Dr. Kimberly Mehlman-Orozco’s first book—Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium—was used by non-profit ERASE Child Trafficking to train law enforcement across the country from Miami to California. Pictures from some of the trainings are featured below.
Dr. Mehlman-Orozco regularly serves as a peer-reviewer for academic journals, as well as for scientific research proposals.
Most recently, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco served as a peer reviewer for the Office of Justice Programs’
(OJP), National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) FY 2022 Research and Evaluation on Trafficking in
Persons.
Dr. Mehlman-Orozco has completed eight review assignments for the Journal of Human Trafficking since 2015:
—Women and Child Trafficking in Nigeria: What Progress?
—Experiences of survivors of human trafficking of non-sexual purposes.
—Evaluation of a Curriculum for Healthcare Professional Training on Child Sex Trafficking.
—Preparedness to Serve Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC): An Integrative Review.
—Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Children in South East Asia: A Review of the Literature.
—Modern Slavery or Forced Labour? Mechanisms of power and the criminal family firm in the United Kingdom.
—Sex Trafficking Myths and Realities.
Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s book, Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium is available for pre-order on Amazon.
Pimp-controlled sex workers, exploited migrants, domestic servants, and sex trafficking of runaway
and homeless youth are just a few of the many forms of sex trafficking and labor trafficking going on all around the world—including in the United States. Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium exposes both well-known and more obscure forms of human trafficking, documenting how these heinous crimes are encountered in our daily lives.
Slavery is not a thing of the past. In fact, there are more slaves today than at any other time in human history.
Hidden in Plain Sight: America’s Slaves of the New Millennium documents how human trafficking and its byproducts touch every community in America, from impoverished inner-city neighborhoods to middle-class suburbs and alcoves of wealthy estates. It presents information derived from narrative accounts of real-life trafficking cases, interviews with convicted human traffickers, empirical research, and criminal case files to expose the grim realities of human trafficking in America, perpetrated by Americans. Readers will grasp the origins, evolution, and extent of the problem; understand how trafficking plays an unrecognized role in our day-to-day lives; and see why advancements in awareness and anti-trafficking resources have not changed the status quo. The victims of trafficking continue to be criminalized by law enforcement, and the offenders continue to exploit and profit from new recruits.
Features
Over the winter, Dr. Mehlman-Orozco had the distinct honor of being invited as a featured panelist for a symposium on human trafficking at Liberty University School of Law.
Following the event, a law professor coordinator wrote:
“I just wanted to express my sincere thanks and gratitude for your participation in yesterday’s event. You were fantastic! I thought the panel did great in addressing so many critical issues in such a short time. We’ve heard very positive feedback and are looking forward to having you join us again sometime in the future.
Thank you for all that you are doing for children who have been forgotten and ignored by so many. Keep up the great work!”
Dr. Mehlman-Orozco’s article in The Hill was well received by practitioners and experts within the human trafficking field, as well as by survivors themselves. In order to improve anti-trafficking policy, we need to first understand our system’s current failures and work together to address them.
Here are a few examples of the amazing organizations and people who disseminated this important information to their networks:
FAIR Girls prevents the exploitation of girls worldwide with empowerment and education.
National Freedom Network is a group of people and organizations around South Africa, who who work together against human trafficking
Breaking the Chains provides healing and restoration to survivors of sex trafficking
The Human Trafficking Center uses academic rigor, sound methodology, and reliable data to promote understanding of human trafficking and its causes, conditions, and cures
Executive Director of Alliance to Rescue Victims of Trafficking
Executive Director of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force
The ArcLight Foundation provides responsive and sustainable solutions to rescue victims of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and/or forced labor. ERASE Child Trafficking is focused on eliminating child trafficking by implementing a holistic approach, from education and recovery to life reclamation.
H.E.A.T. Watch is an anti-trafficking organization, sponsored by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, that is working towards ending trafficking exploitation in the Bay Area
Peoria Home provides long-term secure housing with an array of support services for women with a history of sex trafficking