Barriers to Prosecuting Human Trafficking Cases

Barriers to Prosecuting Human Trafficking Cases
By
Bill Cottringer

In today’s VUCA world of volatility, uncertainty, constant change and ambiguity, we are being challenged to find solutions to three monumental problems—the disruption by the growing, harsh political divide evolving in our country, ever-escalating school, leisure and workplace violence, and human trafficking as repurposed slavery, This article will focus on a particularly critical issue of the human trafficking problem—as being the barriers to the prosecution of human trafficking cases by the criminal justice system. Here are seven such barriers that need to be resolved if we are going to slow down the extent of human trafficking cases and deal with the problem more effectively than we currently are doing:

1. Victims are often reluctant to testify.
Survivors often fear retaliation from traffickers, worry about their own safety or their family’s or friend’s safety, or have a widespread distrust the legal system. Trauma, shame, or feelings of dependency on the trafficker can also keep victims from cooperating with prosecutors. A survivor from Canada, Natasha Falle, described enduring severe abuse and manipulation by her pimp, including beatings and threats against her family, which discouraged her from seeking help. She said fear of being labeled a “snitch” prevented her from calling the police. A qualitative study references the “victim paradox”: Victims’ distrust of authorities, trauma, fear of retaliation, repressed memories of critical details, and even psychologically complex bonds with traffickers often render them unwilling or unable to testify.
2. Gathering needed evidence is difficult.
Trafficking cases rely heavily on victim testimony, but physical evidence is often limited. Without corroborating proof, such as financial transaction records, video or auditory surveillance, and digital evidence, prosecutors may feel the case is too weak to move forward. An NIJ-funded multi-county study found that prosecutors often hesitate to use newer trafficking laws and instead charge human trafficking victims with familiar crimes like rape or kidnapping due to weak or incomplete evidence. Furthermore, securing victim cooperation and evidence is hampered by trauma, lack of training in human trafficking and violence trauma recovery, and unfamiliarity with specialized statutes.
3. Victims are often misidentified as criminals.
Victims may be treated as criminals. They are often charged with prostitution, drug possession, or immigration violations, instead of being recognized as trafficking survivors. This misclassification undermines accurate reporting and eventual prosecution of traffickers. Multiple studies highlight that victims are frequently mistaken for offenders—especially in sex trafficking cases—due to biases, misunderstandings of coercion, and insufficient law enforcement training. The problem of not classifying the human trafficking survivor correctly can lead to charges such as prostitution, rather than recognizing the valid victimhood.
4. The nature of these crimes is complex and obscure.
Human trafficking operations are often well organized, transnational, cross-borders, in perpetual motion, and deliberately well hidden. Jurisdictional issues, multiple perpetrators, victim-helper complicity, and use of subtle coerced persuasion rather than overt violence, are challenging in the process of building a strong criminal case. Organized trafficking rings operate covertly and cross jurisdictions, complicating investigations. A systematic review found that many criminal justice actors struggle with both identifying victims and successfully prosecuting cases, reflecting the hidden and complex realities of trafficking operations
5. Training and resources are limited.
Law enforcement and prosecutors may lack specialized training to identify trafficking indicators or may not have dedicated units to investigate. Cases are complex, expensive, and time-consuming, and competing priorities can prevent aggressive pursuit. In southern Texas, a 2019 survey of 99 emergency departments found that fewer than half screened for adult (40.7%) or child trafficking (37%). Lack of training, awareness, standardized protocols, and screening tools were cited as major barriers—reflecting local resource and knowledge deficiencies.
6. Victims have legal and immigration vulnerabilities.
Many survivors are undocumented immigrants, have criminal charges tied to their trafficking situation, or have lost their documented status. Fear of deportation or prosecution discourages them from cooperating, which weakens cases against traffickers. A report by Nottingham University’s Rights Lab shows that since 2016, refusals to engage with the UK’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) surged by over 630%—from 762 in 2016 to 5,598 in 2024—primarily due to victims’ fears of deportation and mistrust of immigration systems. This fear has been exploited by traffickers to suppress reporting or cooperation during investigations.
7. A high standard of proof is required.
Criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Because traffickers often manipulate victims into appearing “consensual” in work or sex acts, juries may have difficulty understanding coercion without clear evidence, leading prosecutors to decline cases which they believe are unwinnable. Moreover, another study from Oxford University’s Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre found that only 58 convictions resulted from over 17,000 NRM referrals—just a 1.8% conviction rate, underscoring how immigration vulnerabilities and distrust severely impede prosecutions.
Now that we have identified the main barriers to the reporting and prosecution of human trafficking cases, we can now explore some sensible solutions to this problem:
1. Build survivor trust and safety.
• Ensure survivors feel safe, believed, and not blamed with trauma-informed care. When survivors trust providers, they are more likely to testify.
• Provide survivors protection from retaliation by strengthening witness protection programs, including relocation, anonymity in court, and safety planning.
• Assign specialized advocates to guide survivors through the legal process.

2. Strengthen law enforcement and prosecution capacity.
• Develop specialized training for police, prosecutors, and judges on the dynamics of human trafficking, informed trauma responses, and cultural sensitivity.
• Establish dedicated trafficking-specific investigative and prosecution teams that understand the complexity of these cases.
• Encourage use of alternative corroborating evidence, such as financial records, surveillance, forensic data, etc., so cases don’t rely solely on survivor testimony.

3. Reduce victim blaming and stigma.
• Raise public awareness campaigns by showing that survivors are victims, not criminals. This is especially important for sex trafficking and undocumented workers.
• Develop decriminalization policies by stopping penalizing survivors for crimes they were forced to commit such as prostitution, immigration violations, and drug smuggling.

4. Improve reporting mechanisms.
• Expand confidential hotlines and other user-friendly anonymous digital reporting tools.
• Encourage community-based reporting by partnering with schools, hospitals, and faith groups to create safe spaces where survivors or witnesses can disclose.
• Increase employer accountability by requiring businesses in vulnerable industries including agriculture, hospitality, domestic work, to post clear reporting instructions and procedures.

5. Close systemic gaps.
• Strengthen cross-agency coordination and collaboration between social services, law enforcement, and NGOs.
• Ensure consistent data collection by improving the tracking of cases to identify trends, weak points, misidentification, and accountability gaps.
• Institute policy reform by pushing for stronger victim-centered laws, longer statutes of limitations, and more resources for trafficking courts.
• Expand knowledge pool for behavioral health workers from digital story-telling by survivors, as each new human trafficking case is uniquely difficult.

6. Empower survivors.
• Expand legal representation by providing free attorneys for survivors so they understand their rights.
• Explore economic alternatives such as job training, housing, and healthcare to reduce survivors’ dependency on traffickers and enable cooperation with authorities.
• Encourage survivor leadership by involving survivors in shaping policies, training law enforcement, and participating in awareness campaigns.

7. Increase Community Engagement:
• Engage grassroots partnerships in encouraging local organizations, churches, and neighborhood groups to recognize signs of trafficking and ways to safely report cases.
• Build business responsibility in training hotel staff, rideshare drivers, and others in frontline industries to spot and report trafficking.
• Expand educational programs by equipping students and parents with helpful prevention knowledge and reporting resources.
• Include important community resources in survivor’s recovery programs.
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