Lauren McCarthy is an Associate Professor of Legal Studies at UMass, Amherst.

In response to a growing human trafficking problem and domestic and international pressure, human trafficking and the use of slave labor were criminalized in Russia in 2003. In this talk, Lauren McCarthy explains why Russian police, prosecutors, and judges have largely ignored this new weapon in their legal arsenal, despite the fact that the law was intended to make it easier to pursue trafficking cases. Based on her extensive research in Russia, she shows how trafficking cases make their way through the criminal justice system and explains why the system has had a difficult time combating this crime.