Human Trafficking is the illegal trade and selling of a person for profit, labor, or sexual exploitation through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Human trafficking can happen to anyone, regardless of demographics or situation. While both sex and labor trafficking can involve the transportation of an individual, it is not necessary. Sex and labor trafficking have both been identified in the city in past years, including the trafficking of locals through coercion for the purpose of labor or sexual exploitation. The Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence (DBI) at the City of Dallas, Dallas Police, and partnering agencies and advocacy groups focused on aiding sex trafficking survivors have worked together to create a dashboard that helps visualize and bring awareness to the presence of this crime in the city.

Please see the Human Trafficking Awareness dashboard by following the link to open in a new window.

No one should have to go through this crisis alone. If you or someone you know is being trafficked or at risk of being trafficked (see the signs from the US Dept of State and on the How I Can Help page) there are organizations like the Children's Advocacy Center, New Friends New Life, Traffick911 , and Ranch Hands Rescue who can help. Additionally, you can submit an anonymous tip at the National Human Trafficking Hotline or call Dallas Police. Human trafficking can happen anywhere and to anyone. It's important to know that survivors can get the help they need and re-enter society with a new-found outlook on life.

The dashboard is comprised of four main pages, all of which can be accessed from our navigational panel to the left of the page. When opened, the dashboard will display the Overview page. The Overview page offers data from both the Dallas Police Department (visuals in blue) and local shelters and advocacy groups (visuals in green). Hover over each visual to reveal more information about the data. Crime data from the Dallas Police will be updated daily, while data from advocacy groups, the Vice Unit, and the Crimes Against Children Unit will be updated on a quarterly basis. 

Tooltips offer additional information about the visuals and data as you hover over the images on the dashboard. Tooltips are used to provide a deep dive into the data to gain a better understanding of the issue and provide greater context. Hover over any visual or text box to reveal the tooltips. 

On the left side of every page the navigational panel can be used to  go directly to any other page of the dashboard, as well as to the Dallas Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Advisory Council page, National Human Trafficking Hotline website, Dallas Open Data Portal and a "How to Use This Page" overlay page for convenience, which can be toggled using the bright blue box containing a "?". 

The Advocacy page contains data collected from three local shelters and advocacy groups; New Friends New Life, Traffick911, and Ranch Hands Rescue. Data on this page is displayed in quarterly time frames. You can select the desired quarter in the upper right of the dashboard. This changes the displayed numbers and graphs to match the corresponding quarter selected. We are always looking to include additional shelters and advocacy groups who work hard for the survivors of Human Trafficking. To have your data included, please email data@dallas.gov. 

After going through the dashboard, the dashboard concludes with a call to action on the "How I Can Help" page. This page features resources for survivors and their families. Links to the advocacy groups' websites can be found on the right side and can be visited by clicking the house icons. The phone icon will take you to the National Human Trafficking Hotline page. We have also included information on what you can do to help someone you suspect of being trafficked, and an infographic on the lifecycle of human trafficking. No one should go through this alone.