Fighting Human Trafficking One Training at a Time
About
Stop Human-trafficking through Industry Networking and Education, SHINE, bridges the gap between education and implementation. The project consists of a database and badge system: Hotels submit their anti-HT trainings for evaluation, and if their trainings meet certain policy criteria, the hotel is listed on our database — and receives a mark of excellence.
WHY IS THIS PROJECT NEEDED?
Florida Statute § 509.096 requires hotels to train housekeeping and front-desk employees with anti-HT materials. The contents of these hospitality trainings, however, remain a black box. Do they have accurate, relevant, and up-to-date statistics? Do they have actionable steps for employees to take if the employee suspects trafficking in the hotel? This project wants to make sure that these trainings are effective, not just “in effect.”
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
After Juliana Lucas resolved to fight human trafficking with FCI’s civic tech expertise, FCI began a months-long process of research, consultation, and listening with Florida’s anti-HT community organizations and academics. From these partners, we learned about concerns about misinformation in well-intended public-information campaigns and about the unknown contents of many employee trainings.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Juliana and her team — Andie Pearce, Hannah Kim, Leila Ouhri, and Muning Chen — are developing the database, badge, and criteria. FCI is also in the process of reaching out to potential collaborators: the hotel industry, researchers, and community organizations. Developing optional training modules for human trafficking recognition are also being explored, and Leila is conducting a data visualization project of human trafficking data.