What We Don’t See: Rethinking How We Identify Human Trafficking
What trafficking really looks like — and why awareness matters
BY KAITLIN WEST
A van screeches to a stop in front of a rundown building. The van doors fly open and law enforcement officers jump out. They break down the building doors and rush inside, where they find a dozen young women and children locked up. The agents rescue them and arrest their captors; the victims are reunited with their families, and all is well.
That scene has played out on television screens numerous times — on “Law and Order,” “Criminal Minds,” “Chicago PD” and countless other shows. For many of us, it probably formed the version of human trafficking that we have in our minds. But is it reality?
“Human trafficking is everywhere,” said Jennifer Vernon, vice president of clinical services at Synergy Services and adjunct professor at UMKC. “It’s in an expensive neighborhood, it’s in a seedy motel, it’s in every city in the Kansas City metropolitan area and in rural counties and towns.”
Sara Brammer (M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’06), vice president of domestic violence services at Synergy Services and an adjunct professor at UMKC.
PHOTOS / BRANDON PARIGO
A worldwide issue
Human trafficking is broadly thought of in two categories: sex trafficking and labor trafficking. According to the United Nations’ International Labour Organization, 77% of trafficking victims are in forced labor and 23% are trafficked for sex. Fifty-seven percent of all trafficking victims are men and boys, while 78% of sex trafficking victims are women and girls.
There is no reliable estimate of human trafficking with the United States, although it has been reported in all states and territories. Vernon said that any numbers would likely minimize the actual impact due to the number of unknown cases and victims out there. A primary reason for that is that many victims don’t think of themselves as having been trafficked.
“A lot of trafficking victims are brought into that world by romantic partners or family members,” said Sara Brammer (M.A. ’99, Ph.D. ’06), vice president of domestic violence services at Synergy Services and an adjunct professor at UMKC. “It can be a real challenge for victims to even identify themselves as such. From the outside, it’s easy to see those relationships as fraud, but for victims it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like an intimate connection.”
In Brammer’s work, she sees firsthand the significant crossover between domestic violence and human trafficking. Violence, whether against a romantic partner, child or other relation, can be coercion for a victim to engage in trafficking activities.
The internet has only made things easier for those with ill intentions. Victims meet someone on social media and think they’re forming a romantic relationship or friendship without knowing who they’re really talking to or what their intentions are. Brammer and Vernon stress the importance of talking to children about internet safety and understanding the risks of sharing photos and private information.
“Everyone wants to think their family is safe, they’re not at risk,” Brammer said. “But the truth is it could happen to anyone. Children need to understand the risks of talking to strangers on the internet and sharing personal photos, even with people they know. It can spiral out of their control so quickly.”
Ben Gatrost (J.D. ’07) has seen that firsthand. Gatrost is a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, a deputy sheriff with the Ray County Missouri Sheriff's Office and part of the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps with the Missouri National Guard.
“We've seen a lot of young people who get drawn in through social media,” Gatrost said. “They think this is a new boyfriend and they're going to have this exciting life. There's a honeymoon phase and then the coercion starts. Or they are convinced to send photos and then blackmailed into more with the threat of those photos being released. They get in over their heads quickly and are too ashamed or scared to ask for help.”
Coercion can commonly look like threats to release embarrassing information or photos or threats of harm against the victim or their loved ones. Gatrost has seen victims who are coerced through drug addiction. Whether they had an existing addiction or were forced to use drugs as part of being trafficked, an addiction creates even greater dependency and urgency to keep their trafficker satisfied.
“People say that victims should just leave, but it’s way more complicated than that,” Gatrost said. “They’re in this life that came with huge emotional trauma, sometimes physical trauma or a drug addiction, they may be scared for their loved ones’ safety or worried that they won’t be accepted if they try and return to their families. It’s not easy to just walk away.”
Even if a victim is able to physically leave, their ordeal is not over. That’s where organizations such as Synergy Services come in. Brammer, Vernon and others like them provide resources and security to help victims emotionally, physically and financially recover. The emotional part of recovery is more challenging than many might expect.
“Trafficking victims have different trauma responses than we see with other types of trauma,” Vernon said. “It's just such a multifaceted thing. They’ve been living with fear, threats and trauma bonding with those around them. They’re leaving some of their friends behind; they may have gotten out but the girls they’ve lived with are not getting out. They're not always as jubilant to be rescued as people might expect, and there are reasons for that.”
Ben Gatrost (J.D. '07)
"[Helping survivors is] an all-inclusive effort, and it can’t be done just by law enforcement or just by a foundation or any one group. It has to be a joint partnership."
— Ben Gatrost (J.D. '07), special agent with Homeland Security Investigations
Jennifer Vernon, vice president of clinical services at Synergy Services and adjunct professor at UMKC. PHOTOS / BRANDON PARIGO
Combating the problem
Gatrost has been working in the fight against human trafficking for more than 10 years and in multiple roles. He emphasizes that the only way to successfully rescue a victim and help them recover long-term is through shared efforts between law enforcement, nonprofit organizations, such as Synergy Services, and community organizations.
“It’s an all-inclusive effort, and it can’t be done just by law enforcement or just by a foundation or any one group,” Gatrost said. “It has to be a joint partnership.”
That joint effort often begins with identifying trafficking victims — a practice easier in theory than in reality. Brammer, Vernon and Gatrost all said that law enforcement personnel don’t always know how to identify trafficking, and legal systems don’t always know when or how to charge someone with it.
Madeline Mann (J.D. ’25) is helping to address this education gap. Mann’s first career was as a firefighter, and she’s been through the fire academy, paramedic school and police academy. She was not taught how to recognize or respond to human trafficking victims at any of them.
“In hindsight, it seems crazy, but I think unfortunately we have the perception that human trafficking will be obvious when we see it,” Mann said. “In the action movies, they show someone opening a shipping container and it’s full of young people who have been smuggled into the country. But the reality is, that’s not what trafficking looks like in the way most people see it on a day-to-day basis.”
During her last year at UMKC School of Law, Mann was a fellow with the Human Trafficking Institute. During her fellowship, she wrote a journal article on the importance of training first responders to recognize and respond to human trafficking victims.
“I think a lot of times when people interact with a victim of human trafficking or domestic violence, they recognize that something is wrong but don’t know exactly why,” Mann said. “Training would help fill in those gaps, and the second piece is implementing policy so that first responders have a way to actually help once they do recognize something is wrong. Just seeing the problem is not enough. We can’t get them resources if we can’t get them safe first.”
Mann also created a Continuing Legal Education event with the UMKC School of Law to educate lawyers on human trafficking. One focus of the event was the prevalence of labor trafficking and the impact we can have.
“Human trafficking isn’t typically a simple crime with a perpetrator and a victim,” Mann said. “Especially in labor trafficking, which affects so many industries — agriculture, hospitality, construction and manufacturing, just to name a few. Anything with a supply chain can be impacted by labor trafficking, because we just don’t know what’s happening in the process of getting a product to consumers. The silver lining is that it is possible to hold companies accountable and implement punishments if they’re not enforcing checks and balances and keeping their supply chain free of trafficking.”
Madeline Mann (J.D. ’25)
PHOTOS / DERRICK BENITZ
"I think a lot of times when people interact with a victim of human trafficking or domestic violence, they recognize that something is wrong but don’t know exactly why. Training would help fill in those gaps ... "
— Madeline Mann (J.D. '25)
Big events might exacerbate issue
Brammer is part of a group working on educating another important part of the legal system: court judges. Brammer was commissioned by the Missouri Supreme Court to be part of the Combatting Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence Commission. The committee created a bench guide to human trafficking to provide guidelines and resources to judges across the state. That bench guide should be through the court and active by the time the FIFA World Cup has arrived in summer 2026.
The World Cup is expected to bring more than 600,000 visitors to Kansas City. With that comes an increase in focus on human trafficking. While there is no data to confirm that large sporting events create more human trafficking, the influx of people concentrates the demand for it, which can bring in traffickers and victims from other areas.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about human trafficking is that we have data that says large events make it worse,” Mann said. “We just don't know, but the data that we do have suggests it's a really big problem everywhere all the time. The reason it tends to get more attention around events is because there's already so much coverage of those events, so it's a really good time to sort of help bring awareness.”
Law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and federal agencies are already preparing. FIFA is meeting monthly with Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, Kansas City, Missouri Police Department and partner agencies to address counter-trafficking efforts. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has been engaged to help monitor ads for possible matches of victims to missing children. Local law enforcement agencies will work with nonprofit shelters, including Synergy Services, to reserve beds in advance for victims.
When asked what people can do to help victims, Brammer, Vernon and Gatrost had the same advice: if you see something suspicious, contact your local law enforcement, but do not get involved yourself. Make note of license plates, take a photo only if you are sure it’s safe to do so. Most importantly, leave any intervention to the experts. Doing otherwise risks the safety of yourself, anyone you’re with and the victim.
Gatrost encourages everyone to have conversations with their friends and family about trafficking. Know what resources are available in your community and support them.
“All it takes is one generation to change it,” Gatrost said. “We need to collectively push and say that people are not for sale.”
Synergy Services
Synergy Services is a Kansas City–area nonprofit dedicated to eliminating family violence, offering crisis hotlines, emergency shelters, counseling and long‑term housing to individuals and families in need. As one of many organizations working to build safer and healthier communities, Synergy resolves crisis, provides safety, promotes healing, builds strength and effects change. Their programs focus on empowerment, prevention and breaking cycles of violence so individuals can build stronger futures and communities.
Synergy Services campuses are designed to provide help, healing and comfort for survivors. PHOTOS / BRANDON PARIGO
Pictured: Interior spaces at Synergy Services. PHOTOS / BRANDON PARIGO
KCPD Expands Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts During the World Cup
The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, led by Chief Stacey Graves (BLA ’97), is preparing for the 2026 World Cup and the six matches taking place in Kansas City. Along with conversations about site security and road congestion, the department has begun planning to address the possibility of increased human trafficking. Sgt. Brad Dumit is a member of the vice and human trafficking unit and has been part of anti-trafficking efforts for more than 20 years.
Dumit says the presence of the World Cup won’t significantly change how they operate, it just expands efforts due to the possible increase of traffickers and victims.
“We’re already preparing for the World Cup and the influx of trafficking that may come with it,” Dumit said. “We’re in conversation with FIFA and other organizations. We’ll be working closely with social workers and nonprofit organizations to identify and recover victims, and we have resources we can connect victims to, even if they aren’t ready to leave yet.”
In addition to working with community and nonprofit organizations, KCPD is on a taskforce with the FBI. This partnership, active for more than 10 years, allows them to work jointly or separately to address human trafficking issues and run operations.
Some of the operations KCPD runs, particularly the vice unit, will see an increased focus on visitors during the World Cup. In order to identify possible victims, they often turn to online sex ads and social media.
“We’ll look closely at ads to see who is trending, who is from out of town and who promotes that they’ll be in town for the World Cup,” Dumit said. “We look at phone numbers in the ads to see where they registered and at social media to see if they have been out of town recently. These can be indications that victims are being trafficked and forced to travel, following big events.”
Dumit encourages people to reach out to the police if they see signs that someone may be in a dangerous situation. Signs can include:
- Bruises
- Indications of physical abuse
- Being monitored or controlled in their interactions with others
- Not having access to a cell phone or other communication devices
If you suspect someone may be a victim of human trafficking, trust your instincts and report it. You can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. They are available to assist 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 200 languages.