Human Trafficking, Survivors, and Social Science Research

Human trafficking is a gross violation of human rights. We know that victims and survivors experience physical, psychological, and emotional harm.  Yet on August 18, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a trafficker’s conviction for “possession and use of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence,” when the crime in question was sex trafficking.

This opinion and others highlight the importance of social science research in court cases. For more, see my post at Human Rights at Home blog.