HUMAN TRAFFICKING

1. HUMAN TRAFFICKING

2. Story • An 11-year old girl was recruited to work as a waitress at a restaurant in the U.S. so she could send money back to her desperately poor family in Mexico.

3. Sadly, the promised job never materialized. She instead found herself imprisoned in a trailer serving as a portable brothel. This is human trafficking—literally modern day slavery

4. 600,000-800,000 • Victims trafficked annually across international borders worldwide • After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with illegal arms industry as the 2nd most lucrative criminal enterprise in the world today • Fastest growing enterprise

5. U.S. State Department Statistics • 14,500-17,500 victims trafficked to this country each year • Exploited for labor or commercial sex • From Southeast Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, & Africa • No American community is immune from having such victims

6. Victims forced to: • Prostitution; pornography • Migrant farm labor • Domestic servitude as nannies & maids • Hotel & restaurant work • Factory sweatshops • Etc.

7. For example: • One girl was forced to work long hours in the tomato fields during the day & then at night raped by her captor at night

8. Victims: • Physical & emotional torture • Beaten, raped, threatened, denied food, human contact, health care • Often experience PTSD & traumatic bonding syndrome which holds them in place • Half of all victims are children

9. Ways of luring victims to U.S. • Told: will be united with family • Work at a legitimate job • Attend school • Get adopted • Get married

10. Some victims are brought here illegally, others legally; the latter can be held “captive” through “debt bondage” • Other victims are born in the U.S., example, runaways

11. The Criminals • Can be sophisticated, organized criminals both national & international networks • Can be organized crime syndicates • Can be small groups, amateurs

12. Can Be: • Neighbors • Friends • “boyfriends” • Family members • Village chiefs • Former victims/returnees • Women who have same ethnicity as victims

13. Behaviors of Captors • Keep victims hidden from public eye • Threaten to harm victims’ families • Threaten victims with deportation • Instill fear in victims of law enforcement • Victims who do not speak English, further isolated • Victims moved a lot; don’t know where they are

14. Consequences for Children • Children malnourished; may not grow to normal height • Have mental & physical health issues • Have untreated broken bones, hearing loss, etc. • May develop chronic back, visual, & respiratory problems

15. May have sexually transmitted diseases inlcuding AIDS • Untreated urinary tract infections • Kidney problems • Future problems with reproduction

16. Mental health issues: PTSD, sleeping & eating disorders, phobias, panic attacks, depression • Substance abuse problems: sometimes hooked on drugs by captor for power & control purposes • May experience trauma bonding: Stockholm Syndrome

17. Get children to accept captors as family: children accept abuse in exchange for familiar bonding

18. HELP FOR CHILDREN • Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) October 2000 • Increases prosecution of traffickers • Protects victims • Provides benefits & services to victims • Allows for T Visa to remain in U.S.

19. Through U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) unaccompanied trafficked children eligible for Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program • Placed in foster care or independent living situations • May receive intensive case management

20. Assists in family reunification • Assists in repatriation services

21. HHS’s Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking Public Awareness Campaign

22. Focuses on educating individuals who may encounter victims such as CPS workers, teachers, medical personnel, law enforcement, etc. • Any minor involved in commercial sex is a trafficking victim • Must be identified to receive needed services

23. HHS has created a program to help local governments identify victims • There are posters, training videos, etc. to educate individuals to spot & identify victims • Go to: www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking

24. CLUES TO IDENTIFY VICTIMS • Attends school sporadically, not at all; or significant gap in schooling • Often hungry or malnourished • Wearing the same clothing day after day; clothes are dirty & torn • Poor hygiene • Bruises or other signs of physical abuse

25. Living with multiple people in a cramped space • Lives & works in the same place or with employer • Depression, fear, overly submissive • No passport or other forms of identification