Human trafficking prevention month: Making the invisible visible

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Human trafficking prevention month: Making the invisible visible

January marks Human Trafficking Prevention Month. An ILO senior researcher explains how the STATIP project (Standard Tools for Analysing Trafficking in Persons) is strengthening global data and research, using new tools and partnerships to better measure trafficking and identify what prevention works.

15 January 2026

January marks Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness, educating communities, and reinforcing prevention efforts.

Through the STATIP (Standard Tools for Analysing Trafficking in Persons) project, funded with support from the U.S. Department of State's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office), the ILO together with UNODC, IOM, and the University of Georgia's Center on Human Trafficking Research and Outreach (CenHTRO) aims to fill gaps in human trafficking data by connecting legal and statistical definitions of trafficking and forced labor.

Human trafficking is a crime that thrives in the shadows. We often hear that it is 'hidden,' but at the ILO, we believe you cannot effectively fix what you cannot measure. To solve this crisis, we must move from guessing... to knowing.

That is why, with the support of the US Department of State, the ILO is leading a major push for better data. We are collaborating with UNODC, IOM, and the University of Georgia to develop new global statistical standards, boosted by the use of new technologies like AI.

We are working together to go beyond the tip of the iceberg-police, justice, and administrative records-to measure the true magnitude of trafficking, and finally make the invisible, visible. But detecting the problem is only half the battle. We also need to know how to fix it efficiently.

We are partnering with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) to identify global research priorities and determine which counter-trafficking interventions actually work-and which are the most cost-effective.

This is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the US, and the ILO is proud to be part of the solution-ensuring that every dollar spent translates into real freedom and real change.