Category: Civic Issues

Issue Brief Idea

Grace Blaha3 Comments

For my issue brief, I would like to explore the issues surrounding the lack of training for local law enforcement officers regarding human trafficking. My research has found that human trafficking is a pressing and prevalent issue, but the lack of understanding and data allow it to persist. This has been particularly bad at the local level, where there is little to no training about trafficking and about how to properly handle it. My issue brief would address the training protocols and policies that have already been affected or have already been suggested by leading NGOs. Much of trafficking’s continuation is due to the lack of knowledge surrounding the issue, however this is particularly damaging when it comes to law enforcement.

The cause of this issue stems from a lack of general understanding of human trafficking in the US. Much of this issue I inadvertent, the government has made attempts to remedy trafficking, but they have made uninformed or ineffective legislation that hasn’t properly addressed the problem. Over the past 20 years, the US government has started to make strides in creating laws to address trafficking, but their federal efforts have not been enough to make up for their failings at the local level.

As for policy, an effective policy that addresses the shortcomings of local level law enforcement requires a great deal of help and focused efforts from taskforces, NGO’s, law enforcement, federal legislators and state legislators. This approach requires capacity building, so that NGOs and non-profits can work with educating and helping law enforcement agencies be better at noticing and prosecuting trafficking. This also requires a sort of system change, so that federal agencies, which have much greater success in investigating trafficking, can be involved in the reform of local agencies. The federal tasks force’s involvement is essential in ensuring an effective implementation of the programs.

Shortcomings of Local Law Enforcement in Addressing Human Trafficking

Grace Blaha3 Comments

Since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000, there has been a steady flow of new statutes that protect and support human trafficking victims. Unfortunately, even with the legal protections given to trafficking victims from the TVPA, other federal statutes, government agencies and law enforcement, there are still many barriers, many of which involve the law, that make it harder for victims to come forward and receive justice. Many of these difficulties arise at the local level, where the misconceptions of human trafficking in America seep their way into the lower levels of law enforcement. Human trafficking, like many other issues, is allowed to flourish because of ignorance within the nation and law enforcement. The key to addressing such ignorance is educating law enforcement on combating trafficking and assisting victims.

Before even attempting to report trafficking to law enforcement, individuals who are victims have a series of obstacles put in place by traffickers that aim to prevent the potential of being reported. Many traffickers are well versed in the methods of psychologically manipulating their victims. For victims that have been internationally trafficked, the language barrier makes it easier for traffickers to deceive them about what could happen if they attempted to break free. The illicit and hidden nature of trafficking activities doesn’t make them untraceable. In fact, federal agencies have fairly effective checklists and methods for detecting human trafficking. Despite federal agencies being well versed in addressing and handling trafficking claims, this largely falls apart at the local level, where officers are unaware of trafficking signs and untrained in how to handle cases.

One study of local law enforcement found that 44% of officers either didn’t know about anti trafficking legislation or claimed that their state didn’t have any. (Newton 2008). This unawareness is concerning, since local law enforcement can often be the first line of contact with trafficking victims. Another study found that the vast majority of local law enforcement, about 75%, didn’t believe that trafficking existed in their jurisdiction. As I stated last week, the National Human Trafficking Hotline and the DOJ have cases from all fifty states, with cases in both rural and urban areas. But despite the prevalence of the issue, only about a fifth of police training curriculums had trafficking training, with even less having specific strategies to investigating cases or assisting victims.

Clearly there are issues regarding local law enforcement’s perception of trafficking. The ignorance of law enforcement has been brought to light in recent years, and some states have begun the process of creating training programs. The most rigorous programs have been implemented in many of the worst trafficking hotspots, such as San Francisco, New York, Las Vegas and San Diego. Even still, states like Massachusetts still don’t have state statutes regarding human trafficking, thus, there are no training protocols or policies for law enforcement to address trafficking.

The Department of Justice found significant relationships between training and case identifications. 20% of the agencies that had training identified cases for trafficking, whereas only 4.4% of agencies that had no training identified a case. Of the agencies that had protocol/policy in place investigating cases, 27% of them investigated cases of trafficking; of those who did not have protocols or policies in place, only 5.6% of agencies investigated a claim. The hidden and underground nature of human trafficking means that it is, by nature, hard to detect.

Another unfortunate result of law enforcement’s lack of awareness is that, even when they are able to detect cases of human trafficking, they are frequently not equipped in supporting victims. Victims that report trafficking often face similar difficulties reporting to police that sexual assault victims face. Victims tend to feel unsupported or invalidated by hardened detectives who, yet again, are untrained or are unavailable to support victims from an emotional standpoint. This is further complicated when police end up arresting victims of trafficking on prostitution charges, which creates even more mistrust between the parties. Tensions also increase when police attempt to gain information from victims in order to reach the high threshold of evidence that is required in trafficking cases. Traumatized victims have a very difficult time providing such information, especially given what they have experienced. To the victims, the efforts of law enforcement come off as cold or abrasive since they are not trained in the proper techniques to build trust. This kind of victimization results in victims feeling that they are not understood or validated by law enforcement.

In particular, sex trafficking victims face extra difficulty, since the main way that they receive attention from law enforcement is through arrest for prostitution. The DOJ found that in the South, the biggest mechanism in which trafficking victims were able to provide information was through arrest for prostitution charges (Crime Report). It was found that most survivors would rather put their efforts towards ensuring their basic needs of food and shelter before pursuing justice. This mindset stems from the lack of resources provided for victims after going to police. Law enforcement tends to treat victims as they would prostitutes, which means that they often don’t provide support in securing housing, safety, and other basic necessities once they make a claim.

The DOJ found that the most successful models for improving the role of law enforcement in addressing human trafficking have come from Denver, Dallas and Michigan. The Dallas Police department has found success in extensively training their officers in recognizing potential cases of human trafficking, but also utilizes “multidisciplinary partners to provide victim services including crisis intervention, emergency short-term shelter, tailored treatment plans, and counseling.” (Department of Justice). Denver and Michigan have found similar success in training law enforcement officers in what to observe in potential cases. This includes awareness courses, checklists, procedures for what to do with potential victims and policies regarding who must be involved in the investigation. The success of these areas has continued beyond one off training, since they have partnered with multiple organizations and experts, making efforts to address trafficking play a bigger role in everyday police work. The progress made by Denver and Dallas sets a precedent for improvement, providing tangible steps that will assist law enforcement in combatting human trafficking.

Sources

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/238795.pdf

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/222752.pdf

https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/Publications/cops-p342-pub.pdf

https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi347

https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/218462.pdf

Police are ‘Failing’ Human Trafficking Survivors: Study

Historical Factors that Contribute to a Largely Unknown Profile on American Human Trafficking

Grace Blaha2 Comments

There are an estimated 40 to 50 million people living in modern day slavery, only .04% of which are known by the UN. There are an estimated 50,000 people who have been trafficked into the United States, making it one of the top destinations for trafficked and enslaved individuals from around the world. Like practically every issue, it’s important to understand the historical factors that brought the issue to its prominence.

It’s commonly known that America has a checkered history with the exploitation and enslavement of people, especially from other countries. By the modern definition of human trafficking, America has been trafficking humans for as long as it has existed. But in the post 13th Amendment world, human trafficking took on different forms. Like many issues afflicting vulnerable groups, the extent of the issue was largely unaddressed by the government, allowing the lucrative business to set a foundation for its long-term existence.

The modern-day definition of human trafficking is vastly different than what it was 20 years ago. For much of our nation’s history, the legal definition of human trafficking only included women taking part in various forms of sex work. Legal mention of the word “trafficking” first appeared in the early 20th century to denote the smuggling of white women across borders. Law makers believed that white women were taken advantage of by non-white people, which led them to pass the Mann Act. The Mann Act prohibited white women from interracial marrying and crossing state borders for “immoral purposes” (Saunders and Soderland). In reality, the white women taking part in sex trafficking were largely European immigrants, who turned to sex work to provide. Labor trafficking was not seen as much of an issue, especially since the 20th century was a time known for the exploitation of immigrants, minorities and low income people. Because of this exclusive definition, there is little knowledge about what human trafficking truly looked like in 20th century America. It also meant that other various forms of human trafficking went largely unaddressed. The labor exploitation that is now illegal was considered essential to many facets of industry at the time. Although the statutes of the 20th century established a very clear link between the sex trade and human exploitation set a precedent for addressing such issues, its failure to address the other forms of trafficking that afflicted vulnerable groups resulted in deep seeded trafficking practices. Thus, laws of the 20th century set the cultural precedent that trafficking was solely associated with sex trade.

It wasn’t until 2000, that the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act (TVPA) was passed nearly unanimously. The TVPA broadened the definition to essentially be the “recruitment, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons,” via illegal means for the purpose of exploitation (Bonilla and Mo). The subsequent protocols and regulations set anti trafficking enforcement measures in place. Such actions brought attention and awareness to the issue, resulting in numerous NGOs, government agencies and non-profits leading the charge to combat human trafficking. The TVPA addressed growing law enforcement concerns with trafficking, while also opening the eyes of the public to the multi dimensional manifestations of trafficking.

Despite the increased attention given to human trafficking over the past 20 years, much is still unknown. The criminal nature of it makes it incredibly difficult to gather data on the amount of trafficking found in the US. Researchers have encountered difficulty even in collecting and publishing survivor data out of concern for the victim. Beyond that, victims of trafficking encounter many difficulties that prevent them from seeking help; traffickers exercise fear tactics, intimidation, and various forms of threat to coerce victims away from seeking help. The psychological abuse and manipulation experienced by victims is also a large obstacle that prevents them from reporting trafficking. With that being said, the Human Trafficking Hotline publishes its annual case data, providing some insight. The hotline experienced increase in cases and calls over the past five years, with 1,612 cases in 2015 and 4,312 in 2019. The increase may not solely signify an increase in overall trafficking, rather, it is likely an indicator of increased awareness and support in the fight to address human trafficking. Out of the reported and investigated cases in 2019, roughly 80% of victims were women, 80% cases involved sex work of some form, and the majority of which were children under the age of 18 (Polaris Project). In the realm of labor trafficking, the vast majority of cases immigrants being held under the threat of relocation or reporting. Even then, immigrants aren’t the only group susceptible to trafficking, many trafficked victims are actually American citizens, in fact, roughly 40% of calls to the hotline expressed concerns over US citizens. The majority of cases were in California, Texas, Florida and New York, although all 50 states have had instances of various forms of trafficking.

Despite being the most comprehensive source of data on human trafficking in the United States, the data published by the hotline highlights how little we really know about the state of modern-day slavery. The reported cases are a fraction of expert estimates. The International Labor Organization estimates that 68% of trafficking is labor trafficking, and that around 22% of trafficking is sex trafficking (International Labor Organization 2012). This sharply contrasts the proportion of reported cases in the United States, which found a significantly larger number of sex trafficking cases than labor trafficking cases. Granted, labor trafficking cases are harder to prove, victims tend to have fewer protections, victims tend to be under threat and may avoid reporting injustices due to the fear of immigration. On average, Americans are significantly more familiar with signs and methods of sex trafficking than they are labor trafficking. The issue is given less attention, especially given the prevalence and morally repugnant state of sex trafficking. This continues to be evident in the fact that the vast majority of anti-trafficking NGO’s and non-profits in the United States are engineered to address sex trafficking instead of labor trafficking.

Trafficking has grown to be the second largest criminal industry in the world, second only to the drug trade, which is often tightly connected with trafficking. The ACLU estimates that forced labor generates about $44.3 billion per year, despite consisting largely of informal labor. Yet again, the criminal status of human trafficking and the connections that it tends to have with organized crime make it incredibly difficult to get a complete profile on the exact status of trafficking within the borders of the United States. Still, despite being an incomplete profile, the anti-trafficking efforts of the past two decades have made great strides in beginning to address the issue. The events of the past 20 years have provided enough information to evaluate the methods that have and haven’t worked; but these are topics for another

Sources

https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour/lang–en/index.htm

https://humantraffickinghotline.org/states

https://www.aclu.org/other/human-trafficking-modern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-106publ386/pdf/PLAW-106publ386.pdf

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-public-policy/article/evolution-of-human-trafficking-messaging-in-the-united-states-and-its-effect-on-public-opinion/E4EFA5D49DDCCC943856B8F07A899162

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-human-trafficking

2019 U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline Statistics