Allies Against Slavery Releases Landmark State Human Trafficking Report

AUSTIN, TX – April 25, 2025 –Allies Against Slavery released its first-ever State Human Trafficking Report, analyzing anti-trafficking policies and federal prosecution patterns across all 50 states. The report offers policymakers, law enforcement officials, and service providers the most comprehensive picture to date of how states are addressing human trafficking through legislation and criminal justice responses.

“This groundbreaking report illuminates the progress our country has made and the gaps that remain in the fight against human trafficking,” said John Nehme, President and CEO of Allies Against Slavery. “For the first time, we’ve assembled data on 695 state policies and over two decades of federal prosecution records to create a more complete picture of America’s anti-trafficking landscape. This report shows that while states have made remarkable progress in establishing basic anti-trafficking frameworks, significant gaps remain in prevention policies that could stop trafficking before it starts.”

The report examines 20 specific policies across prevention, protection, and prosecution for each state, while also analyzing federal prosecution data from 2000 to 2022.

Key findings include:

• States have enacted a total of 695 anti-trafficking policies since 2003, demonstrating significant momentum in legislative responses.
• States with the most comprehensive policy frameworks include Florida, Tennessee, and Washington, while others like Idaho have significant policy gaps.
• Prevention policies continue to lag behind prosecution and protection policies, with many states missing critical prevention measures.
• Prosecution data reveals a significant bias toward cases involving minor victims of sex trafficking, which account for over double the number of adult sex trafficking and labor trafficking cases combined.
• The most populated states in the U.S. also have the highest numbers of federally prosecuted cases. This includes California (n=222), Florida (n=215), Texas (n=206), and New York (n=184).
• South Dakota has prosecuted the most federal human trafficking cases per capita, while states like Colorado, Delaware, and Alabama have prosecuted the fewest per capita.

Dr. Vanessa Bouché, Chief Impact Officer at Allies Against Slavery, emphasized the importance of this data for informing policy decisions: “This report doesn’t just document what states have done—it provides a roadmap for what they should do next. By analyzing policies across prevention, protection, and prosecution, we’ve created a strategic framework states can use to strengthen their anti-trafficking response and close critical gaps.”

The State Human Trafficking Report will be updated annually to track policy progress and prosecution trends. The full report, along with individual state profiles, is available for download at https://bit.ly/stateHTreport25

About Allies Against Slavery

Allies Against Slavery harnesses data to illuminate and eradicate human trafficking through its innovative data platform and strategic partnerships. Since 2010, they have worked to dismantle silos, build networks, and shine a light on the vulnerabilities that lead to exploitation. Their pioneering software, Lighthouse, aggregates national and statewide data to help professionals, leaders, and policymakers identify victims, coordinate care, and understand trafficking trends. To date, Allies’ solutions have helped identify over 20,000 victims of trafficking across the United States. Allies is building a future where every community has the data it needs to combat and prevent human trafficking.

Learn more about Allies Against Slavery: https://www.alliesagainstslavery.org/

Media Contact:  Tad Druart (512) 497-9880, tdruart@piercom.com

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