Publications
The Human Trafficking Legal Center conducts research through its comprehensive databases to identify trends and spot system failures. The Human Trafficking Legal Center publishes findings to provide the anti-trafficking community with rigorous data, practice guides, and analysis of unmet needs.
Featured Publications
This publication celebrates the first two decades of civil litigation under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, analyzing all federal civil trafficking cases filed from 2003 to 2023. Over this period, trafficking survivors filed 929 federal cases under the civil remedy, 18 U.S.C. § 1595, resulting in more than $900 million in civil damages and public settlements. This report provides a comprehensive view of this evolving area of law and examines key trends that are shaping the future of trafficking litigation.
Under Swiss law, citizens and residents can be held accountable for sexual abuse of children committed abroad. This guide is the third in a global series of legal practice guides on child sexual abuse for prosecutors, human trafficking survivors, and advocates. The guide explores efforts to invoke extraterritorial jurisdiction in Switzerland to prosecute perpetrators of these crimes.
The 2022 Data Update includes an analysis of all cases filed under 18 USC § 1595 between 2003 and 2022. In all, as of December 31, 2022, plaintiffs had filed a total of 678 cases alleging human trafficking, with 139 federal civil cases filed in 2022 alone. As of the end of 2022, plaintiffs alleging sex trafficking and/or labor trafficking in federal complaints had won almost $300 million in public settlements and court-ordered damages judgments. This number does not include confidential, non-public settlements, which are substantial.
Ending forced labor requires a worldwide movement. Strategic litigation — against forced labor’s perpetrators, governmental facilitators, and beneficiaries — is an essential tool in that fight. This publication, a follow-up to the 2016 report jointly published by the Human Trafficking Legal Center and the Freedom Fund, examines global efforts to combat forced labor through strategic litigation.
In October 2003, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a law allowing trafficking victims to recover damages from their traffickers in federal courts. This publication updates the data contained in a 2018 report published by the Human Trafficking Legal Center. The report tracks the statute’s geographical reach, types of cases, case outcomes, damages awards, and more.
Co-authored with HEAL Trafficking, this fact sheet documents incidents that illustrate how human trafficking has presented in health care settings. Citing to federal criminal indictments and civil trafficking cases, this fact sheet is a resource to assist medical professionals in recognizing red flags and risk factors.
Under French law, citizens and residents can be held accountable for sexual abuse of children committed abroad. This guide, the second in a global series of legal practice guides, explores extraterritorial jurisdiction in France to prosecute perpetrators for these crimes. The publication, which includes case studies, can assist prosecutors, human trafficking survivors, and advocates in their efforts to protect children and end impunity for crimes perpetrated by French citizens and residents.
