AS CASINOS AND gaming boom across Massachusetts, state gaming authorities are training their research eyes on the gambling industry’s seedy underbelly. 

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission rolled out a request for bids on January 30, looking to pursue a study assessing the influence of the expansion of gaming on sex trafficking in the state. Bustling casinos can offer cover for traffickers looking for privacy, money laundering opportunities, and existing hospitality networks, according to the commission. They can also be strategic partners in trying to combat trafficking because of their attractiveness to potential traffickers.

A report in 2022 from the American Gaming Association – the industry trade organization – focused on the “pervasive human rights offense” of sex trafficking as it relates to casinos.

“Traffickers take advantage of legitimate industries and supply chains to find, exploit, and traffic victims,” according to the report. “This is especially true for the travel and tourism industry – including casino gaming – when properties are unwittingly used to facilitate criminal activity.”

The Massachusetts bid document notes that not all casino involvement is unwitting, as there have been incidents of hotel employee involvement in connecting buyers with trafficked individuals.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 134 hotline calls, texts, online reports, or emails received from victims or survivors of human trafficking in Massachusetts in 2021, almost 80 of which involved sex trafficking. The gaming commission bid document notes that those calls do not reflect the prevalence of trafficking, which is a largely unreported crime.

The issue burst into the local news last November, when authorities busted a sex ring in Massachusetts and Virginia. Acting US Attorney Joshua Levy said the ring had been patronized by high-powered elected officials, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and more. 

As with many criminal crackdowns on sex work, focus quickly turned to trafficking. The alleged organizers of the ring “facilitated the movement of predominantly Asian women across the United States for sex trafficking and a commercial sex ring, exploiting them in the process,” Levy said.

Human trafficking can include forced labor and domestic servitude, the bid document notes, but federal reporting finds that the most common form of human trafficking in casinos is sex trafficking.

The bid solicitation is part of the Gaming Commission’s wide-ranging research agenda, which has delved into the economic, social, and safety impacts of gambling. Despite the growth of online sports betting, casino business is still booming – Massachusetts casinos brought in $103 million in gross gaming revenue in December 2023.

Sex trafficking is a particularly difficult area to study, according to the request document, for reasons including its “clandestine nature and issues sharing sensitive data among agencies.” The commission worked with stakeholders from state and local public safety, the human trafficking division at the Massachusetts attorney general’s office, advocacy services, health services, research, and human services to identify key areas of focus, avenues for expansion, and avenues for collaboration in this research initiative.

According to the bid solicitation, researchers will be tasked with exploring the extent and mechanisms of sex trafficking through Massachusetts casinos as opposed to other hospitality organizations. The report should consider how law enforcement and casino staff can best identify and intervene in sex trafficking, and detail the experiences and needs of those who have been trafficked.

Trafficking crosses racial, gender, and economic lines, but there is a disproportionate risk to younger, poorer people from marginalized backgrounds. Survivors of trafficking often need mental and behavioral health resources, medical care, and job and housing assistance.

“Sex trafficking has a profound impact on the mental, physical, and financial wellbeing of survivors,” the bid request says. “Many sex trafficking survivors experience complex physical and emotional trauma with long-lasting effects.”