A University of Georgia professor working on efforts to end human trafficking said Tuesday that forced labor may at least as big an industry as sexual servitude.

David Okech, an associate professor in the University of Georgia School of Social Work, is a member of a section of the Georgia Governor's Human Trafficking Task Force that focuses on the plight of foreign-born adult victims of labor trafficking. Okech also leads the African Programming and Research Initiative to End Slavery, which is funded by the U.S. State Department's Office to Combat and Monitor Trafficking in Persons. The international project is collecting data on child trafficking in parts of West Africa to aid intervention efforts and reintegration programs for survivors.

Okech called for more investigation into labor trafficking in a UGA news release Tuesday.

"We are working to expand understanding of labor trafficking and its impact on foreign-born workers in Georgia," Okech said. "While much has been done in the state to identify and combat sex trafficking, there is still little known about labor trafficking and data are hard to come by. The data we gather will inform work in support of sex and labor trafficking victims in Georgia."

While Georgia has seen some litigation over guest agricultural workers exploited with little to no pay or food under threats of deportation, generally victims stay out of sight, Okech said.

"Trafficking victims are a hard-to-reach population. Without baseline data, it is difficult to measure the problem, which makes it difficult to know if any interventions are effective," he said. "In West Africa a young person is more likely to be trafficked primarily for labor, which actually is estimated to be more prevalent worldwide than sex trafficking. In both the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa a person who is labor-trafficked may appear malnourished or exhausted, show signs of physical injuries and abuse, avoid eye contact or be fearful."

The professor said everyone can try to be informed and look for the signs of trafficking. Information can be shared with the federal anti-trafficking hotline 1-866-347-2423. The UGA news release included a link to educational materials on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security "blue campaign" to end human trafficking.