Human trafficking is one of the most organized and profitable criminal enterprises in the U.S., and we are failing to stop it — not because we don’t care, but because we aren’t willing to treat it like the systemic, complex threat it is.
As a former city council member in Austin, Texas, I worked on public safety, housing and nonprofit coordination, the very systems that touch trafficking survivors most often. I saw firsthand that, despite the proclamations, awareness months and periodic funding bursts, we haven’t built anything close to a serious strategy to end trafficking.
We don’t need more press conferences — we need policy. And the policy we have now is not working.
Trafficking persists because traffickers are strategic, whereas our governments are not. Local police departments often lack the training to recognize trafficking, especially in marginalized communities. Nonprofits providing services to survivors are underfunded and fragmented. Health care professionals and educators may interact with victims without knowing what signs to look for or what to do next.
Traffickers exploit these gaps with precision. They know the systems are disjointed. They know their victims are unlikely to be believed. And they know our laws are focused more on reacting after the fact than preventing harm in the first place.
Too often, our current approach is politically convenient but structurally ineffective.
Funding typically goes to short-term responses: emergency shelter beds, awareness campaigns or sting operations. But what happens the day after the rescue? What happens when a trafficking survivor has nowhere to go, no access to trauma-informed counseling and no real economic alternatives? Without long-term support, many return to the same situations they risked their lives to escape.
If we want to eradicate human trafficking, not just manage it, we need a full-system overhaul. Here’s where Congress and state legislatures can start:
Build prevention into public policy. That means ensuring foster youth aren’t discharged to the streets, that affordable housing exists and that substance use treatment is accessible. These vulnerabilities are often the entry points for traffickers. Train first responders in trauma-informed care. Police, ER physicians, school counselors — all need tools to recognize trafficking without expecting victims to self-identify or cooperate like witnesses in a trial. Trauma responses must not be chalked up to “noncompliance.” Fund survivor services beyond 30-day grants. Long-term housing, job support and mental health care are essential for recovery. One-time assistance isn't enough. Include survivors in shaping policy. The people most affected by trafficking must have a voice in designing systems meant to help them. We would never write legislation on cancer treatment without consulting physicians. The same principle should apply here. Move beyond jurisdictional turf wars. City, county, state and federal agencies often operate in silos. Survivors fall through the cracks. Data isn’t shared. Resources are duplicated or missing altogether.Critics might say this is too complicated or too costly or that traffickers will always find a way. I take those arguments seriously, and I disagree. The truth is, we know how to make trafficking more difficult, less profitable and riskier for perpetrators. We simply haven’t committed to doing it.
There’s a bipartisan appetite for justice. Everyone agrees that trafficking is evil. But agreeing that it’s wrong isn’t the same as doing the hard work to end it. That requires leaders willing to fund what doesn’t fit in a soundbite: housing, health care, legal advocacy and holding systems accountable when they fail.
Human trafficking is not inevitable. It is flourishing today only because of the flaws we can change in our policies and systems. But if we continue to settle for reactive, piecemeal solutions, we will get the same results we always have: press releases with no impact.
We need urgency. But more than that, we need strategy.
Mackenzie Kelly is a former Austin city council member and a longtime advocate for public safety and anti-trafficking policy reform. She served on multiple public safety committees and has worked with local and state stakeholders on trafficking prevention and victim services.
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