Worst States for Human Trafficking 2015-2017

Worst States for Human Trafficking 2015-2017

Worst States for Human Trafficking 2015-2017

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One of the most frequently asked questions surrounding human trafficking in the U.S. is ‘where does it happen’, ‘what are the top states for human trafficking’, and ‘is it happening in your neighborhood’. Chances are, it is happening in your area. Trafficking happens almost everywhere. However, it is true that certain areas (generally those that are more densely populated) have a higher rate of human trafficking cases reported to the national human trafficking hotline.

Unfortunately, due to the clandestine nature of this crime, it is difficult to estimate the true number of cases that occur in each area. The figures below represent the number of cases of human trafficking reported to the national hotline (as reported by the National Human Trafficking  Hotline run by Polaris) in 2017, 2016 and 2015. The states are ordered from the highest number of cases reported to the lowest number of cases reported in 2017. While data for 2018 is available HERE, the available 2018 data only represents cases reported to the hotline through June of 2018 and thus appear artificially low (even though the trend on the number of cases reported to the hotline has been steadily increasing since the conception of the hotline).

However, an upward trend of reported trafficking cases may not be an indicator that trafficking in the U.S. is becoming more prevalent, as it is estimated that the vast majority of trafficking cases go unreported. An increase in reported cases may also indicate that more trafficking victims and onlookers know about the hotline and trust the resource enough to make that (potentially life-saving) call to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Read more on the top-3 states (California, Texas, and Florida) below the table.

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2017 Rank States, listed in descending order by total 2017 hotline calls 2017 2016 2015
1 California 1305 1329 986
2 Texas 792 667 437
3 Florida 604 555 410

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2017 Rank States, listed in descending order by total 2017 hotline calls 2017 2016 2015
1 California 1305 1329 986
2 Texas 792 667 437
3 Florida 604 555 410
4 Ohio 365 375 289
5 New York 333 332 295
6 Michigan 305 249 151
7 Georgia 276 255 199
8 North Carolina 221 181 116
9 Nevada 199 168 138
10 Pennsylvania 199 157 111
11 Illinois 193 203 123
12 Arizona 181 150 119
13 Washington 163 169 130
14 New Jersey 161 195 178
15 Virginia 156 154 149
16 Missouri 140 137 69
17 South Carolina 118 77 62
18 Maryland 115 162 120
19 Colorado 110 122 79
20 Tennessee 110 109 68
21 Louisiana 107 108 78
22 Indiana 93 84 54
23 Massachusetts 92 89 63
24 Wisconsin 91 66 50
25 Kentucky 81 87 64
26 Oregon 79 76 60
27 Oklahoma 75 89 43
28 Iowa 74 72 35
29 Minnesota 74 66 51
30 Alabama 68 49 54
31 Kansas 67 54 42
32 Nebraska 63 43 22
33 District of Columbia 61 84 70
34 Connecticut 57 54 40
35 Arkansas 42 46 35
36 Mississippi 39 53 37
37 New Mexico 37 39 29
38 Utah 33 40 22
39 Hawaii 28 30 25
40 Montana 26 15 19
41 North Dakota 23 18 18
42 Delaware 21 22 6
43 Maine 19 18 10
44 West Virginia 16 21 10
45 South Dakota 16 19 14
46 Idaho 13 13 6
47 Wyoming 13 12 6
48 Vermont 12 5 4
49 Rhode Island 11 8 9
50 Alaska 10 10 8
51 New Hampshire 5 12 14
52 Puerto Rico 4 6 7

 

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For further reading on the  3 states with the highest number of trafficking cases reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2017, read the following state-specific trafficking reports:

California:

(Note on California Resources: Unfortunately, there has not been a state-funded report on the state of Human Trafficking for all of California since 2012, below are some more recent, privately-funded reports and a 2019 report that covers just Orange County).

Texas:

Florida:

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Article by Sonia Lunn