotlight The Institute and affiliate chris groeber (University of South Florida College of Behavioral and Community Sciences) have partnered with Voices for Florida to host a webinar:
multi-level intervention for human trafficking of florida youth. This webinar aims to educate viewers on youth trafficking in Florida by applying a multi-level (i.e., macro, mezzo, micro) lens; provide an avenue for connecting researchers, educators, and practitioners with human trafficking experts in Florida; and offer a media tool for educators to use in the classroom that exemplifies the multi-level complexity and collaboration regarding a pressing child welfare-related problem. We will host this free, live webinar on january 28, 2020 and CEUs will be provided. More details to come!
join our mailing list for updates ficw.fsu.edu/subscribe 1 2 3 4 5
National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2018). Hotline statistics. Retrieved December 20, 2019 from https://humantraffickinghotline.org/states
Unspecified trafficking type was coded as such because, prior to 2013, DCF used one allegation type, which did not differentiate sex and labor trafficking.
Gibbs, D. A., Henninger, A. M., Tueller, S. J., & Kluckman, M. N. (2018). Human trafficking and the child welfare population in Florida. Children and Youth Services Review, 88,1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018d.02.045 Florida Department of Children and Families [DCF]. (2019). Annual human trafficking report: 2018-2019 state fiscal year. [internal document].
Barnert, E., Iqbal, Z., Bruce, J., Anoshiravani, A., Kolhatkar, G., & Greenbaum, J. (2017). Commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of children and adolescents: A narrative review. Academy of Pediatrics, 17(8), 825-829. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2017.07.009
Follow the Florida Institute for Child Welfare @FSUChildWelfare