Resources

Victims/Survivors | Human Trafficking | Office for Victims of Crime (ojp.gov)

All victims of human trafficking deserve to feel safe and supported. Quality care, compassionate responses, and essential services can help victims recover from their victimization. OVC has compiled a  list of resources to help victims and survivors receive the assistance they need.

Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials for Victims of Human Trafficking, Office for Victims of Crime, January 2022

For children and youth, participating in the justice system as a victim or witness can be especially confusing, distressing, and even re-traumatizing. Child Victims and Witnesses Support Materials was created to support children and youth during their involvement with the justice system as a victim or witness to a crime. Based on the input of national experts and lived experience experts, these materials are intended to teach children about how the justice system works, what their rights are, the roles of the different practitioners they’ll meet, and how they can cope with the difficult feelings they might have.

The Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance reflects current statutory provisions, recognizes the technological and legal changes that have taken place since the previous Guidelines were promulgated, and incorporates best practices that will benefit victims and enhance investigations and prosecutions.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a national anti-trafficking hotline and resource center serving victims and survivors of human trafficking and the anti-trafficking community in the United States. The toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year in more than 200 languages.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children opened in 1984 to serve as the nation’s clearinghouse on issues related to missing and sexually exploited children. Today NCMEC is authorized by Congress to perform 22 programs and services to assist law enforcement, families and the professionals who serve them.

The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, December 2021

The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (NAP) focuses on the foundational pillars of the U.S. and global anti-trafficking efforts—prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership.  Throughout, the Biden/Harris Administration integrated its core commitment to gender and racial equity, workers’ rights, fair trade, and support for underserved communities.

The NAP reflects extensive collaboration among federal anti-trafficking experts from across the United States government, and was informed by the expertise of survivors, who generously contributed their insights and wisdom to strengthen the U.S. response to human trafficking.  

• 2013 - 2017 Coordination, Collaboration, Capacity: Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims of Human Trafficking

National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, January 2022

The Attorney General has developed and will implement and maintain this National Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking (National Strategy) in order to enhance the Department’s work to combat the atrocity of human trafficking. The National Strategy sets forth plans to enhance coordination within the Department, and to develop specific strategies within each federal district to stop human trafficking. See Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015, Public Law 114-22, Sec. 606. 

• 2017 National Strategy

Attorney General’s Annual Report to Congress on U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in Persons

This report, submitted annually to Congress since 2004, describes the U.S. Government’s comprehensive campaign to combat human trafficking including efforts to carry out the 3Ps strategy to (1) protect victims by providing benefits and services; (2) investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes; and (3) prevent further trafficking-related crimes.

Fiscal Year: 
2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 
2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 
2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 
2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report

The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking. It is also the world’s most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-human trafficking efforts and reflects the U.S. Government’s commitment to global leadership on this key human rights and law enforcement issue.

Human Trafficking Data Collection Activities, Bureau of Justice Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has published summaries of its human trafficking data collection activities.

An Ongoing Commitment to Victims of Human Trafficking, Office for Victims of Crime, January 2021

Combating Child Sex Trafficking: A Guide for Law Enforcement Leaders, January 2016

Child Sex Trafficking: A Training Series for Frontline Officers

Through its cadre of training and technical assistance (TTA) providers, the Office for Victims of Crime provides practitioner-driven, evidence-based TTA that is responsive to the particular needs of victim service providers and system stakeholders, their communities, and the victims they serve. These providers strengthen the victim assistance responses to human trafficking, support multidisciplinary task forces and cross-sector collaboration, and build stakeholder capacity and leadership in identifying human trafficking victims and connecting them to services. OVC’s website features an interactive matrix of specialized training and technical assistance providers and their target audiences.

COPS Office resources highlight promising practices that law enforcement can use to address human trafficking.

Available support includes the COPS Office Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC), which provides critical and tailored technical assistance resources to state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies on a wide variety of topics, including human trafficking. It features a “by the field, for the field” approach while delivering individualized technical assistance using leading experts in a range of public safety, crime reduction, and community policing topics. CRI-TAC is a public service and offered at no-cost.

As part of its efforts to prevent and respond to youth victimization, OJJDP funds several training and technical assistance projects that strengthen responses to crimes of child abuse and sexual exploitation, to include child sex trafficking.

Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Training

The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force was created to help Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative responses to offenders who use the internet, online communication systems, or computer technology to sexually exploit children. The Program is funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program

The mission of the AMBER Alert program is to safely recover missing, endangered, or abducted children through the coordinated efforts of law enforcement, media, transportation, and other partners by using training and technology to enhance response capacities and capabilities and increase public participation. The Program is funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Missing and Exploited Children Training and Technical Assistance Program

This program provides multi-disciplinary training and technical assistance to prosecutors, state and local law enforcement and child protection personnel, medical providers, and other child-serving professionals to strengthen multidisciplinary responses to and improve prosecution of child victimization cases.  The first two curriculums under development are “Multi-Disciplinary Team Training for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children” and “Child Abuse and Exploitation Investigation.”

OVW funds training and technical assistance projects to enhance the capacity of grantees to address sex trafficking including preventing and responding to human trafficking to schools, law enforcement, courts, court systems, community programs, medical providers, LGBTQI+ programs, foster care, and drop-in/homeless shelters. OVW has funded training and technical assistance activities to develop and disseminate training modules and tools to assist communities in their efforts to respond to human trafficking. OVW Training and Technical assistance providers support OVW Legal Assistance for Victims Program grantees assisting trafficking survivors with legal needs, assist OVW grantees in improving the response and identification of domestic violence and sexual assault victims through multi–disciplinary collaborative teams, and implement a comprehensive training and technical assistance project on sex trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native victims.  

OVC manages the largest amount of funding across the Federal Government dedicated to providing services to victims of human trafficking. OVC funding supports the delivery of direct services such as case management, housing, and legal assistance, as well as multidisciplinary collaboration and state-level approaches to identifying and serving victims of human trafficking. 

In addition, through the Crime Victims Fund established with the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), millions of dollars are invested annually in victim compensation and assistance in every U.S. state and territory: some of the organizations receiving this funding provide assistance to victims of human trafficking. Information on state grant programs can be found by consulting the relevant victim compensation and assistance agencies. 

As part of its efforts to prevent and respond to youth victimization, OJJDP funds several grant programs that strengthen responses to crimes of child abuse and sexual exploitation, to include child sex trafficking.

The ICAC program helps state and local law enforcement agencies develop effective responses to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children.  This assistance encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, and community education.  The ICAC program is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 5,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies.  These agencies are engaged in both proactive and reactive investigations, forensic investigations, and criminal prosecutions. In addition to funding the task forces, OJJDP funds several training and technical assistance providers in investigative techniques, peer-to-peer investigations, and forensic examinations.

The National AMBER Alert coordinator is responsible for assisting state and local officials with developing and enhancing AMBER Alert plans, and promoting statewide and regional coordination among plans.  Services provided include training of law enforcement personnel, secondary distribution of AMBER Alerts, and development of resources specifically for Indian Country where practitioners who live and work in tribal communities and understand the unique dynamics of protecting children in tribal areas design and deliver programs. The Program is funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The National Children’s Alliance (NCA) is the national membership organization and accrediting body for children’s advocacy centers (CACs).  Recently, NCA and the FBI signed a formal memorandum of understanding in which the FBI will use Accredited CACs in commercial sexual exploitation of children, child sex trafficking, and other federal child abuse and exploitation cases.  NCA has been awarding commercial sexual exploitation grants for five years and is developing a five-part online training program for CACs interested in developing these programs. Videotaping has been completed and the series is expected to be released in early 2016.

Through the OJJDP’s Victims of Child Abuse Regional Children’s Advocacy Center program, four regional advocacy centers are funded to provide consultation and training and technical assistance services to communities that are developing local centers and also services to strengthen existing centers. Children's Advocacy Centers coordinate the investigation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse cases by utilizing multidisciplinary teams of professionals involved in child protective and victim advocacy services, law enforcement and prosecution, and physical and mental health. The regional centers work cooperatively with the National Children’s Alliance, which provides national leadership and advocacy for local centers.

OVW administers grant programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act, as amended, that allow grant funds to serve domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking victims who are also victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons. In addition, OVW’s Tribal Governments Program, Grants to Tribal Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Coalitions Program, and Consolidated Grant Program to Address Children and Youth Experiencing Domestic and Sexual Assault and Engage Men and Boys as Allies specifically provide funding to respond to victims whose primary victimization is sex trafficking and support prevention, intervention, and response activities, including services for runaway and homeless youth, youth who identify as LGBTQ, and youth victims of sex trafficking, as well as culturally specific supportive services for American Indian and Alaska Native victims of sex trafficking.