Human Trafficking Institute Inc.

Human trafficking is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. It is a choice made by traffickers. The core difficulty in combating trafficking is stopping traffickers in their tracks. While other interventions may reduce vulnerability to trafficking, traffickers need to be prevented from causing more harm. When traffickers are cut off from exploiting more people, those potential victims are no longer targets. Ending trafficking around the world may seem like a daunting task, but stopping an individual trafficker is doable.

Each trafficker stopped sends a message to other traffickers that their crime is not worth the risk, initiating a ripple effect of deterrence. We empower justice systems to stop individual traffickers so that other interventions, like poverty alleviation and victim services, can be more effective.

The Human Trafficking Institute combats trafficking at its source by empowering justice systems to stop traffickers. When justice systems have the tools and training to effectively stop traffickers, they protect the vulnerable and prevent potential victims from being trafficked in the first place.

We implement a proven 3-part model designed to decimate trafficking at its source by stopping traffickers and preventing them from exploiting more victims. Our model helps justice systems more effectively prosecute traffickers, allowing cases to run more smoothly through the pipeline from investigation to trial. Our programs provide prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and social workers with the tools and expertise to decimate trafficking in their home country.

Our model includes:

Specialized Teams
We help our Partner Countries build specialized anti-trafficking teams of police, prosecutors, and victim specialists. We train these teams on specialized investigative and prosecutorial techniques to arrest and charge suspected traffickers. We work with our Partner Countries to fast-track trafficking cases through the courts to prevent excessive backlogs.


Targeted Trainings
Members of the specialized anti-trafficking teams complete a robust training program, comprised of our intensive Human Trafficking Academy and targeted trainings, designed to improve investigative techniques centered on victim needs. Our experts, law enforcement specialists, and victim service professionals provide hands-on training and real-time guidance as they investigate and prosecute cases in the field. Each training program is crafted with input from agencies that handle trafficking cases so as to properly address each Partner Country’s needs and challenges.


Embedded Experts
In cooperation with our Partner Countries, we place enforcement experts inside prosecutors’ offices and police departments. These experts are accomplished prosecutors and law enforcement officers with extensive experience working on human trafficking cases in the United States and abroad. Our experts help support prosecutors and investigators as they pursue trafficking cases, from the identification of victims to the end of a trial. They work side by side with the specialized teams to build skills, solve trafficking case-related challenges, and provide accountability to prevent corruption long after we are gone.

HTI’s approach for decimating human trafficking is based on a model successfully piloted by our co-founders during their tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice. The pilot increased the number of traffickers charged in 6 target districts by 114% and convicted more traffickers than all of the other 88 federal districts combined in just two years. Our programs now bring this model and other best practices for combating human trafficking to our Partner Countries that are serious about measurably improving their trafficking response. Prosecuting human trafficking cases requires intensive training from experienced experts to develop specialized skills and mastery of core knowledge. We embed our experts within the justice systems of our Partner Countries to provide hands on support and intensive training so prosecutors and investigators can effectively combat trafficking. We implement our programs in coordination with our Partner Countries’ governments over an extended period of time until the prevalence of trafficking drops, the model is self-sustaining, and the justice system is fully equipped to stop traffickers for the long run.

HTI’s programming team includes former federal prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, the former heads of the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service’s anti-trafficking work and Homeland Security’s Victim Services, as well as experienced practitioners who have worked within government agencies in Latin America, Australia, and East Africa. HTI’s team is comprised of professionals with significant subject matter expertise in prosecution-focused human trafficking programs and collaborates closely across our global teams and with government partners to share knowledge and bolster justice system responses to trafficking around the world.

HTI currently partners with the governments of Uganda and Belize to enhance their anti-trafficking efforts.

HTI’s team on the ground in Uganda includes experienced lawyers who provide daily technical assistance to prosecutors handling human trafficking cases, a victim assistance expert to connect survivors with proper care and rehabilitation support, and a case coordination expert that tracks human trafficking case data and fosters shared learning to help inform and improve the response to human trafficking. In addition to providing daily guidance, training, and resources, the team supported Uganda’s Criminal Investigations Directorate in successfully establishing a specialized anti-trafficking unit of 250 officers that is dedicated to solely handling trafficking cases.

Likewise, in partnership with HTI, the Government of Belize designated a specialized judge to handle all TIP cases and established a specialized Anti-Trafficking in Persons Police Unit (ATIPS). HTI’s team on the ground includes subject matter experts in law enforcement, victim assistance, and interagency coordination who provide mentoring, training, and tools to support the collaborative justice system response to trafficking.

In addition to capacity-building efforts in our Partner Countries, The HumanTrafficking Institute engages in research, advocacy and thought leadership in the United States to help inform and improve our own justice system’s response to trafficking. HTI’s Thought Leadership team publishes data-based scholarship and develops practical resources for those investigating and prosecuting human trafficking with the goal of becoming a credible, leading source for scholars and to empower the next generation of anti-trafficking leaders.