Human trafficking course; online class; online learning

Human Trafficking Essentials

Train your students, staff, faculty, employees, or just yourself with the most interactive online human trafficking prevention course on the internet!

Human Trafficking Essentials is not just an educational program; it represents an opportunity for personal growth and empowerment. By enrolling, you’ll join a community of like-minded individuals who are determined to fight against injustice and create positive change in the world.

Teachers: it’s perfect for homework! Our online learning platform eliminates the need for you to become an expert, takes little to no class time (it’s 100% self-driven), provides quantifiable science-based education, delivers sharable results through email, and is written, approved, and continually updated by experts. All accessible through a web browser, even on your phone.

Students: it’s college level training in your browser. Our comprehensive online course is available for anyone to take for free, for a certificate, or for university credit. 

Human Trafficking Essentials‘ course materials and content are the same throughout all versions below. As a student / purchaser, you are selecting the result you wish (a completion email, a Mastery Certificate, or University Credit). 

Gain the same comprehensive educational advancement at a price you can afford. We believe everyone should have access to this important material, so we make it available to you at whatever price you choose.

Master your comprehensive, assessment-based, human trafficking course and prove you have thoroughly learned, practiced, and mastered the essentials required to understand, recognize, and respond to human trafficking situations.

We guarantee your Certificate will be accepted anywhere or you’ll receive your money back.

Belhaven University PLA Credit provided for completion of your comprehensive, assessment-based, human trafficking course and prove you have thoroughly learned, practiced, and mastered the essentials required to understand, recognize, and respond to human trafficking situations.

Online human trafficking course; online learning; online classes

Learning Objectives

  • Legal definitions and requirements
  • Actions, Means, and Purpose are required to be considered trafficking
  • How vulnerabilities and unmet needs can lead to trafficking
  • Common red flags
  • Risk factors and vulnerabilities
  • Proper responses

Features

  • 100% Online: Access on Mobile, PC, Tablet and Laptop
  • Start, stop, and continue your learning on any device at any time
  • Certificate of Completion with Money Back Guarantee
  • Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for the course are 100% guaranteed to be accepted by any organization.
  • Over 30 minutes of original, instructional, and animated videos (30+ minutes)
  • Wide variety of in-depth lessons and interactive activities
  • Demonstrable mastery of learning objectives through assessment-based testing

A study from Carnegie Mellon University shows that students using interactive learning out-perform students only learning through instructional videos by a factor of six to one.

Far beyond a typical “voice over a slideshow” training, Human Trafficking Essentials utilizes multiple interactive education techniques to provide an unprecedented learning experience you can use in any web browser, even on your phone.  

There is no need to set aside a huge block of time because the course is broken into small, bite-sized sections, so you can earn your Certificate of Mastery over multiple sessions at your convenience. 

Your Knowledge Vault Membership lasts a lifetime, giving you access to up-to-date curated materials far beyond your essential human trafficking course.

Exceeds mandatory requirements
Human Trafficking Essentials teaches the foundations: definitions, awareness, prevalence, vulnerabilities, red flags, prevention, and responses.

Your Certificate of Mastery meets or exceeds standards set by courts, legal orders, legal representatives, parole or probation requirements, employers, educational institutions, or any other entities.
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Learn anywhere
Human trafficking courses are 100% online and self-paced and allow you to start and stop as often as necessary to accommodate your schedule.

Use any device that has access to the Internet, including: Desktop computers | Laptop computers | Tablets | Smart phones

You can even start on one device and continue on another!
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Guaranteed acceptance
Your Human Trafficking Essentials Certificate of Mastery is guaranteed to be accepted. If your certificate is not accepted for any reason, you will receive a full, no hassle refund.

If you are an employer interested in our available human trafficking courses, please contact us so we can get you what you need.
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Certificate of Mastery accepted by professional organizations

The Human Trafficking Essentials Certificate of Mastery has been accepted for Project Management Professional (PMP) Professional Development Units (PDUs) by the internationally-recognized Project Management Institute. CIO Magazine ranked the PMP as the top project management certification in North America, because “it demonstrates you have the specific skills employers seek, dedication to excellence and the capacity to perform at the highest levels.”

Membership benefit of professional organizations

“PBJ Learning is proud to announce our new partnership with the International Game Developers Association,” says Billy Joe Cain, co-founder of PBJ Learning.  “IGDA members, including employees of the biggest companies in the world, from Activision (the makers of World of Warcraft) to Epic Games (the makers of Fortnite) can now learn about human trafficking through the easiest to access interactive online course on trafficking in the world.”

Certificate of Mastery accepted by academia

University students across America are utilizing Human Trafficking Essentials in their classes to cover this often-neglected topic. Read more about how College of DuPage and Governor’s State University are using it to train their criminal justice students.

Human Trafficking Essentials Videos

This is a complete playlist of all the videos in Human Trafficking Essentials: Online Certificate Course. You can watch each and every one here or on our YouTube Channel for free. The course contains a whole lot more material, a pre- and post- course assessment, and lots of interactive activities and lessons. All you need to do to get started is register on the site, add the course to your cart, and checkout.

Human Trafficking Essentials Video Summaries

Learning objectives are woven into 30 minutes of easy to watch videos alongside well-researched lessons and interactive activities. Click below for contents of each video in your human trafficking course.

This is the first video of the course. You find all the details of what is offered throughout the course and what you will learn.

Following the Welcome video, you take the Pre-Course Assessment to provide a baseline of your current understanding of human trafficking. This will be useful at the end of the course when you take the Post-Course Assessment.

You can see how much your understanding and knowledge about human trafficking increased by completing the course.

In this video we break down the exact definition of human trafficking at the national and international levels.

After viewing this video, you will know the elements of human trafficking and the similarities between the two most commonly used definitions of human trafficking.

In the first prevalence video, we share some of the most reliable estimates and statistics on human trafficking to help you better understand the scope and breadth of this terrible crime.

In the second prevalence video, we show you how this crime affects individuals by sharing real-life survivor stories.

In this first video on vulnerabilities associated with human trafficking, you learn about demographics that place individuals and groups and greater risk of being trafficked. This includes race, income, and geography.

With an understanding of how vulnerabilities can increase a person’s chances of being trafficked, we use real world stories to show how these vulnerabilities were exploited by traffickers.

In this video we explain how to be aware of the context of the situation to help you identify red flags and determine if someone is being trafficked or at risk of being trafficked.

To better understand the types of everyday situations where people are being trafficked or at risk for being trafficked, we walk you through multiple real-life stories that involves kids being groomed and vulnerabilities being exploited.

In this final video, we explain how to respond to a situation where you believe someone is being trafficked. From nurses to parents, the ability to respond appropriately is available to everyone.

In this Post-Course Assessment, you use everything you gained by completing all sections of the course. Upon finishing this test, you can see how this score compares with your Pre-Course Assessment to see how much you learned from your Human Trafficking Essentials course.

Post-Course Assessment scores of 70% receive Completion Credit. Score 100% to receive your Certificate of Mastery.

Dr. David Deeds - PBJ Learning | Radical Empathy Education Foundation

Human trafficking course, Human Trafficking Essentials, written and taught by Dr. David Deeds, Ed.D.

College of DuPage Professor, Governors University Professor, PBJ Learning Co-founder and Education Director​

Course instructor Dr. David Deeds brings over a decade of professional experience teaching, researching, and raising awareness about human trafficking. In that time, he has taught hundreds of university students, hosted events, engaged legislators, and found innovative ways of working against human trafficking while informing others.

Some of Dr. Deeds accomplishments from Governors State University, University Park, IL:

This course’s material has been taught and updated by Dr. Deeds for almost 15 years, and it has been approved by dozens of subject matter experts, including survivors and survivor groups. We review our courses multiple times a year with our advisors and other subject matter experts to ensure the most up to date materials are being covered.

Billy Joe Cain Headshot with TRAPPED and Quest VR headsets 300x300

Course interactivity and human trafficking training videos developed and produced by Billy Joe Cain

Interactive professional, Online learning professional, PBJ Learning Co-founder and Creative Director​

Billy Joe’s interactive entertainment and educational product experience (since 1992) and human trafficking prevention training (since 2016) has been focused directly on PBJ Learning’s online courses to end this horrible crime.

Some of his accomplishments in the interactive and education fields:

  • Designed, produced, or contributed to hundreds of interactive projects since 1992, including Ultima, Wing Commander, the EA Sports’ Rugby franchise, SpongeBob SquarePants, and many interactive educational products (more here)
  • Designed and released the world’s first immersive human trafficking prevention training in virtual reality for Radical Empathy Education Foundation, which he founded in 2017
  • Successfully completed hundreds of human trafficking prevention courses, webinars, etc. for research and understanding the field (licenses and certifications here)

After a profound personal experience set him on this mission, he has built a network of experts to create the best courses and the broadest and deepest educational materials to fight trafficking in the world.

Learn more about our team.

PBJ Learning courses

Testimonials for Human Trafficking Essentials

"A treasure; a course with evidence of strategic and methodical implementation of diverse teaching strategies to reach every learner with or without prior human trafficking knowledge"

As a nurse educator for over a decade, and focusing on human trafficking for the last two years, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to view this virtual training.

As I clicked on “play” my mindset shifted to predetermined assumptions of what a human trafficking training would look like. Regardless, I was most excited about the opportunity to complete the training from the comfort of my home. To my surprise, I discovered a treasure; a course with evidence of strategic and methodical implementation of diverse teaching strategies to reach every learner with or without prior human trafficking knowledge.

The course overall was engaging, easy to follow, interesting, and divided into small sections with application exercises, allowing for immediate use of the information learned. The segments and activities were so engaging that I felt excited and accomplished at the end of each one as my intellectual growth was evident. The use of drag and drop, matching, and video cases to help “connect the dots” was impressive.

Furthermore, these activities helped not only reinforcing the information, but it forces the learner to apply the new knowledge with the use of scenarios. I cannot recall another virtual training the engaged the learner as in depth as this one, aside from educational tools used by our school of nursing. I do not imply these do not exist elsewhere; rather, it is atypical for virtual trainings (even some created for masters and doctoral prepared audiences) to reach this level of detail and commitment to produce a diverse virtual learning environment.

This course provides crucial information related to human trafficking and its legal aspect yet remains focused on the most relevant and useful information for any learner in any setting. I highly recommend this wonderful and effective training.”

Marielle Combs, DNP, RN, CNE. Marielle Combs is an experienced certified nurse educator, published author (“Human Trafficking: Empowering Healthcare Providers and Community Partners as Advocates for Victims“), and advocate for increasing anti-human trafficking awareness. She is the nursing education director for the anti-trafficking non-profit organization Exitus

Advisory Board Member Marielle Combs DNP, RN, CNE

Dr. Combs uses her educational expertise to empower future nurses and the community in human trafficking identification, rescue, and the healing of survivors. Her extensive educational experience will guide PBJ Learning’s training curriculum.

"Academic rigor and credible resources"

I am very impressed with the academic rigor and credible resources used for this course. The credentials for this course are clearly established and bring credibility to its content. I especially like the short videos and interactive reinforcement activities. The stories of the everyday people were excellent to also reinforce a specific issue and how it can be resolved.”

Dr. Paula Zobisch, Executive Vice President, Curriculum Development & Partner Relations, envisageconnect.com

Dr. Paula Zobisch

"Well designed and crucial instruction that everyone should complete."

“The continued prevalence of human trafficking is a stain on society.

This instruction shines a much needed light on the issue, clarifies related concepts and provides initial guidance on how anyone can combat it.”

Dr. William Watson, professor of Learning Design and Technology and Director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments.

Dr. William Watson, Professor of Learning Design and Technology and Director of the Purdue Center for Serious Games and Learning in Virtual Environments

"A real eye-opener; well worth the effort"

“The presentation is very slick, and the procedure is easy to follow. The exam is thorough, and I was pleased that an incorrect answer was accompanied by the correct section to study for that knowledge. Before taking the course, I thought I had a solid grasp of the nature of human trafficking, but the initial test to determine my baseline knowledge was a real eye-opener!  

I have taken many courses like this covering different subjects over the years, and they are often a simple formality, but Human Trafficking Essentials taught me valuable information about this horrific industry, and I feel equipped to recognize the signs of it when I see it, and the appropriate steps to take

I had to put in earnest work for the Certificate of Mastery and it was well worth the effort.”

Steve Powers, veteran interactive professional.

Steve Powers

"Crucial education"

“Sex trafficking, forced labor, child soldiers, and other forms of human trafficking are at the core of much human suffering, particularly in demographics that are already economically, emotionally and otherwise vulnerable.

PBJ’s online course, Human Trafficking Essentials, provides crucial education for community leaders, educators and others in identifying the red flags of potential human trafficking scenarios and a necessary guide for helping its victims.”

– Jenny Bendel, Activist and Community Relations Advisor. She is an award-winning communications and community development professional with more that 30 years of experience creating highly successful initiatives for clients in music, gaming, comics, toys and more, as well as for a variety of humanitarian, environmental and civil rights campaigns and social justice issues.

Jenny Bendel

“Human Trafficking Essentials uses an impressive interactive methodology to impart a concise understanding of human trafficking as a legal, social, and community issue”

“As an international human rights lawyer and professor of Human Rights Law (specialising in the demand side of human trafficking), I was impressed with the interactive methodology employed by PBJ Learning in its presentation of human trafficking from the U.S. perspective.

As a key human rights issue, it is essential to increase awareness as a starting point down the journey towards ultimate freedom for all. This course, as a solid educative introduction to human trafficking, accomplishes just that. It delivers a concise understanding of how human trafficking can be understood as a legal, social, and community issue while bearing on the need to address human trafficking through the lens of the ‘let’s react now’, timeline approach.” 

Theresa Ryan-Rouger, experienced international human rights lawyer.

PBJ Learning Advisory Board Member Theresa Ryan-Rouger is an experienced human rights lawyer, lecturer, published researcher, and development project leader with expertise in International Human Rights: Children's rights, SASE, Human Trafficking, Business and Human Rights

“Human Trafficking Essentials is the best course I’ve ever seen on the topic of human trafficking”

“This is the best course I’ve ever seen on the topic of human trafficking. It covers the scope and the facts well without exaggeration or fluff. Every person in the United States needs to take this course.”

– Adam Zarnowski, Anti-Human Trafficking and Anti-Predatory Offense Specialist.

PBJ Learning Advisory Board Member Adam Zarnowski

"Great resource that provides real life examples and information about the reporting hotline."

Sadly, the course underscored the important point that human traffickers truly undermine the free will of their victims and profit off of their abuse. Imagining that reality is hard, but it is important. In fact, when I first heard the term human trafficking I imagined people walking around in a crowd acting like cars. However, the reality is that there is not much in common between this whimsical image and the human rights issue also known as modern day slavery.

As a social worker, understanding the context of my clients’ traumas helps me empathize with them and eventually promote their healing. Furthermore, conscientiousness about the threats facing my young clients helps me better inform them about navigating life’s uncertainties. That is why I recommend PBJ Learning’s Human Trafficking Essentials – Online Certificate Course which informatively calls the issue to light.

This course is easily at the same level as other training I have done at my agency as it engages the learner in video and online activities. Furthermore, Human Trafficking Essentials is a great resource in that it also provides real life examples and information about the reporting hotline. You never know when you can intervene in someone’s life so, let’s do our part in ending trafficking!-

Camille Euritt, LMSW, 2021 Vice President Education for Austin Toastmasters

Camille Euritt is a licensed master social worker and trainer in Austin, Texas.

"Life-changing"

This was a life-changing course. The issue must be brought to the forefront of everyone’s minds and learn how to be aware and what actions to take. Human Trafficking Essentials will be an incredible value add to our business network and portfolio of courses.”

Amanda Jones, MBA Finance, Executive Vice President, Operations & Corporate Relations, envisageconnect.com

Amanda Jones, Executive Vice President, Operations & Corporate Relations - Envisage Global