DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The only research lab focused on human trafficking in Illinois has been nominated for a national award.
Millikin University's Human Trafficking Research Lab (HTRL) received a Liberator Award nomination in the student organization category.
The awards were created by the SOAP (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution) Project to highlight groups and people across the country working to combat human trafficking.
The award was named after William Lloyd Garrison, a prominent American abolitionist and editor of the first abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator.
“The Human Trafficking Research Lab is deeply honored to be nominated for the Liberator Award in 2025. This award highlights and acknowledges leading abolitionists across the United States, and the student research assistants in the HTRL and I are proud to be recognized among so many people who work to combat and raise awareness of human trafficking in our country,” Millikin Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of HTRL Dr. Laura Dean said in a statement. “The nomination recognizes the research in the lab conducted by undergraduate students, and we are humbled to be nominated for such a distinguished award named after abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison's trailblazing newspaper.”
Public voting for the Liberator Awards is open from February 1-12, and you can vote for the HTRL here.
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