Taking the Pulse of the Anti-Trafficking Field

Three years ago, Polaris released the National Survivor Study (NSS), which asked the question, “What do survivors need to thrive?” The study redefined how the anti-trafficking field understood the survivor experience and how research with survivors could be participatory and empowering. 

This year, Polaris will build on the first NSS by launching the National Stakeholder Study — or the NSS 2.0 — which asks the follow-up question: “What does the field need to succeed?” The NSS 2.0 follows in the original study’s collaborative footsteps, seeking to understand what the anti-trafficking field needs in order to align, act, and sustain collective impact.

To kick off the NSS 2.0, Polaris sent a pulse survey to more than 2,700 anti-trafficking stakeholders earlier this year. About 180 people completed the survey, with their responses informing stakeholder mapping, identifying shared values and needs, and showing widespread interest in collaboration going forward.

Complete survey results are available in the full report, with a few lessons highlighted below.

Lesson #1: Keep Centering Survivors Across All Sectors

Survivors of trauma — and of human trafficking specifically — are present across stakeholder groups in the anti-trafficking field, from service providers and faith-based institutions to policy, the private sector, and philanthropy. Overall, about 9% of all survey respondents identified as survivors of human trafficking, with another 11% identifying as survivors of another violent crime. Furthermore, being survivor led or survivor centered was the most commonly identified shared value that survey respondents shared. This alignment validates Polaris’s commitment to survivor-led, survivor-centered work, and it serves as a North Star for the field moving forward.

Lesson #2: Engage Organizations Focused on Labor Trafficking

Although it is estimated that labor trafficking is much more prevalent worldwide than sex trafficking, labor trafficking-specific organizations have not been well represented in the national anti-trafficking field — nor in this pulse survey. The vast majority of respondents said that their work addressed both sex and labor trafficking, with the remaining 18% focused on sex trafficking only — and no respondents focused on labor trafficking only. Polaris will need to make concerted outreach efforts to ensure that such organizations are represented in the NSS 2.0 and in collaborative efforts down the road.

Lesson #3: Engage Stakeholders Outside Traditional Anti-Trafficking Sectors

The pulse survey received the largest response from NGOs and service providers (62%) and law enforcement and judiciary (30%), with lower participation rates from educators, policymakers, researchers, faith-based institutions, funders, the private sector, and media. While Polaris recognizes that NGOs, service providers, law enforcement, and judiciary are critical stakeholders who must be engaged in any fieldwide work, we must also reach out to organizations outside of these historically primary sectors to build a nuanced picture of the field and achieve wider systems change and long-term survivor prosperity.

Lesson #4: Acknowledge the Impact of Funding Cuts 

Resource sustainability has been a longstanding, ongoing issue for the field, and last year’s upheaval has only exacerbated the issue. Just under half of respondents’ organizations experienced a loss of funding in 2025 — with more than 60% of those losing funding from federal government agencies. About 41% also anticipated needing to rebudget based on expecting less funding for 2026. Unsurprisingly, the survey identified funding and financial support as the field’s most critical need at this moment in time. While the NSS 2.0 can’t solve this issue on its own, Polaris will keep the field’s need and capacity constraints in mind.

Lesson #5: Take Collaboration to the Next Level

A majority of respondents ranked collaboration as a key value (second most noted), reported current collaboration with other sectors (78% often or every day), and indicated interest in collaborating with Polaris and others to develop a plan for the next decade (94%). This momentum is encouraging, especially as organizational and service provider coordination ranked as the third most noted need. Although anti-trafficking stakeholders may not always agree on practices or policies, we believe that the NSS 2.0 can help uncover and strengthen key points of intersection for moving forward together.

“At this moment, the anti-trafficking movement most urgently needs greater coordination and strategic focus, particularly across prevention, data, and systems-level change. We have many committed actors, but too often efforts remain fragmented or reactive.” 
– Pulse Survey Respondent

What’s Next? 

With these pulse survey results in hand, Polaris’s research team is working hard to structure the NSS 2.0 process and bring together the right partners to design the study and get research underway. There will be opportunities for further stakeholder participation — if you would like to be a part of the process, please fill out this interest form. In the meantime, check out the full pulse survey report, and stay tuned for more updates as we roll out the NSS 2.0!