“How much human trafficking actually happens here?” This is one of the questions our team at the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT) hears most often.
It’s one of the hardest, most complicated questions to answer.
You may have seen headlines claiming that Colorado is one of the “worst states” for human trafficking. You may have seen statistics about hotline calls, criminal cases, or the number of people identified as victims.
These numbers can help us understand parts of the issue. But none can tell us exactly how many people are experiencing human trafficking in Colorado.
So, why is it so difficult to answer what seems like a simple question? And if we don’t know the exact number, what do we know?
We asked Kara Napolitano, LCHT’s Education and Partnerships Director, to help unpack the “prevalence question.”
Why is human trafficking prevalence the first question asked?
When people learn about a human rights issue, they want to understand its size. It’s only natural. “We use prevalence as a shortcut for importance,” Kara explains. “When someone hears about a social issue they don’t know much about, one of the first things they’re trying to figure out is, ‘How big of a problem is this?’”
“Most people are uncomfortable with uncertainty,” Kara continues. “Unfortunately, trafficking is one of those phenomena where the most honest answer is often, ‘We don’t really know.’”
Media coverage has conditioned people to think in statistics. Plus, a number can make a complicated issue feel more concrete. It can also help us understand whether something is happening close to home.
So when someone asks how much trafficking happens in Colorado, they may really be asking: Could this happen in my community? Have I encountered someone experiencing trafficking without realizing it? Is this something my school or workplace needs to be prepared for? Could my children be in danger? How would I recognize it? Should I be worried about this?
In other words, people may actually be less interested in prevalence than they are in proximity, relevance, and accountability. Those are questions we can answer more clearly.
Why can’t we provide a concrete number of human trafficking cases?
Sex or labor trafficking is often hidden—which makes it so difficult to measure. Many people experiencing exploitation never report it to law enforcement or a hotline. Some survivors may not have the language to identify their experience as trafficking.
Kara stresses, “Given the realities of trauma bonding, dependency, safety concerns, and public misconceptions about trafficking, it is remarkable how much courage it takes for survivors who choose to come forward.”
To understand why it’s so hard to answer the prevalence question, picture a funnel. At the top of the funnel are all the people experiencing human trafficking.
Some may disclose their experience. Many will not. A survivor may depend on the person exploiting them for housing, money, food, emotional support, or other basic needs. The trafficker may be a partner, family member, employer, or another person they know and trust. Reporting what is happening could put the survivor or someone they love at risk.
Among those who do report, only some will do so to law enforcement. But will they be believed? Do they have evidence that clearly demonstrates coercion? Will the person receiving the disclosure recognize it as sex or labor trafficking?
Of those reports, only some will lead to an investigation—a lengthy, resource-intensive process that can take two to four years on average in Colorado. Will the survivor be able to support themselves and receive resources during that time? Some investigations may result in an arrest, and an even smaller number may result in a human trafficking conviction. Most do not.
“At each stage, people fall out of the funnel,” Kara says. “The trafficking prosecutions we see are the small number of cases that successfully make it through every stage of that funnel. Those numbers tell us more about what enters and moves through the criminal justice system than they do about the actual prevalence of trafficking.”
What can (and can’t) Colorado’s Human Trafficking Hotline data tell us?
Hotline data gives us another slice of the picture. Colorado’s 24/7 Human Trafficking Hotline receives around 1,000 calls and texts each year. But 1,000 contacts doesn’t translate to that many trafficking cases or survivors.
One person may contact the Hotline more than once. Some calls may involve situations that don’t meet the legal definition of human trafficking. And many people experiencing trafficking may never contact a hotline at all.
An increase in calls also does not necessarily mean trafficking is increasing. It could mean more people know the Hotline exists. It could mean more healthcare workers, educators, and frontline professionals are getting trained on how to recognize potential cases. It could mean outreach efforts to vulnerable populations are working.
“Hotline data can tell us about awareness, identification, and reporting,” Kara says. “But it cannot tell us with certainty whether trafficking itself is increasing or decreasing.”
That distinction is important to consider when you see headlines about trafficking statistics.
Is Colorado really one of the “worst” states for human trafficking?
Claims that rank Colorado among the “worst” states for human trafficking are often based on numbers like hotline or prosecution data. But those numbers only represent a fraction of the issue.
A state with more reports could have more trafficking. Or it could have better public awareness, more trained professionals, stronger reporting systems, or more resources dedicated to identifying trafficking.
LCHT researchers have warned against describing Colorado as a trafficking “hotbed” based on investigation numbers. Like Colorado, states across the country struggle to accurately count how many people are experiencing this crime.
So, next time you encounter a claim about Colorado’s ranking, ask: According to what measure? Is the statistic counting hotline contacts? Reports, investigations, or arrests? Prosecutions or convictions? People receiving services? Identified survivors or an estimated prevalence?
As Kara says, “Those are very different metrics, and none of them on their own provide a complete picture of the scope of trafficking in Colorado.”
How is Colorado creating a clearer picture of trafficking?
The fact that we cannot accurately measure prevalence does not mean we should stop collecting data. The Colorado Human Trafficking Council is responsible for reporting human trafficking data to the state legislature each year. Over the past decade, that process has continued to evolve.
Camerron Resener, Human Trafficking Training & Technical Assistance Lead at the Colorado Department of Public Safety, works with the Council and partners across the state to collect and report this information. “From the start, we had to wrestle with the fact that reporting prevalence data is not currently an option,” Camerron explains.
Instead, the Council collects available incident data—information about trafficking that has been identified or reported—to paint as comprehensive of a picture as possible. But even that data has limitations. Organizations collect information in different ways. Survivors may never self-identify. Underlying systemic discrimination can limit the efficacy of the data collected.
For Camerron, that makes the stories behind the data especially important. “I am deeply proud as a staff member to get the opportunity to highlight the humanity under these numbers,” she says. That can look like providing context around data to highlight who might be excluded due to victim blaming, racism, ableism, or sexism. It can also look like having conversations with the groups she collects data from to see if a clearer story can be told.
“Focusing on the dignity of the individuals who experience human trafficking is always at the back of my mind.” Camerron continues to push for state data reporting that further reflects that dignity.
So if we don’t know prevalence, what do we know about human trafficking?
There is a lot we can still learn without knowing exactly how many people are experiencing trafficking in Colorado.
LCHT’s ongoing community-based research initiative, The Colorado Project, examines how the state’s response to trafficking has evolved over time. Survivors, service providers, and community members have identified both progress and gaps to guide what’s next. A fourth iteration of the study is scheduled to launch in early 2027.
Consistent themes about the conditions that can make people more vulnerable to exploitation have been identified. These risk factors include housing insecurity and homelessness, involvement with the child welfare system, immigration status, and discrimination experienced by Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities.
We can better understand the ways exploitation manifests, what barriers people face when they seek help, and what resources communities say they need.
Most importantly, we can listen to survivors themselves. “Rather than focusing exclusively on how many people are being trafficked, we should be asking survivors what they needed before, during, and after their exploitation,” Kara says.
What made it difficult to seek help? What helped them feel safe? What services supported their long-term stability? What would have reduced their vulnerability in the first place? How do they define justice? What outcomes would they like to see for themselves, their families, and the people who exploited them?
Those answers can help us improve prevention, services, policies, and community responses. That’s why strong, inclusive, survivor-led data matters. It can help communities improve public awareness, understand what trafficking looks like locally, and secure resources to respond.
What questions can we ask beyond human trafficking prevalence?
“If someone tells you they know exactly how many people are being trafficked in Colorado, be skeptical,” Kara recommends. “They may have a number, but that doesn’t mean they have a reliable measure of prevalence.”
The next time you see a statistic claiming to show how much human trafficking happens in Colorado, look closer before accepting it at face value. Where did the data come from? What exactly is being counted? How was the information collected? What context might be missing? What can’t the data tell us?
“I would also ask people to consider the intent behind sharing the statistic,” Kara adds. “Is the goal to educate the public, advocate for resources, raise awareness, generate media attention, or support a particular policy or program? The intent doesn’t necessarily make the data wrong, but it can influence how the information is framed.”
There may never be one concrete number that captures the full scope of human trafficking in Colorado. But that doesn’t make us powerless. Instead of just asking, “How many people are being trafficked?” we can ask…
What makes people vulnerable to exploitation? What are survivors and communities telling us they need? What can we do to make our communities safer?
Those are the questions that can lead us toward action and better outcomes for people experiencing exploitation.