{"id":25793,"date":"2025-05-07T13:42:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=25793&post_type=story"},"modified":"2025-05-30T20:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:46:12","slug":"an-unseen-issue","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/an-unseen-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unseen Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Human trafficking is a pervasive issue in the hospitality industry, often hidden in plain sight. Eighty percent of those affected are recovered from hotels and motels, according to the Polaris Project, a nonprofit working to prevent the crime in North America.<\/p>\n

In September 2019 Associate Lecturer Jessica Wickey Byrd ’13 ’24EdD<\/strong> and 200 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Rosen College of Hospitality Management<\/a> students listened intently as representatives from United Abolitionists, an anti-trafficking organization, described the grim reality in the hospitality field.<\/p>\n

At the end of the hourlong session, Wickey Byrd asked how many students thought they may have witnessed trafficking in their workplace. Thirty students raised their hands.<\/p>\n

One student approached Wickey Byrd and Rosen College Instructor Gisele Canova ’17MS<\/strong> afterward, recounting a personal experience in which she believed she was about to be trafficked. This compelled the instructors to take meaningful action.<\/p>\n

Determined to make a difference, in 2020, they launched a curriculum that educates every Rosen College undergraduate student on their role as hospitality leaders in preventing trafficking. This initiative also led Wickey Byrd to work with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½\u2019s Center for the Study of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery<\/a>, where she now serves as executive director.<\/p>\n

Florida ranks third in the nation for reported cases of trafficking, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. The state\u2019s booming tourism industry is a major contributing factor. That\u2019s why Wickey Byrd and the center\u2019s team are using education, research<\/a> and artificial intelligence<\/a> (AI) to help reduce the number of cases.<\/p>\n

An AI-Powered Solution<\/h2>\n

With nearly 50 million people trafficked worldwide, innovative solutions are essential. To achieve this, Wickey Byrd and David Metcalf \u2014 an associate research professor in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½\u2019s School of Modeling, Simulation and Training<\/a>, and director of its Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab \u2014 are harnessing AI to develop tools that can identify and dismantle trafficking operations.<\/p>\n

One such tool is Dark Watch, an app developed by tech entrepreneur Noel Thomas in partnership with the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Business Incubator Program and the university\u2019s Institute for Simulation and Training<\/a>. Proven effective for military and law enforcement, Dark Watch uses AI-driven tech to detect traffickers through digital transactions, a commonly used payment method. The data is linked to mapping technology, allowing law enforcement to locate traffickers and rescue victims.<\/p>\n

A major benefit of the app is its ability to quickly complete tasks that would typically take a workforce hours to perform, Metcalf says.<\/p>\n

\u201cCombining a law enforcement app that brings many databases, tracking sites and a firewall together provides situational awareness and intelligence, and creates a more holistic solution,\u201d
\nMetcalf says.<\/p>\n

Educating the Industry<\/h2>\n

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½\u2019s efforts align with Florida\u2019s broader push to combat human trafficking. In 2019 the state passed House Bill 851, requiring hotels to train employees on identifying and reporting human trafficking. Since Wickey Byrd launched her curriculum five years ago, more than 5,700 students have completed training.<\/p>\n

Some signs of human trafficking include travelers without luggage, rideshare drivers repeatedly dropping off the same visitors and people avoiding eye contact, she says.<\/p>\n

A way hospitality workers could contribute to anti-trafficking measures is through a hotel badging system that certifies employees are trained to identify and report trafficking, Wickey Byrd says. She\u2019s collaborating with United Abolitionists to develop this system.<\/p>\n

Multilingual communication is also important in combating the issue. While traveling to New Orleans to work with hospitality students at Super Bowl LIX in 2025, Wickey Byrd says she noticed anti-trafficking signs in both English and Spanish at airports.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf [sharing] what you know about trafficking [can] help save one person, then [everyone] needs to be talking,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":25848,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[1628,1745,1744,1431,1746,297,1661],"class_list":["post-25793","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-center-for-the-study-of-human-trafficking-and-modern-slavery","tag-gisele-canova","tag-institute-for-simulation-and-training","tag-jessica-wickey-byrd","tag-rosen-college-of-hospitality-management","tag-school-of-modeling-simulation-and-training","issues-spring-2025"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Unseen Issue: Uncovering Solutions for Human Trafficking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is educating students and using AI to combat human trafficking, an issue that affects nearly 50 million people worldwide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/an-unseen-issue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Unseen Issue: Uncovering Solutions for Human Trafficking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is educating students and using AI to combat human trafficking, an issue that affects nearly 50 million people worldwide.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/an-unseen-issue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pegasus Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-30T20:46:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2025\/04\/UnseenIssue-Pegasus-Spr25-FB-1200x630-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"An Unseen Issue: Uncovering Solutions for Human Trafficking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is educating students and using AI to combat human trafficking, an issue that affects nearly 50 million people worldwide.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/4\/files\/2025\/04\/UnseenIssue-Pegasus-Spr25-TW-1600x900-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/\",\"name\":\"An Unseen Issue: Uncovering Solutions for Human Trafficking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/4\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/UnseenIssue-Pegasus-Spr25-1200x800-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-07T13:42:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-30T20:46:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ is educating students and using AI to combat human trafficking, an issue that affects nearly 50 million people worldwide.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/pegasus\\\/an-unseen-issue\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/4\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/UnseenIssue-Pegasus-Spr25-1200x800-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ucf.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/4\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/UnseenIssue-Pegasus-Spr25-1200x800-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"This illustration displays a set of concentric lines overlaying of a partially open hotel room door. 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