# Human Trafficking Institute

> The Human Trafficking Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that fights modern slavery by going after the people who profit from it. Founded in 2015 by two former U.S. Department of Justice trafficking prosecutors, HTI embeds veteran experts inside criminal justice systems - training police and prosecutors, building specialized anti-trafficking units, and supplying the investigative tools and data needed to convict traffickers. It runs field programs in Uganda and Belize and publishes the annual Federal Human Trafficking Report, the only dataset compiling every U.S. federal trafficking case since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

- **Founded:** 2015
- **Headquarters:** Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- **Founders:** Victor Boutros (Co-Founder & CEO), John Cotton Richmond (Co-Founding Director)
- **Team size:** ~58 employees (including embedded field teams; HTI Uganda alone includes ~3 American prosecutors and ~30 Ugandan experts)
- **Products:** Embedded Expert Model, Specialized Anti-Trafficking Units, Law Enforcement Training, Federal Human Trafficking Report, Data Portal
- **Notable:** Publishes the Federal Human Trafficking Report - the only dataset compiling every U.S. federal criminal trafficking case since 2000., Supported Uganda's first life sentence for a convicted trafficker (2021)., Supported Belize's first conviction under its child-trafficking law, sending two traffickers to prison (2021).

## Products & services

- **Embedded Expert Model** — Former prosecutors and investigators work side-by-side with local law enforcement and prosecutors, providing hands-on guidance on live trafficking cases.
- **Specialized Anti-Trafficking Units** — HTI partners with governments to stand up dedicated units equipped to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases.
- **Law Enforcement Training** — World-class training programs on trafficking investigation, victim identification, and prosecution strategy for police and prosecutors.
- **Federal Human Trafficking Report** — Annual publication analyzing every U.S. federal criminal trafficking case, with state-by-state breakdowns - the only dataset covering every case since the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
- **Data Portal** — Public database (data.traffickinginstitute.org) making commonly requested U.S. trafficking prosecution data accessible to advocates, journalists, and policymakers.
- **Frederick Douglass Fellowship** — Fellowship program training law students and early-career lawyers in anti-trafficking legal work.

## Achievements

- Publishes the Federal Human Trafficking Report - the only dataset compiling every U.S. federal criminal trafficking case since 2000.
- Supported Uganda's first life sentence for a convicted trafficker (2021).
- Supported Belize's first conviction under its child-trafficking law, sending two traffickers to prison (2021).
- Recognized by the U.S. government as among 'the highest-impact anti-trafficking interventions' it funds (2023).
- Co-founders briefed the U.S. President on human trafficking.
- Co-founder Victor Boutros co-authored 'The Locust Effect,' winner of the 2016 Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Improving World Order.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — HTI highlighted how its embedded model boosted Uganda's human trafficking prosecutions.
- **2024-06** — Released the 2023 Federal Human Trafficking Report.
- **2023-09** — U.S. government identified HTI's work among the highest-impact anti-trafficking interventions it funds.

## Links

- Website: https://traffickinginstitute.org
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/human-trafficking-institute
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/TraffickingInst
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@humantraffickinginstitute
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traffickinginst/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/traffickinginst

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/human-trafficking-institute
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-05