Understanding What Works in the Successful Identification, Investigation, and Prosecution of Labor Trafficking Cases in the United States, 2021-2022 (ICPSR 39017)
Version Date: Mar 30, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Rebecca Pfeffer, RTI International;
Kelle Lyn Barrick, RTI International;
Meredith L. Dank, New York University
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39017.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This objective of this study was to identify promising practices in labor trafficking identification and response in five U.S. counties that have demonstrated innovation and commitment to addressing the problem of labor trafficking. Innovative strategies included dedicated labor trafficking investigators, specialized units within county district attorneys' offices, and a statewide multidisciplinary team approach that incorporates efforts to identify and respond to labor trafficking.
Through a review of closed case records and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 73 anti-labor trafficking stakeholders, this study sought to investigate how labor trafficking came to be prioritized in these jurisdictions and how labor trafficking response is situated in the unique policy, legal, and cultural frameworks of each participating county. This project also explored the ways in which labor trafficking enforcement is understood and operationalized as distinct from sex trafficking enforcement and identifies the challenges addressing labor trafficking with which these five U.S. counties continue to struggle despite their prioritization and established frameworks. Research questions for this study were:
- Are there patterns in the characteristics of labor trafficking cases identified by law enforcement at the state and local level?
- How does the identification and investigation of labor trafficking cases differ from that of sex trafficking cases in terms of case characteristics, collaboration within and among agencies, case resolutions, and case outcomes?
- What are the features of successful labor trafficking investigations?
This collection contains case-level (DS1) and victim-level (DS2) data extracted from closed case records obtained from agencies involved in the study, and qualitative coding summaries containing direct quotes from the interview respondents (DS3). Due to disclosure risk, verbatim interview transcripts were not archived.
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Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
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Qualitative data are available for restricted download as a zipped package. Please refer to the ICPSR README for more details on the data.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of the study was to explore how labor trafficking came to be prioritized in five U.S. jurisdictions, how labor trafficking identification and enforcement occurs, and how labor trafficking enforcement is understood and operationalized as distinct from sex trafficking enforcement.
Study Design View help for Study Design
The research team used a mixed methods approach for this study, collecting data from agency human trafficking case files and interviews with anti-trafficking stakeholders.
The team requested both labor and sex trafficking case records from at least one agency in each study site. Any case that included elements of labor trafficking, even if they did not ultimately result in human trafficking charges, were included in the request. In total, 180 case records were received from various sources (e.g., law enforcement agencies, prosecutor's offices, service providers). The team used a case record review extraction spreadsheet to record case information and reviewed 127 labor trafficking cases, extracting data on 163 victims and 153 perpetrators. However, the case records had inconsistencies in the type of information documented based on the differing priorities of each agency and high levels of missing data. Given the challenges encountered, the research team chose to use only data from stakeholder interviews to answer their research questions.
The research team conducted interviews with 73 anti-labor trafficking stakeholders from across the five sites between November 2021 and November 2022. Interviewees included 19 law enforcement officers, 11 prosecutors, 41 victim service provider staff (e.g., immigration-focused legal services, workers' rights, shelters), and 2 labor regulatory agency representatives. Interviews lasted 30-60 minutes, were audio-recorded (if all participants consented), and were conducted individually or in small groups in person or via Zoom. Interview transcripts and notes were deidentified and coded in NVivo using deductive coding. Preliminary findings were shared with eight participants as a form of member checking.
Sample View help for Sample
The five sites were purposely selected by the research team for their commitment to prioritizing labor trafficking and to represent geographic and sociodemographic diversity. The selected sites represented the Northwest, Northeast, South, Southwest, and Western regions of the United States and included communities with populations ranging from 400,000 to 3 million.
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Universe View help for Universe
- Victims in cases that involved elements of labor trafficking
- Stakeholders in anti-labor trafficking agencies
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Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
Case-level data (DS1) are limited to case ID and U.S. region.
Victim-level data (DS2) include victim race, gender, ethnicity, citizenship status, and age.
In the interviews (DS3), participants were asked about their individual history/training with anti-trafficking efforts, state labor trafficking laws, community context (i.e., local response to labor trafficking, communities or industries susceptible to labor trafficking), firsthand experience with cases and victims of labor trafficking, collaboration with other entities, and challenges addressing labor trafficking and strategies to overcome.
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2026-03-30
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2026-03-30 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
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