The Advocates for Human Rights published their labour trafficking protocol guidelines on the 31st of January 2019. The guidelines are designed to help communities identify and respond to labour trafficking victims throughout Minnesota, with a particular focus on young victims in their early 20s and younger. The guidelines draw on data collected from over 100 experts and are designed to account for the complex needs of a region that has rural, suburban and urban environments.
The protocol guidelines consist of 6 sections which give:
- Background and overview to labor trafficking.
- The universal protocol, which provides guidelines to the provision of an effective and comprehensive response to labor trafficking, including sections on collaborative responses, identification, and victim protection.
- A protocol implementation worksheet as a simple tool to assist communities plan their responses to labor trafficking.
- Sector specific protocol guidelines for use in conjunction with the universal protocol;
- Recommendations for changes to the law and policy to improve Minnesota’s response to labor trafficking victims.
- Appendices.
The report was funded Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and the Minnesota Department of Health. The content is solely the work of The Advocates for Human Rights.
The Full report can be found here.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance on Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Slavery provides guidance on trafficking and exploitation typologies, particularly involving children, which are complex and may include:
- domestic servitude;
- labour exploitation;
- criminal activity (e.g. cannabis cultivation, petty street crime, illegal street trade, etc.);
- sexual exploitation (brothels, closed community, for child abuse images);
- application of residence;
- benefit fraud;
- forced begging;
- illegal adoption; and
- sham marriage.
For the detailed Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Slavery, read here.
Victims of modern slavery are preyed upon due to a backdrop on complex issues. There is no definitive list of trafficking typologies, as exploitation comes in all forms and amongst an array of vulnerabilities. The common factor points to the fact that traffickers will exploit the vulnerable wherever possible, across multiple sectors industries or crime rings. Within the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) recognises domestic servitude, labour exploitation, sexual exploitation and unknown exploitation type as categories of exploitation, however each national and international jurisdiction has its own set of trafficking typologies. The Polaris Project reported 25 trafficking typologies within the USA, with defined business models, trafficker profiles, recruitment strategies, victim profiles and methods of control that facilitate trafficking. Due to the non exhaustive and ever growing forms of trafficking and exploitation, typologies and must remain flexible.
For the 2017 Polaris Project typologies, read here.
For the 2016 NCA National Referral Mechanism statistics, read here.