Sandra Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss the “push” factors behind human trafficking. They then look at how good prevention models address these vulnerabilities in the community to prevent the likelihood of someone being trafficked.

Key Points

Resources

[Note from the Ending Human Trafficking podcast team: This episode was recorded in 2011 so the contact information provided is no longer accurate. Please refer endinghumantrafficking.org/contact for the correct contact information to get in touch with the EHT podcast.]

Transcript

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 9, recorded in July, 2011.

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:22] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandra Morgan [00:00:27] And I’m Sandie Morgan.

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:29] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking.

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:38] Hello, Sandie, welcome back for our ninth episode together. Hard to believe, huh?

Sandra Morgan [00:00:43] Yeah, it’s great. I’m getting really into this. I love the opportunity to have a dialouge. And I love the responses that we’re receiving from people. And I appreciate that. And I want to encourage people, if you have a question, a comment, or a suggestion on the kinds of topics you’d like to hear more about, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 714-556-3610, extension 2242.

Dave Stachowiak [00:01:14] And today we are going to be looking at a couple of key factors in what causes human trafficking. And the more we can keep ourselves educated, Sandie, the more that we can really understand what are the factors we could also approach on ending human trafficking. And we’re going to be talking today about the push factors and the pull factors that are involved with human trafficking. And that’s the terminology that the that folks are really advocates are using, correct?

Sandra Morgan [00:01:44] Exactly, exactly. And of course, that the closest real-life example of what this is all related to is in business when you talk about the law of supply and demand. And we talked about that in an earlier podcast. Human trafficking is big business. It’s about people making money. And so you have to begin to understand what makes someone, a person, a human being, part of a supply chain for a big business, something that is considered a commodity that can be bought and sold. How do we begin to identify the patterns that result in a person being sold? And those issues are things we want to address as push factors. So we’re going to leave the trafficker to the side today. We’re going to not focus on how to identify or rescue victims who are already being trafficked. But if we want to end human trafficking, we have to go further upstream to prevention models. And that means we need to understand how someone becomes so easily accessible to become part of a supply chain. What are the push factors for that?

Dave Stachowiak [00:03:04] This is I think for me, it’s the language is always a little awkward just because usually when we’re talking about supply and demand and supply chains, we’re talking about parts and raw materials, and just in time supply chains and major corporations. And unfortunately, those same concepts are happening in human trafficking because it is such a profitable enterprise and it really is an enterprise. That’s what’s driving a lot of the trafficking is the profit that’s involved, Sandie. And so it’s, although it’s odd that we’re using this language to talk about human beings, we have to in order to really understand the full scope of this issue. And it comes right down to Econ 101: Supply and Demand. And so, I’m glad we’re looking at this to really get a good feel for that.

Sandra Morgan [00:03:57] And you bring up a really good point because it’s a dehumanizing activity and that makes this issue a human rights activity. What we’re doing is speaking up for the rights of others. And these are people who are created in the image of God. And one person has that stamp just like another person. And so there’s no difference in the value between a child born on the west coast of Africa and a child born here in Southern California.

Dave Stachowiak [00:04:30] And so today we’re going to be looking at the push factors, correct? And that’s the that’s the supply side of the demand-supply equation and kind of the law of supply and demand, correct?

Sandra Morgan [00:04:40] Exactl...