Florida’s New Reporting System Is Shining a Light on Human Trafficking in the Sunshine State
- camilarosiaz
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Most Americans imagine human trafficking as a violent kidnapping or a “stranger danger” crime – someone abducted from a parking lot or trapped in a shipping container brought in from another country. In fact, trafficking rarely takes this form.
Human trafficking can be hard to track because it is a crime that hides in plain sight. Mireya Acierto/Photodisc via Getty Images
In most cases, traffickers spend months or even years building trust and creating emotional and economic bonds with their victims. They use a variety of coercion and control techniques such as emotional abuse, forced criminality, financial abuse, and physical and sexual abuse to entrap their victims. Meanwhile, the perpetrators are making money off their victims’ unpaid labor, including unwanted sex work. Human trafficking is estimated to be a US$172 billion industry.
The story of Jeffrey Epstein is just one example of how traffickers use a combination of manipulation, economic dependency and coercion – rather than physical captivity – to entrap vulnerable people and slowly erode their autonomy. Many victims don’t even realize they’re being exploited due to the manipulations of their traffickers.
Epstein’s crimes have attracted the national spotlight due to the fame and power of his clientele. His case demonstrates the harsh reality that human trafficking is far more common and complex than most people imagine.
Human trafficking can be hard to track because it is a crime that hides in plain sight. Most victims are trafficked by someone they know or trust – a family member, intimate partner or employer. Many continue to go to school or work while being exploited.
Misconceptions about what trafficking looks like have made it harder to see and harder to measure. The available data on this crime and its victims has long been fragmented, incomplete and inconsistent. Law enforcement, government organizations such as health departments, and nonprofits that provide advocacy and victim services collect information differently. The same case could be counted multiple times by different agencies, while other victims go entirely uncounted, making it nearly impossible to understand the true scope of trafficking and effectively fight it.
To address this problem, Florida in 2023 passed Senate Bill 7064, a law requiring all state and local government agencies and nongovernmental organizations that receive federal or state funding to send their human trafficking data to the University of South Florida’s Trafficking in Persons Risk to Resilience Lab, known as the TIP lab.
Florida’s agricultural industry attracts many migrant workers, who are vulnerable to being exploited. Wayne Eastep/The Image Bank via Getty Images
The researchers developed TIPSTR, Florida’s statewide repository for anonymous human trafficking data. This single, consistent database is the most comprehensive data resource on human trafficking in any state in the U.S. The team compiled anonymous data from more than 30 state agencies and nonprofit organizations, including the Florida Department of Children and Families, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.
Florida’s economy and geography create a mix of risk factors for trafficking that are distinct from most other states. With its large tourism, agriculture, construction and entertainment industries, the state depends heavily on temporary and mobile workforces. Its international airports and seaports connect it to global markets. Transient labor markets, seasonal employment and high migration make it easier for traffickers to exploit workers and harder for authorities to detect exploitation.
The first full year of data collection was 2024, with findings published in July 2025 in the 2024 TIPSTR Report. The report demonstrates both the scale of the problem and the importance of reliable data. A self-report survey found that an estimated 500,000 current Florida residents were exploited or trafficked at work, and an estimated 200,000 were trafficked for sex. Minors made up half of those trafficked for sex and a quarter of those exploited at work.
Of those reporting human trafficking, only 9% to 12% reported this crime to law enforcement, confirming concerns that it remains largely hidden from view. This is why TIPSTR does not solely rely on law enforcement data.
At the same time, there are encouraging signs. The TIPSTR data shows prosecutions are increasing, and coordination among law enforcement, service providers and community organizations has strengthened. Seeing where trafficking is most concentrated and where services are missing is already helping policymakers and agencies identify potential changes.
As criminologists note, data alone cannot end human trafficking, but without it, the problem remains hidden. What Florida has built through TIPSTR can serve as a model for other states seeking to understand and address the true scope of trafficking.