Challenges to Identifying Labor Trafficking at the Local Level: A Qualitative Study of Service Providers and Stakeholders in California

Author: Herrera, Veronica & Nuño, Lidia

Abstract: The present study focuses on local efforts in two California counties that are developing strategic responses to better identify and respond to labor trafficking in their communities. Data from 15 semi-structured qualitative interviews with service providers, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders are analyzed to explore the challenges they face in identifying victims of labor trafficking and the actions they are taking to address these challenges. Through coding these interviews across a series of themes, we identify four significant challenges that impact stakeholder identification of labor trafficking victims. The first theme reveals challenges relating to victim self-identification, the second theme calls attention to victims’ normalization of victimization and exploitation, the third theme highlights the minimization of labor trafficking and exploitation as a social problem in the United States, and lastly, the fourth theme underscores challenges that arise when competing priorities among agencies do not align. Considering these challenges, we explore strategies stakeholders can take to improve identification. Additionally, interview data highlight the importance of collaborative partnerships. These findings will help facilitate a broader discussion on developing response coordination and detection strategies to improve local and state efforts in combatting and eradicating labor trafficking.

Keywords: California, labor trafficking, exploitation, service providers, victim identification