Colleen supports community outreach for 2U Inc’s social work, mental health, and speech pathology programs.
For many residents of the United States, a discussion on human trafficking conjures up images of victims in South Asia and Central Europe, which truthfully wouldn’t be out of place. In fact, the Asia-Pacific region currently has the largest number of human trafficking victims in the world, while Central and southeastern Europe have the highest number of victims per thousand inhabitants. The U.S. is hardly isolated from this global epidemic fueled by the exploitation of more than 20 million victims worldwide.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline, created by the Polaris Project, has documented more than 30,000 cases of trafficking in the U.S. since 2007, a number that has consistently grown every year. In 2016 alone, more than 7,500 cases were reported to the hotline, with cases in every state. While the Obama administration oversaw a record number of prosecutions of criminals engaging in this practice, reining in trafficking continues to challenge authorities both in the U.S. and abroad.
Part of the reason for this is every case looks different.
“Trafficking and modern-day slavery is not static. There is no methodology or prescriptive plan of action that works in all situations,” said Annalisa Enrile, a clinical associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. Enrile has led efforts to study and chronicle human rights violations including sex trafficking and exploitative migrant labor. Enrile recently worked with USC’s online Master of Social Work program to create a guide for advocates interested in raising awareness about these types of crimes.
As the guide explains, trafficking takes many different forms, including illegal adoption, organ harvesting, and the use of child soldiers. However, more than 90 percent of human trafficking victims worldwide are trafficked into forced labor and sex trafficking. Of the victims in the U.S. whose cases were reported to the hotline, the majority were adult females and trafficked into sex industries. Those who were trafficked into forced labor were most likely to be funneled into domestic work.
One frightening aspect of these crimes is that cases of human trafficking are vastly under-reported because victimization in our communities goes unrecognized. The average citizen often does not know the signs of human trafficking or simply isn’t looking for them. MSW@USC spoke with Angela Guanzon, a trafficking victim from the Philippines forced to work in California’s elderly care industry.
“Especially with labor trafficking, it can be very hard to spot, because you think people are happy and fine where they are working,” Guanzon said. “Victims of human trafficking are always in a situation where they don’t have a choice and, many times, don’t know how to get out.”
Similar to many other victims’ experiences, Guanzon feared reaching out to authorities or exposing her trafficker due to her residency status. Guanzon’s trafficker stole her passport and threatened to turn her in as undocumented if she attempted to flee. This is a common tactic used by traffickers who exploit undocumented populations. Enrile noted immigration enforcement officials must take into account the unique plight of this population as they create policy.
“A culture of fear will make it difficult for people to escape conditions of trafficking and slavery,” Enrile said in an interview with Salon. “It reinstitutes cultures of silence and stigma that we have worked so hard for decades to break through.”
Relying on trafficking victims not just to tell their stories, but also to inform policy is one way that lawmakers can pass meaningful and effective legislation. Guanzon, for example, collaborated closely with lawyers at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking in Los Angeles. She helped to develop SB 477, state legislation requiring greater oversight of foreign labor contractors, and testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on trafficking.
All states should consider incorporating input from survivors as they attempt to tackle this problem. Check out the new bills have been proposed, passed or signed at the U.S. state level since the start of 2017.
And while states like Arkansas and South Dakota have made progress on this issue this year with legislation like AR SB271 and SD HB1118, California, Texas and Florida, the states with the highest number of trafficking cases reported to the hotline, have yet to pass any new action oriented bills.
The Polaris Project has identified a number of ways that concerned citizens can get involved to help push for legislative solutions. However, Enrile says that people can advocate in a variety of ways to help create “brave spaces.”
“Trafficking is so layered that they don’t even have to focus on solely anti-trafficking organizations,” Enrile told Salon. “Organizations that help girls, that safeguard communities, that encourage immigrant empowerment, equitable economies, all of these are places where we help stem the incidence of trafficking.”
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