Evaluation of San Francisco’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force

It’s estimated that labor trafficking is over three-and-a-half times as prevalent as sex trafficking. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by this issue, making up 55 percent of all trafficked persons globally. In an effort to address this human rights issue, many anti-trafficking task forces been established throughout the U.S.

RTI assembled a team of trafficking survivors, experts, program evaluators, and allies to conduct the first-ever comprehensive evaluation of an anti-trafficking task force, the San Francisco Mayor’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking.

As the first-of-its-kind survivor-ally led evaluation, this work can serve as a foundation for evaluating other human trafficking task forces across the nation. With the inclusion of survivor voices in these efforts, much can be learned about how San Francisco can combat human trafficking and enhance and improve services for survivors.

Our research revealed the task force has managed to close service gaps despite having funding for only one half-time position. Our research also found a need for additional clarity on membership and alignment on the task force’s goals.

As a result of these findings, the task force is embarking on a strategic planning process to identify their key and unifying goals, work towards greater levels of collaboration among task force members, and develop metrics by which they can measure their efforts to fight human trafficking in the San Francisco Bay Area.