1. An Analysis of Human Trafficking in Iowa
Sarah Johnson M.A.
Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Iowa’s Statistical Analysis Center

2. Study Purpose Study Impetus: Legislative and Council Interest Issues
Penalty enhancements for human trafficking crimes
Establishment of a human trafficking victim fund
Policy and programmatic changes to juveniles charged with prostitution
Sex Offender Research Council (SORC) request for information
Issues
Offenders were not getting charged and convicted under our local human trafficking statute
710A Human Trafficking Statute enacted in 2006
CJJP was unable to estimate the potential impact of purposed policies due to unavailable data
More extensive review of human trafficking prevalence was necessary to better estimate how changes to the human trafficking statute would influence prisons, community based corrections, and various juvenile justice sectors
Study Design
Examine the prevalence and nature of human trafficking offenses in Iowa (FY2006-FY2014)
Identify any potential barriers in the tracking of these crimes
3-4 years of legislative interest

3. CJJP Data and System Capabilities
Iowa’s Justice Data Warehouse (JDW)
Central data repository of key criminal justice data
Available Data
Prison Data - Admissions, Releases, Length-of-Stay, Etc.
Community Based Corrections Data - Probationers, Parolees, Etc.
Courts Data - Charges, Convictions, Offender-Based Convictions, Etc.
Juvenile Data - Court Services, Detention, Etc.

4. Analysis 1: Founded Human Trafficking
Purpose: Examine Cases of Founded Human Trafficking
Analysis Components
N Minors charged with prostitution
One definition of human trafficking involves the prostitution of individuals under age 18 (coercion need not be present)
Human trafficking victims served by Iowa’s Victim Services Support Program (VSS)
Manual coding of arrest records of convictions which may involve a human trafficking component, as identified by proposed legislation:
Prostitution
Pimping
Pandering
Kidnapping
Child stealing and
Purchase or sale of an individual
Definitions provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through the UCR were used to determine if human trafficking had occurred and the nature of the trafficking offense.
“Human Trafficking - Commercial Sex Acts: Inducing a person by force, fraud, or coercion to participate in commercial sex acts, or in which the person induced to perform such act(s) has not attained 18 years of age.
Human Trafficking – Involuntary Servitude: The obtaining of a person through recruitment, harboring, transportation, or provision, and subjecting such persons by force, fraud, or coercion into involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery (not to include commercial sex acts).”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation May UCR Program Adds Human Trafficking Offenses to Data Collection, Includes More Specific Prostitution Offenses.

5. Analysis 1: Founded Human Trafficking
Minors charged with prostitution
Between FY2006-FY2014, there were ten juvenile victims charged with prostitution in the adult system and six in the juvenile justice system, who were under 18 at the time of offense
Charge data provides the greatest insight into potential human trafficking cases involving minors. As some minors who are charged with prostitution are not convicted as law enforcement tends to seek alternative resources for these individuals.

6. Analysis 1: Founded Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking victims served by Iowa’s Victim Services Support Program (VSS)
“VSS is able to fund a variety of nonprofit and governmental agencies that provide a cadre of services to crime victims and the local community. Funds support various programs focused on providing direct services, support, and advocacy to victims of violent crime, improving and providing investigative services, increasing and improving prosecution, as well as the medical and courts response to violence against women victims.” Iowa Attorney General’s Crime Victim Assistance Division Annual Report 2014.
The Crime Victim Assistance Division (CVAD)
During SFY2015 served 64 human trafficking victims
During SFY2014 served 41 human trafficking victims
Earlier figures are unavailable - human trafficking victims were captured within other victim type categories

7. Analysis 1: Founded Human Trafficking
Manual coding of arrest records for convictions which may involve a human trafficking component
In FY2014 there were five convictions found to involve a human trafficking component, and four actual crimes, involving four offenders
One offender was convicted of prostitution and pimping for the same human trafficking offenses
All victims were female, all were trafficked for commercial sex acts and one victim was a minor
Two of the four victims claimed to be in romantic relationships with the offenders - One of the four victims reported that physical force was used by the offender to acquire her compliance in commercial sex acts
In FY2015 there were five convictions found to involve a human trafficking component, and four actual crimes, involving four offenders (one offender was convicted of prostitution and pimping for the same human trafficking offenses).
* All offenders were male, two were Caucasian and two were African-American.
* Victim information was limited but revealed that each offense involved the pimping of one victim.

8. Analysis 2: Human Trafficking Charge, Conviction, and Total Offense Data
Purpose: Examine how human trafficking cases are resolved and the nature of a complete human traffic offense, examining all of the charges associated with a particular human trafficking charge or conviction
Charge and conviction data specific to the Iowa Human Trafficking crime code (710A.2) disposed between FY2006-FY2014
Examine human trafficking charges
Examine associated additional charges tied to the case
Examine the disposition of the human trafficking and additional charge(s)

9. Analysis 2: Human Trafficking Charge, Conviction, and Total Offense Data
Human Trafficking Charges
From FY2006-FY2014, there were 10 human trafficking charges; each of which were independent human trafficking offenses
Eight of the charges were dismissed or acquitted and two charges resulted in a conviction, one of which was a conviction as charged case
Offenders charged with human trafficking tended to be African-American (n=7), four were women, five were men, and six were between the ages of at the time of their offense

10. Analysis 2: Human Trafficking Charge, Conviction, and Total Offense Data
Human Trafficking Charges and Additional Charges and Convictions
This analysis examined the types of additional charges offenders received in conjunction with their human trafficking charges
Four of the ten human trafficking cases involved the complete dismissal of all charges associated with an alleged crime. Although, there were no distinguishable differences between offenders whose cases were entirely dismissed compared to those whose case resulted in a conviction.
The remaining six cases involved a disposition conviction of some type of offense.
The most common charges used in association with a human trafficking charge were pimping, pandering involving a minor, and prostitution.
The most common convictions associated with a human trafficking charge including pimping and prostitution.

11. Analysis 3: Potentially ‘Related’ Human Trafficking Charge and Conviction Data
This analysis provides trend data on the number of charges and convictions for crimes which are regularly associated as being ‘potentially human trafficking related’ since the human trafficking statute went into effect in 2006
Some human trafficking offenses might be captured under these and other crime codes

12. Analysis 3: Potentially ‘Related’ Human Trafficking Charge and Conviction Data
Findings: Prostitution
Prostitution offenses are prosecuted more frequently than pimping or pandering
Caucasians are more likely to be convicted of prostitution than any other racial category; however, African-Americans are overrepresented
Charge and conviction rates for prostitution, pimping and pandering tend to follow similar patterns with spikes in data occurring in 2013; however the number of pimping and pandering charges are too low to draw conclusions

13. Analysis 3: Potentially ‘Related’ Human Trafficking Charge and Conviction Data
Findings: Pimping and Pandering
The numbers for pimping and pandering are simply too low to draw conclusions or imply changes in trends.

14. Analysis 4: Human Trafficking Cases Prosecuted at the Federal Level
Previous information included data which are handled at the state-level - human trafficking cases can also be prosecuted federally
Currently Iowa does not have a system which tracks crimes prosecuted or investigated at a federal level
Method
Survey of Iowa’s county attorneys (CA)
N human trafficking cases referred for federal prosecution over the last five years (FY2010- FY2014)
Findings
24% response rate (24/99 CA survey responses)
Of responses;
One human trafficking case between FY10-FY2014 was referred for federal prosecution and involved online sexual solicitation
Some CA’s indicated that human trafficking was likely a problem in Iowa, however stated that there are barriers in the identification and prosecution of the crime
Some CA’s suggest that many front line responders lack training in the identification of the crime
Some CA’s thought human trafficking to be more problematic in more populated areas but within rural counties the incidents are lower

15. REPORT Conclusions
Despite our best efforts to examine human trafficking prevalence, the data are currently not available
There are tracking and identification barriers
Suggestions for future research
Clearly differentiate between
Labor trafficking
Sex trafficking
Minors engaging in survival sex
Mixed methods approaches

16. Policy Recommendations
Iowa’s Sex Offender Research Council (SORC), as a result of this analysis, recommends the following:
Update Iowa’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system to include FBI codes for human trafficking
Update the Iowa Code to distinguish human trafficking crimes by labor, sex, and minors engaged in survival sex
Create a uniform process to collect human trafficking data from county attorneys
Develop best-practice strategies for the
prosecution of human trafficking cases
Develop a best-practice model to
identify victims of human trafficking to
help assist them in the acquisition of services

17. Policy Enacted
SF510 was passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2015 to implement training for law enforcement and county attorneys regarding human trafficking
As part of SF510, Iowa’s Department of Public Safety received appropriations to implement a Human Trafficking office to provide necessary training
Iowa’s Attorney General received state appropriations to hire a full- time Human Trafficking Coordinator