Law enforcement have long used online escort advertisements to identify sex trafficking victims and investigate cases. Investigators have used and shared several indicators with each other in practice over the years, but these indicators have not been empirically tested for predictive power to support investigative decisions or the use of ads as evidence in court.
This study has two objectives: Examine whether there are indicators which can differentiate escort ads related to sex trafficking from ads for consensual, non-trafficking sex work and, if so, determine which indicators are most likely to predict whether the ad represents a trafficking case.
The goal of this research is to create guidance investigators can use to increase precision in victim identification and help focus limited investigational resources on ads more likely to be associated with trafficking.
A copy of this research article can be downloaded at the following link: