Alexandra Baxter is staring ahead, a portrait of quiet determination. It takes considerable resilience everyday to investigate why human beings can be so cruel to one another but this is just the kind of resolve needed when your research is attempting to unravel the field of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The Australian Institute of Criminology describes human trafficking as, “…a modern day form of slavery that involves the recruiting of people using coercion, deception or force for the purpose of exploitation”.

Yet, the extent of people trafficking in Australia is not well understood.

Having taken a course during her Flinders undergraduate degree in International Criminal Justice with Associate Professor Marinella Marmo, her lecturer eventually became her PhD Supervisor as Alexandra’s sense of injustice and ideas had room to grow.

“As my knowledge in the area developed, I became more astonished and outraged that in the 21st century, human beings are still treated like an object for sale and subsequently traded as one.

“The patterns and levels of this phenomenon are largely unknown due to the clandestine nature of trafficking globally, which has resulted in a lack of reliable data.” 

"Additionally, high levels of under-reporting and offenders being charged with other offences, such as kidnapping or assault, when trafficking matters are not correctly identified as such can further hide the extent of people trafficking in Australia and around the world".  

With many achievements behind her including a First Class Honours degree with Chancellor’s Letter of Commendation, Alexandra has also spoken at the United Nations Youth Association’s 2017 Human Rights Summit and authored a paper on cybercrime and victimisation for the South Australian Victim Support Service. All while working for a major retail chain to support her studies.

“I believe it is important to have some kind of passion fuelling the drive to undertake any kind of research. I found mine in the outrage I felt that human beings like you and I are still, to this day more so than ever, traded like chattel”. 

Alexandra is now focusing on the role of the perpetrators of these crimes, because the cycle being observed cannot be broken unless all aspects of the problem are understood.

“As my research continued throughout my honours year, I became more and more interested in the motivations of the female perpetrators of these crimes.”

“Human trafficking is one of the few crimes that involves a high rate of female involvement as the perpetrator, not only the victim. Of the 11 successful prosecutions in Australia, 64% involved female traffickers". 

“I’m interested in the motivations of female sex traffickers in Australia, particularly those that were previously victims themselves, and how the Australian Criminal Justice system responds to both the victimisation of these women and their subsequent criminal involvement”.

“In the 21^st Century the slave trade is alive and well”.

The initial outrage Alexandra felt for the victims of trafficking has not diminished. Her work is challenging the stereotypes regarding the ideal victim and ideal offender that are commonly held throughout society.

“It’s the challenge that makes it worthwhile”.

When you have room for ideas to grow, you can help change the world.