A Path Forward: Florida’s Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking

Abstract

The National Human Trafficking Hotline ranks Florida as third in the United States in human trafficking cases. Because Florida has several major international airports, many ports of entry, a thriving agricultural industry, and is a destination for tourists, retirees, and immigrants alike, it is an ideal location for human trafficking. This article will discuss the different types of human trafficking, as well as the various impacts human trafficking takes on the victim. This article will explore human trafficking briefly at the global level before looking at efforts made in the United States. Florida first created statutes to define and criminalize human trafficking in 2004. Florida has since amended these statutes to further criminalize behaviors related to trafficking. Following national trends in providing criminal record relief, the Florida legislature passed legislation allowing individuals to expunge various criminal offenses should the convictions have occurred while the individual was a victim of human trafficking. In June 2019, Florida’s governor signed legislation into law in an attempt to toughen human trafficking laws in Florida. The new legislation requires additional training for healthcare and law enforcement personnel and mandates a public registry be kept of those individuals soliciting prostitutes. Though Florida has continued to amend its statutes, this article will look forward to other efforts that could be made to help survivors and prosecute perpetrators. Multi-disciplinary collaboration that is intentional and trauma-informed is critical in breaking up human trafficking rings. This article will highlight effective collaborations between law enforcement, legislators, prosecutors, and non-governmental organizations to identify survivors, and perpetrators, of human trafficking. Strategies leading to evidence-based best practices to curb human trafficking will be explored.