Jessica Lowen
PhD ‘18, Anthropology
The UNITE Michigan project investigates factors that contribute to the problem trafficking victims and their advocates in accessing services. The explore the source of this issue, UNITE Michigan is building an inventory of Michigan organizations that are involved in anti-human trafficking efforts and gathering information about the services these groups provide. The final product will be an interactive comprehensive digital map that will be publically available and may improve the process by which activists, advocates, and providers refer victims and survivors to services for housing, legal help, and rehabilitation. The project objectives include: organizing data for a dissertation on anti-trafficking social movements, identifying service gaps and redundancies, and creating a referral directory for service providers. The map will also capture the financial, personal, and referral relationships among these organizations. This map will be made publicly available online, initially via a link to my U-M website and eventually transferred to a site associated with a well-established social service agency in Detroit. In this way, the resource can be maintained and/or adapted to future community needs.
Library Mentor: Justin Joque