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sex trafficking research reports

Legal Deserts Report – CLOSING GAPS FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING SURVIVORS’ ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Human trafficking survivors across the United States find themselves in legal deserts without access to trauma-informed legal services . Current efforts to address these legal deserts, while laudable, are but a mirage. These deserts must be watered with resources, funding, ...
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National Economic Justice Report: Beyond Workforce Development for Survivors of Trafficking

Job training and workforce readiness programs are common across the US for equipping individuals in marginalized communities with the skills and social supports to enter the traditional workforce. While models and populations served vary widely, the common goal is to ...
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The Past 10 Years – And The Next 10

Megan Lundstrom, M.A. CO-FOUNDER An "Uneventful" Afternoon On Thursday, December 1st, 2022, I had a slow-paced day but nothing out of the ordinary.  I took my children to school and straightened up the house before turning to work tasks.  In ...
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McLennan County: Cost of Risk

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 - ...
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A New Chapter

Megan Lundstrom, M.A. DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Hi there, and welcome to The Avery Center. Nearly a year ago, Jessa and I were standing on the corner of the street in downtown Denver on a drizzly fall morning. We had decided ...
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Made for Them evaluation sex trafficking research reports

Made for Them (MFT) Report: An Avery Seal Evaluation

The Avery Center for Research and Services' Avery Seal Team conducted a formal program evaluation on Made for Them's ten- year anniversary during March of 2022 to August of 2022. The formal purpose of this evaluation was to conduct an ...
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Cover of Urban Crime - sex trafficking research reports

The Role of Addictive Substances in Different Types of Sex Trafficking in Urban Areas in the U.S.: A Study of Control

Sex traffickers manipulate their victims through force, fraud, and coercion into performing sexual acts in exchange for something of value. Often, traffickers use addictive substances to recruit and manipulate their victims into compliance. Less is known about how different types ...
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TAC Megan Lundstrom

Megan Lundstrom: Human Trafficking Survivor, Crusader and Game Changer

ACAMS Today, the magazine for career-minded professionals in the anti-money laundering field, speaks with Megan Lundstrom, co-founder and CEO at The Avery Center (TAC). They discuss what led to the formation of TAC, Megan's personal human trafficking experience and how ...
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sex trafficking research reports

Sex Trafficking Prevalence, Cost of Risk, and Outreach in Delaware: A Community-Based Sample

Reliable data on the scope of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) is difficult to access; most reports rely on law-enforcement or health care interactions with sex trafficking victims, victims who reach out for services post-exploitation, or other non-governmental organization estimates. What's ...
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Breaking the Chain podcast

Rattling the Chains: Breaking Through the Miscommunication of Sex Trafficking Podcast

Brooke Darden speaks with Co-Founder Megan Lundstrom about The Avery Center, creating awareness about sex trafficking, and more. Listen to the podcast here or click through to Rattling the Chains: Breaking Through the Miscommunication of Sex Trafficking   Direct Link ...
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“Got Sold a Dream and It Turned into a Nightmare”: The Victim-Offender Overlap in Sexual Exploitation

Pimp-controlled sex trafficking in the United States often situates a male trafficker at the top of the organization, with a female "bottom girl" as second-in-command. This victim occupies the position of victim-offender, where she is simultaneously being victimized by a ...
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OnlyFans Report: A Case Study of Exploitation in the Digital Age

Though the OnlyFans online social platform became wildly popular in early 2020, it has been around since 2016. This rapid rise to fame corresponded with the 2020 COVID-19 widespread shelter orders and layoffs that disproportionately impacted young people employed in ...
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sex trafficking research reports

Legal Deserts Report – ACCESSING LEGAL SERVICES FOR SURVIVORS OF SEX TRAFFICKING

Human trafficking victims who are exploited in the commercial sex industry are highly likely to be arrested for offenses catalyzed by their victimization. The resulting criminal records shadow survivors out of trafficking and serve as barriers to achieving sustainable independence. ...
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Megan Lundstrom Elle Magazine

The Unlikely Story of a Sex Trafficking Survivor and the Instagram Account That Saved Her Life

Megan Lundstrom understands more than most the conditions that force women into dangerous situations-she also has the key to help them escape. There are three types of pimps: the boyfriend pimp, the CEO pimp, and the gorilla pimp. Megan will ...
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sex trafficking research reports

Trauma-Informed Considerations for Anti-Trafficking Efforts in the COVID-19 Environment, its Aftermath, and in the Context of Possible Future Pandemics

We're pleased to share these reports from a collaborative project between co-founder Megan Lundstrom and Jennifer Roman-Martin, LICSW, both consultants for the Human Trafficking Expert Consultant Network. This report was funded by and created for the U.S. State Department's Office ...
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How This Survivor Escaped Years Of Sugar Dating Trafficking And Exploitation

Desperate for financial stability, Megan was persuaded into sugar dating, thinking it would solve her problems. The exploitation and trafficking that followed are characteristic of so many women's experiences. Full story at Fight the New Drug. Read the Full Article ...
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‘Sugaring,’ ‘Sugar Dating,’ & ‘Sex Trafficking: How One Woman Escaped

Sex trafficking is real, and it can happen to anyone. Megan Lundstrom was an honor student with big college plans, but then life forced her down a different, dangerous and devastating path. Watch the video here or click through to ...
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The Native & The Transplant Podcast

We dive right into our interview with Megan Lundstrom, the Director of research for the Avery Center in Greeley. We take a deep dive into sex trafficking in northern Colorado. Megan takes us through what the Avery Center is about, ...
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Megan Lundstrom: A Survivor of Sex-Trafficking

Megan's harrowing experience becoming a sex-trafficking victim, ultimately escaping years later, and what it took to rebuild her life - and her identity - from the ground up. We discuss the trauma involved in sex-trafficking and how it still impacts ...
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Finding How to Fit

Jenny Footle Positive Impacts of Fitness and Wellness Programming for Survivors of Human Trafficking While walking alongside survivors of trafficking, it is imperative that we offer holistic health services. We are becoming increasingly aware of the nature of trauma and ...
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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CONTEXT – How Survivor-Led Collaborations Can Inform Anti-Money Laundering Efforts

Financial institutions are in a unique position to detect, disrupt, and prevent the illegal profits generated by human trafficking. But just because it may be possible to detect potential trafficking through financial records does not mean it is easy. Trafficking ...
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Taking a Look Behind The Other Board

Learning about The Other Board When first starting this project, I had only a little bit of knowledge of sex trafficking and all it entailed. I gained an internship opportunity with The Avery Center inputting data from TheOtherBoard.com (TOB). I ...
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Disrupting the Dichotomous Narrative: This Isn’t About “Good Guys” Versus “Bad Guys”

Disrupting the Dichotomous Narrative: This Isn’t About “Good Guys” Versus “Bad Guys”

The Dichotomy Is Flawed I have been involved in the anti-trafficking movement for several years, walking alongside survivors and those I lovingly refer to as "powerfrau" women leaders, along with some outstanding male allies as well. Over the course of ...
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An Intern’s Perspective

We are so lucky to have such great interns working for The Avery Center! Marissa, who has been volunteering her time and interning with us for almost a year wrote about her experience. We hope you enjoy: More about Marissa: ...
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The Avery Center expands services for sex trafficking survivors in Northern Colorado

The Avery Center expands services for sex trafficking survivors in Northern Colorado with funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. The Avery Center (TAC) has been awarded another federal grant in 2020. This time funding is coming from ...
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Memes don’t define missing kids

Some anti-human-trafficking activists quote jaw-dropping statistics to define the scope of the problem and publicize details of horrific individual cases involving children, to evoke outrage and inspire public reaction. The issue of sex trafficking and the exploitation of children is ...
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Tough is Not Bad

Tough is Not Bad

Megan Lundstrom, M.A. DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH The other morning, I pulled a coffee cup out of the dishwasher, only to discover it was still dirty – covered with tiny baked-on food particles after going through a full wash cycle with ...
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Food & Safety Insecurity for SNAP Recipients

Food & Safety Insecurity for SNAP Recipients

by Melanie Thompson Youth Outreach Coordinator at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has our country in turmoil. Many Americans have lost their jobs, schools have temporarily shut down, businesses are financially ...
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Impacts of COVID-19 on Survivors and Allied Professionals

Impacts of COVID-19 on Survivors and Allied Professionals

Megan Lundstrom, M.A. DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Research Results: Impacts of COVID-19 from a Community Feedback Survey While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic at the local, national and global levels will not be fully understand for several years, most of ...
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Educating the community on human sex trafficking

Educating the community on human sex trafficking

The oil and gas industry in northern Colorado is where most people are trafficked because of the high demand of commercial sex. Trucking allows incoming clients at truck stops to gain access to victims. During ski season, victims are trafficked ...
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Walking the Cycle of Change

Walking the Cycle of Change – Alternate Endings Podcast

Human trafficking is something many people may not think happens in their own hometown. Megan Lundstrom introduces us to her team's work helping survivors of human trafficking in Northern Colorado. Listen here or click through to YouTube. Listen Now » ...
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Sex Trafficking in Weld: Survivor’s advocate thinks back to life in sex trade

Sex Trafficking in Weld: Survivor’s advocate thinks back to life in sex trade

People often think of human trafficking as victims from other countries packed into shipping containers and sold against their will. Stories such as Lundstrom's are far more common. Read the full article Sex Trafficking in Weld: Greeley Central graduate, Windsor ...
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Exiting Prostitution: Moving Through Stages of Change During a Pandemic

Exiting Prostitution: Moving Through Stages of Change During a Pandemic

Angie Henderson, Ph.D. Megan Lundstrom, M.A. Introduction & Background The COVID-19 Pandemic has undoubtedly impacted the ability for individuals to exit the commercial sex trade.  Prostituted persons’ ability to meet their quota has been severely restricted by widespread lockdowns.  To ...
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A Sample of Applied Research in Anti Sex Trafficking Work Across Sectors

With over a decade of combined lived experience, direct service provision, and academic research, The Avery Center co-founder Megan Lundstrom offers case studies, pilot project analyses, mathematical models, and framework created between 2015-2018 aimed at equipping professionals (such as first ...
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Human Trafficking Survivor and Activist on Victims of “Victimless” Prostitution

Ask Megan Lundstrom how she reacts to those who believe prostitution is a victimless crime and her response fierce and swift. "That's totally uninformed, and it really gets my hackles up," says Lundstrom. "As a young adult and single mom, ...
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IBM Assists in the Fight Against Human Trafficking

Bridging public, private and not-for-profit sectors worldwide, IBM makes technology such as Watson Discovery and Natural Language Processing available to help fight human trafficking. The Avery Center for Research & Services will be collaborating with the IBM Traffik Analysis Hub ...
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Chief Chat KRFC Radio

Chief Chat is a discussion with those in the arena who work hard every day to make sure their communities are safer and more inclusive for everyone. Join Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swoboda and Neighborhood Enforcement Team Officer Rob ...
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Third Annual Survivor-Led Symposium: Engaging Survivors of CSE

Survivor leaders from across the county convened at the Inn at Villanova to lead a series of workshops ranging from a discussion on historical and contemporary manifestations of oppression, to an exploration of social media's role in recruitment, to trauma-informed ...
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Understanding Trafficker Recruitment Strategies Through Cultic Theory

Sex trafficking research has been plagued by the lack of reliable data, limiting the ways we understand the billion-dollar industry. To remedy this, Angie conducted in-depth interviews with over 50 women across North America who identified as survivors or current ...
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Bear in Mind Episode 43 – Sex Trafficking in Our Backyard

The Avery Center co-founder Dr. Angie Henderson discusses how data collection contributes to learning about the sex trafficking industry in Northern Colorado and across the United States. Listen Now » Back to News
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Giving Hope

Giving Hope: Founder knows too well the nightmare of sex trafficking

Every month, The Avery Center sends out hundreds of care packages. The women who receive them are some of the hundreds Megan Lundstrom connects with via social media, trying to help them see their own worth and escape "the life." ...
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