What is it about?
This study is the first to provide empirical support for the perception that sex trafficking crimes have been increasing in recent years. The study finds, however, that the rate of increase slowed following passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. In addition, results show statistically significant inverse relationships between charges filed in certain federal immigration and sex trafficking cases, providing new evidence to support the possibility that some sex trafficking-related cases may be being prosecuted as immigration cases instead.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
Given the hidden nature of sex trafficking, empirical studies of the crime are difficult to design. In this study, however, we were able to assess trends in sex trafficking-related cases in an innovative manner, using unique data in statistical models that examined sex trafficking-related charges filed in federal judicial districts over time. Under this new approach, we assessed the impact of federal legislation targeted at reducing sex trafficking crime, a first among research studies of human trafficking.
Perspectives
In this study, I was grateful to have had the opportunity to work with mathematician Blake Boursaw. Among his other contributions, Blake developed the appropriate hypothesis test for determining whether a so-called "substitution effect" is present of immigration charges on sex trafficking-related charges. Using his hypothesis test (described in the appendix), we found empirical support for prior anecdotal evidence that federal prosecutors may be charging defendants in cases that contain both immigration and sex trafficking elements with immigration crimes only. In our paper, we discuss the implications of this finding.
Shana M Judge
University of New Mexico
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Impact of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 on Trends in Federal Sex Trafficking Cases, Criminal Justice Policy Review, June 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0887403416655430.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
