Human Trafficking & Survivor Reintegration
Human trafficking is unambiguously immoral and universally illegal, yet it is the fastest growing and third largest criminal industry in the world. That is because it is alarmingly profitable for traffickers, despite the harm that it causes for trafficking victims. And unfortunately, the risk factors that impact vulnerable people are intensifying with the isolation, unpredictably, and economic instability brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our research is focused on identifying solutions to reduce the risk of trafficking for vulnerable individuals. By illuminating the economic impacts of modern slavery and developing tools to reduce the risk of victimization, we inspire and mobilize stakeholders and the next generation of leaders to engage in education, policymaking, advocacy, intervention, and rehabilitation activities in Orange County, CA and across the developed world.
Latest News & Research
Dr. Robinson Speaks of Human Trafficking Research on Podcast
Dr. Angela Robinson was recently a guest on an episode of Orion Talks, a podcast hosted by the Orion Policy Institute, to share her research on human trafficking. Dr. Robinson spoke about the participatory research methods used in the Blum Center anti trafficking...
CNN Highlights Freedom Lifemap
The Freedom Lifemap, co-created by Dr. Kelsey Morgan (Everfree; Blum Center) and Dr. Angela Robinson (Blum Center), was featured as a segment on CNN's Freedom Project. In the video, Dr. Morgan talks about the need that the Freedom Lifemap fills for survivors of...
Freedom Lifemap Tool Spotlight
Business Wire recently spotlighted the Freedom Lifemap tool developed through a partnership between EverFree and the UCI Blum Center, along with a network of survivors from around the world to address gaps in data and after care services for survivors of human...
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Kelsey Morgan is the founder and executive director of Willow International. She lived in Uganda from 2010 to 2013 where she led an anti-trafficking organization. She founded Willow to meet the growing demand for aftercare services and to eradicate the global human trafficking epidemic. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from UC Irvine and is currently obtaining her PhD at UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology.
What We Know
Modern Slavery will not end until the profits disappear.
Despite universal opposition to slavery on moral grounds, the practice is growing across the world, due to its immense and immediate profitability to slavers. Our spending behavior fuels slavery’s profitability through consumerism. Many things that we buy and use every day can be and often are used to exploit people, especially children.
Our consumerism fuels exploitation thereby subsidizing this repugnant practice. The goods and services linked to slavery are only profitable to a few, and they are costly for everyone else. The costs of helping people who have been exploited and traumatized — legal services, medical care, job training and so on — are enormous, and they fall on all of us.
Recommended Reading
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) issues report with preliminary findings of how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting trafficking in persons.