Blog - Polaris

Victim Blaming in Family Court: How Child Custody Impacts Survivors

March 8, 2024

Trafficking survivors aren’t defined only by their exploitation — they play many more roles and carry more identities than survivor. One of the most common identities survivors also hold is mother. Survivors support their families, wanting to see their children thrive. Unfortunately, their ability to care for their children can run into systemic barriers resulting … Continued

Prioritizing Survivor-Centered State Policies: Spotlight on Child Sex Trafficking

October 12, 2023

Sex trafficking is terrible at any age, but stories about child victims and survivors in particular tend to draw more attention.

The Fight for Fair Work Needs Full Funding for the Department of Labor

April 11, 2023

Without enough inspectors, outreach staff, and other resources at the Department of Labor, we will continue to read about child labor in meat packing industries, back wages owed to workers, and other violations.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month: How Does Human Trafficking Fit In?

April 3, 2023

Many survivors of human trafficking are also survivors of sexual abuse. During April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we are exploring the intersection of sexual abuse and human trafficking.

Tracing the Patterns of Trafficking in the Ghislaine Maxwell Trial

November 28, 2021

Ghislaine Maxwell faces six counts, including sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy, for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls.

Trafficking in the R. Kelly Case: Stripping Away the Glamour to Understand the Crime

September 28, 2021

For decades, R&B singer R. Kelly preyed on young women and men, using promises of a career in the music industry to manipulate them into abusive sexual relationships. We examine this pattern of exploitation and highlight the importance of listening to and believing all survivors.

Love and Trafficking: How Traffickers Groom & Control Their Victims

February 11, 2021

From the outside, it’s easy to tell ourselves we would never have been lured in by a trafficker who pretended to love us. But grooming - a methodical process of emotional manipulation - is time-tested and devastatingly effective. Learn more about how it works so you can spot it and protect yourself and those you care about.

Lessons Learned about Trafficking 40 Years Later: A Survivor’s Perspective

October 16, 2020

Survivor Cheri Crider describes her story of resilience. She emphasizes that people need to better understand the complexities of how trafficking works and how certain systems exacerbate the crime.

Separating Fact From Fiction: Recent Cases of Recovered Missing Children and What They Show About Child Sex Trafficking

September 24, 2020

Not all the missing children recovered in recent high profile U.S. Marshals operations were victims of human trafficking. But what we know about those operations reconfirms what we know about how sex trafficking happens in the vast majority of situations.

What We Know About How Child Sex Trafficking Happens

August 28, 2020

When most people think about child sex trafficking they think of stories involving kidnapping, windowless vans, and chains. However, focusing on these rarer examples may cause us to miss out on the realities of how trafficking typically happens.