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
Each year, The Human Trafficking Legal Center publishes a report releasing the latest data on civil cases filed in the U.S. federal courts under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1595. The report draws from the organization’s comprehensive civil case database. This year’s report identifies notable trends on total damages, filings against corporate entities, and extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Joint civil society statement signed by The Human Trafficking Legal Center, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL), Transparentem and others, urges USTR to adopt a phased approach to Section 301 to more effectively disrupt global forced labor.
Sex and labor trafficking survivors may be eligible for compensation through crime victim compensation funds administered by the states. Crime victim compensation funds provide financial reimbursement for expenses resulting from violent crime, such as medical bills, lost wages, funeral costs, and mental health counseling. In some states, these funds can cover moving costs where the move is necessary due to the criminal victimization.
The compendium, compiled by Orrick, a pro bono law firm, is organized by state, with hyperlinks to the websites for each state program.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Our 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.
Twenty years ago, in October 2003, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (“TVPRA”), a law allowing trafficking victims to recover civil damages from their traffickers in federal courts. This publication updates the data contained in a 2021 report published by the Human Trafficking Legal Center.
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.
