If Houston Has a Problem, McLennan County Has a Solution

Since sex trafficking is an illegal enterprise, accounting for the cost of risk should any involved party be arrested, convicted, and fined is key. Further, it can help policymakers, law enforcement, prosecutors, and others approach this industry more efficiently – by raising the cost of risk for exploiters, while reducing harm to victims, in an effort to truly put traffickers out of business.

In 2022, The Avery Center for Research and Services' Avery Seal Team, led by co-founder Dr. Angie Henderson, Ph.D, contracted with the Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition (HOTHTC) to assess the cost of risk to buyers, traffickers and victims longitudinally in McLennan County, Texas and issued this final report.