Sex trafficking is receiving greater attention globally. As society begins to acknowledge and tackle this silent crime, survivors have a critical, though largely absent voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nebraska\u2019s Katie Edwards aims to improve community response by learning from trafficked survivors themselves. She\u2019s collaborating with Call to Freedom, a South Dakota-based nonprofit organization that supports survivors, and the University of South Dakota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This research will improve services, determine barriers to accessing services, help identify victims and address societal problems that contribute to trafficking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo much of what\u2019s been published has been perspectives of law enforcement or crisis workers. That\u2019s really important, but we need to hear from survivors themselves,\u201d said Edwards, associate professor of educational psychology in the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools and director of Nebraska\u2019s Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, we all want to support survivors in their journey toward healing and recovery.\u201d<\/p>Katie Edwards<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Edwards\u2019 team worked with Call to Freedom and its advisory boards of professionals and survivors to refine every aspect of the project. The team is conducting surveys and interviewing clients as well as prison inmates who were trafficked. Nearly half of Call to Freedom\u2019s clients are Native American women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Executive director Becky Rasmussen said working with Nebraska will improve services and support efforts to distribute best practices nationally, aiding similar organizations and enhancing public policies and awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVulnerabilities come through gaps in legislation, housing and services,\u201d Rasmussen said. The project \u201ctakes a holistic approach to addressing vulnerabilities so survivors aren\u2019t pulled back into trafficking situations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sex trafficking is highly underreported and its prevalence unknown. By better understanding the circumstances of trafficking, this research will help law enforcement, schools and others recognize victims and intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because so little research has focused on survivors\u2019 experiences, Edwards anticipates national interest in the results. The team has presented information to the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe make a really good team,\u201d Edwards said of the collaboration. \u201cAt the end of the day, we all want to support survivors in their journey toward healing and recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of Justice-National Institute of Justice funds this research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sex trafficking is receiving greater attention globally. As society begins to acknowledge and tackle this silent crime, survivors have a critical, though largely absent voice. Nebraska\u2019s Katie Edwards aims to improve community response by learning from trafficked survivors themselves. She\u2019s collaborating with Call to Freedom, a South Dakota-based nonprofit organization that supports survivors, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[106,104,59,109,108,105,44],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-uncategorized","tag-call-to-freedom","tag-katie-edwards","tag-nebraska-center-for-research-on-children-youth-families-and-schools","tag-public-health","tag-public-policy","tag-sex-trafficking","tag-u-s-department-of-justice"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.unl.edu\/annualreport\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}