New Study in INFORMS Manufacturing & Service Operations Management Key Takeaways:
- Recruitment targets the vulnerable: Many victims are recruited from economically struggling suburban and rural areas – far from urban areas where most sex sales occur.
- Machine learning can detect risk: The research team developed AI models that flag deceptive recruitment ads with high accuracy, linking them to known trafficking networks.
- Supply chain mapping offers new tools: By tracing both recruitment and exploitation patterns, the study provides actionable insights for early intervention – before harm can occur.
BALTIMORE, MD, May 24, 2025 – Most anti-human trafficking efforts focus on breaking up sex sales; however, new research in the INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management is turning its attention to where trafficking truly begins – recruitment. Using machine learning to analyze millions of online ads, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have uncovered patterns that link deceptive job offers to sex trafficking networks. By mapping the connections between recruitment and sales locations, the study reveals a hidden supply chain – one that can now be exposed and interrupted earlier in the trafficking process.
“By combining data science with deep web analysis, we are helping to uncover trafficking networks and provide law enforcement with tools to intervene before exploitation occurs,” says Hamsa Bastani of the University of Pennsylvania. “Our research reveals the hidden supply chains of sex trafficking, showing how recruitment often begins with false promises in vulnerable communities.”
The study, “Unmasking Human Trafficking Risk in Commercial Sex Supply Chains with Machine Learning,” finds that traffickers often lure victims from economically vulnerable areas, such as suburban communities, rather than large cities where most sex sales occur. This surprising discovery shifts the conversation about how trafficking networks operate and where interventions should be focused. Instead of targeting only the urban centers where trafficking sales are most visible, researchers argue that more attention needs to be paid to recruitment hotspots in smaller, economically struggling communities.
