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Modern Day Slavery

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General Definition

Trafficking is the recruitment, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining, by any means, any person for labor or services involving forced labor, slavery or servitude in any industry, such as forced or coerced participation in agriculture, prostitution, manufacturing, or other industries or in domestic service or marriage

Men, women and children are trafficked, although most agree that women and children are more often victims of trafficking. Generally, traffickers prey on those most vulnerable: people who have low literacy skills and educational levels, or people who cannot speak English.

      Estimated 500,000 to 2 million people trafficked worldwide annually Cases have been investigated in 48 states The federal government estimates that between 18,000 and 50,000 persons are trafficked in the U.S. annually Within the U.S., traffickers also target people who are vulnerable because they are homeless, juvenile runaways or have substance abuse problems.

People from other countries, as well as from the U.S.are being trafficked Approximately 27 million people are held in slavery worldwide

Trafficking is a clandestine operation. Traffickers guard and control their victims. Victims can be hidden from public eye or may be right in front of us working in places like restaurants, bars, hotels, factories and fields.

 Trafficking is fueled by economically desperate victims and by market demands for cheap labor   Where there are labor intensive industries, human trafficing will often exist Trafficking flourishes when end users can purchase slave labor without fear of legal consequences

             The sex trade Domestic servitude Restaurants, bars, the food industry The drug trade Mail order or foreign bride schemes Begging Computers Construction Factories Lawn services Agriculture Cleaning services Nursing homes

Smuggling

  An offense against the integrity of U.S. Borders Requires illegal crossing of the U.S. Border   Typically make their money from getting people into the U.S.

Can become trafficking once a person is forced to provide labor or services

Trafficking-On-going control

 An offense against a person  Involves compelled labor or service  Traffickers may use smuggling debt as a means to control victims

    Yields an estimated $9 billion in profits each year After drug trafficking, it is tied with arms trafficking as the most lucrative business for organized crime Unlike drugs and arms, human traffickers can continue to exploit their victims after the initial point of the sale Becoming a preferred business for criminal syndicates around the world.

 Often traffickers are:  Members of the victims’s own family    In the U.S. with legal status and maintain close contact with their country of origin.

May be fluent in English as well as native language May have greater social or political status in their own country than their victims

  International organized crime Mom and pop family organizations  Often will involve an extended family    Family will usually operate on both sides of the border Recruiters may be female Independently owned businesses

 Individuals  Pimps and panderers    Persons with noncommercial sexual motives Diplomatic staff/foreign executives who arrive with “servants” Neighbors, friends or relatives of the victim

 Victim living/working conditions  Live on or near work premises    Restricted or controlled communications Frequently moved Large number of occupants for living space

 Victims lack  Personal items/possessions     Cell phones, calling cards, etc.

Private space Financial records Transportation

 Personal /physical indicators  Injuries from beatings or weapons    Signs of torture 9e.g. cigarette burns) Brands or scarring indicating ownership Signs

     Someone else has possession of legal/travel documents Existing debt issues One attorney claiming to represent multiple illegal aliens detained at different locations Third party who insists on interpreting Just enough money to give them a little hope

  Labor camps/sweat shops Security intended to keep victims confined  Barbed wire    Bars on windows Self-contained camps Bouncers, guards, and or guard dogs

 Brothels  Large amounts of cash and condoms   Sparse rooms Men come and go frequently

    Immigration status Employment Safety/coercion Social networks

   What is their immigration status?

How did they enter the U.S.?

Do they have personal documents? Do they have authorization to work in the U.S.

     Were they forced to have sex?

Can they freely leave their employment?

What happens if they make a mistake at work?

Does employer hold wages?

Are there guards at work or video cameras to monitor activities?

 Have they been physically harmed?

 Deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care or other necessities?

 Has anyone threatened their family?

      Are they allowed to buy food or clothes on their own?

Can they come and go as they please?

Can they freely contact friends, family?

Are they free to have a relationship with someone/ Are they isolated from the community?

Are minors allowed to attend school?

      May not identify themselves as victims May not speak English Likely to lie or use rehearsed stories May be behaviorally dependent on trafficker Cultural or religious background may deter victims from telling the story May be culturally conditioned to fear law enforcement

   May not want family to know of his/her circumstances May exhibit Stockholm Syndrome-empathy for traffickers Safety for the victim’s family in the home country

 Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA)  Covers acts involved in recruitment, abduction, transport, harboring, transfer, sale or receipt of persons   Through force fraud, or coercion For forced labor or commercial sex acts

 Strengthens sentencing guidelines  Increases prison terms from 10to 20 years  Adds life imprisonment for death, kidnapping, or aggravated sexual abuse of a victim

 A term used to describe a process that the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS or ORR) uses to officially say that a person is a victim of a severe form of human trafficking. It opens the door to a wide range of benefits and help

   An adult,(not a child) has to be willing to assist “in every reasonable way” in the investigation and prosecution of the traffickers.

Applicants also must either apply for a T visa or be someone whose continued presence is needed for the prosecution of the traffickers.

HHS needs a statement from law enforcement that says that the victim is cooperating with them

 Food stamps, cash assistance, medical care   TANF Social Security         Medicaid Refugee Cash Social Services Job skills training English as a second language classes Counseling Housing Transportation assistance

    Continued presence- to allow potential witnesses to remain in the U.S.

TVisa- available to victims of “a severe form of trafficking” to stay if they comply with “reasonable requests from law enforcement UVisa -available to persons who are victims of certain violent crimes who have suffered serious and substantial abuse who are helping in the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators.

Employment authorization- to persons with T or U Visas

    Legal assistance Emergency shelter, case management, & health screening Food, shelter, crisis counseling Florida Crime Victim Compensation

 Be aware of your own biases concerning trafficking victims.

No one deserves abuse

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Report suspected trafficking to Office of the United States Attorney, Douglas Malloy, Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney 239-461-2225

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