Polaris 2016 Hotline Statistics

From Polaris Project, January, 2017

Our new statistics report provides 2016 data from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, Polaris's BeFree Textline, and communications referencing overseas cases. Through these hotlines, Polaris has the largest available data set on human trafficking in the United States.

Comprehensive case and call data for the U.S., all 50 states, and D.C. are here. Data for the BeFree Textline are here.

Key highlights and trends from the report include:

• Reports of human trafficking in the U.S. increase every year. In 2016, we learned of 8,042 cases of human trafficking, a 35% jump over 2015. This is mostly due to people spreading awareness of human trafficking and the Hotline.

• More survivors of human trafficking are reaching out for help than ever before. 2,042 survivors contacted the Hotline directly in 2016, a 24% increase over 2015. This year’s report dives deeper into who the victims are and how they were trafficked. We learned that sex trafficking victims were most often trafficked by their intimate partners, while labor trafficking victims were most often recruited through a job offer.

• Labor trafficking soared by 47% but is still widely underreported. Labor trafficking often goes unrecognized compared to sex trafficking because of a lack of awareness about the issue and the vulnerable workers it affects. By identifying the specific sectors and venues in which these labor crimes occur, we can reach survivors more effectively.

You can download the national report here.

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HAWAII REPORT:

The below statistics are based on the signals -- phone calls, emails, and webforms -- received by the NHTRC that reference Hawaii. To protect the identity of the people we serve, the NHTRC does not disclose exact statistics related to venues, industries, or caller information when referenced fewer than three times.

SINCE 2007

• Total Calls: 424
• Total Cases: 149
• Total Victims – Moderate level cases: 149
• Total Victims – High level cases: 283

2016 statistics are current as of December 31, 2016.

read … Full Hawaii Report

HNN: Report shows slight rise in Hawaii human trafficking cases