The Global Center on Human Trafficking (GCHT), housed within Montclair State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, serves as a cross-disciplinary research hub in the global effort to combat human trafficking.
Montclair began its important work to address all forms of human trafficking in 2018 and GCHT has brought together research faculty from across campus to conduct research, develop programming, and influence policies that drastically and measurably reduce human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Through our research, we contribute to a better understanding of global human trafficking in an interdisciplinary and comprehensive context.
Our researchers work with community partners to inform policy and practice as we seek to understand the forces that drive human trafficking in the U.S. and abroad. Recognizing that a survivor-informed perspective in human trafficking research is underrepresented in existing anti-trafficking research, we are dedicated to a survivor-led approach that goes beyond simply including survivor voices. Survivors are at the forefront of our research initiatives, actively participating in every aspect of our projects, from inception to dissemination.
Our aim is to challenge existing norms and create a model of research that is not just survivor-informed but survivor-driven. This approach is not just a moral obligation but a strategic decision for more effective, ethical, and impactful outcomes in the fight against human trafficking
Associated Research Faculty
Research partnership with Montclair’s Center for Research and Evaluation on Education and Human Services
The GCHT, as a subrecipient of a federal grant to the International Organization for Adolescents (IOFA), has also partnered with the Center for Research and Evaluation on Education and Human Services (CREEHS) at Montclair, to provide program evaluation services to the New Futures Mentoring Program. This initiative is funded by a three-year FY21 Preventing Trafficking of Girls Grant (O-OVC-2021-59003) grant from the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Affiliated Research Faculty and Administrators
Bond Benton
Nancy Coba
Elenice De Souza Oliveira
Emily Douglas
Elizabeth Emery
Maneesha Kelkar
Peter Kingstone
Joseph Oluwole
Jessica Restaino
Marissa Silverman
Kenneth Sumner
- Global Center on Human Trafficking Enters Research Partnership with the Center for Strategic CommunicationFriday December 15, 2023
- Study: ‘Pizzagate’ Posts on X Spike Dramatically After Elon Musk Boosted the ConspiracyThe debunked conspiracy is foundational to QAnon, experts say, and a fictitious representation of human traffickingFriday December 1, 2023
- Justice Studies Professor gives invited lecture at the University of Graz, AustriaTuesday June 20, 2023
- GCHT Featured in Fact Check ArticleMonday March 13, 2023
- Dr. Daniela Peterka-Benton featured in BBC Trending podcastThursday August 18, 2022
- Hacking Human Trafficking: The Case of QAnonThis panel event will feature recognized researchers along with those affected by the QAnon conspiracy theory.Thursday April 14, 2022
- Human Trafficking and Person’s with DisabilitiesWednesday March 16, 2022
- The GCHT Appoints New Academic DirectorTuesday March 15, 2022
- National Expert Roundtable Discussion: Understanding and Improving Law Enforcement Investigations of Human Trafficking: Focus on Sex Trafficking (Alison Boak, Dr. Daniela Peterka-Benton, Donna Meeker-O’Rourke, Dr. Francesca Laguardia, Christabelle Robinson July, 2023)
- How QAnon hijacks anti-trafficking, and what can be done about it (Peterka-Benton, D., Benton, B. March 15, 2022). OpenDemocracy.
- Understanding Human Trafficking in New Jersey: An Analysis of Data Collection (D’Urso, A., F. Laguardia, F. and Peterka-Benton, D. 2021). Report for the New Jersey Commission on Human Trafficking, Award Numbers A21-0025-001 & A21-0025-002. [Pending release by New Jersey Commission on Human Trafficking]
- Truth as a Victim: The Challenge of Antitrafficking Education in the Age of Q. (Benton, B. & Peterka-Benton, D. 2021). Anti-Trafficking Review 17 (2021), 113-131.
- Human smuggling in Austria: a comparative analysis of data on smuggled migrants from Former Yugoslavia and the Russian Federation. (Peterka-Benton, D. 2011). International Migration Review, 45/2, 215-242.
Grants:
- Peterka-Benton, D., Yang, L., Robinson, C. (2023). Human Trafficking in Ghana – Perspectives from the United Nations. CHSS Interdisciplinary Groups Award
- Boak, A., Peterka-Benton, D. (2023). The Possibilities Program—Building Human Trafficking Survivor Leadership. Funder: Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey.
- Boak, A., Callahan-Harrison, B., Douglass, E., Ramos, I., Salvatore, C., (2022) Legislative Breakfast: Addressing Human Trafficking in New Jersey: Policy, Research, and Practice. CHSS Interdisciplinary Groups Award.
- Peterka-Benton, D., Rafiefar, M., Boak, A. (2022). “We Are More Than Our Stories”. CHSS Interdisciplinary Groups Award.
- Boak, A. (2021) Comprehensive Campus Response to Human Trafficking (2021) CHSS Interdisciplinary Groups Award.
- Boak, A., Kyse, E. (2021) Prevention of Girls Trafficking, United States Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime (OVC), Sub-Award
- D’Urso, A., Laguardia, F. & Peterka-Benton, D. (2020-2021) Understanding Human Trafficking in New Jersey: An Analysis of Data Collection. Funder: New Jersey Commission on Human Trafficking/Division of Criminal Justice
We welcome submissions of short, narrowly focused articles of contemporary interest related to human trafficking. Submissions undergo editorial review and should be submitted to: Daniela Peterka-Benton, peterkabentd@montclair.edu