AEquitas Podcasts

Sex trafficking and labor trafficking are often treated as distinct crimes, but a victim’s exploitation may involve both. Jane Anderson sits down with survivor leader Rebecca Bender to explore the labor that can be hidden within sex trafficking schemes - from operating businesses and handling finances to performing work that sustains a trafficker’s criminal enterprise. Together, they examine why following the money matters, how identifying the full scope of exploitation can uncover additional evidence and strengthen investigations, and why understanding a survivor’s complete experience can lead to better outcomes for victims and stronger cases.

For More Information:

• Elevate Academy, the largest online school for survivors of trafficking: https://elevate-academy.org/

• Rebecca’s website:  https://rebeccabenderinitiative.org

• AEquitas resource, “Leveraging Attorney General Offices' Varied Roles in Combating Labor Trafficking” 

• AEquitas webinar, “State-Level Responses to Labor Trafficking”

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office is trying to redefine the front lines of Labor Trafficking. Lou Longhitano sits down with Heather Rowe to explore how Fair Labor Units and non-traditional law enforcement partners including: inspectors, licensing, and regulatory investigators often have more access and experience to identify cases of forced labor than traditional law enforcement.

For More Information:

• AEquitas resource, “Leveraging Attorney General Offices' Varied Roles in Combating Labor Trafficking” 

• AEquitas webinar, “State-Level Responses to Labor Trafficking”

• Massachusetts OAG’s RESULT (Recognize and Evaluate Signs to Uncover Labor Trafficking) a web-based tool to help identify victims of forced labor: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/result-recognize-and-evaluate-signs-to-uncover-labor-trafficking

• https://www.epi.org/publication/fighting-workplace-abuses-criminal-prosecutions-of-wage-theft-and-other-employer-crimes-against-workers/ 

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Domestic servitude is one of the least visible forms of labor trafficking, often hidden behind the doors of private homes. Jane Anderson is joined by survivor leader Patty Bennett, who shares her experience of being trafficked through the J-1 visa program and the warning signs that went unrecognized, even during encounters with law enforcement. Together, they explore how traffickers exert control without physical violence, the challenges of identifying victims in isolated settings, and how practitioners can better recognize and respond to trafficking occurring within the home.

For More Information:

• Patty’s book: Trauma Resilient Leadership®: How Lived Experience is Reshaping Responsibility, Power and the Way we Lead at Work can be found here: https://a.co/d/00IGygVG

• Patty’s website:  https://www.pattybennettcoaching.com

• Website, “Exchange Visitor Visa”

• Article, “‘I’d Never Let My Sister Do It’: Exploitation within the U.S. Au Pair Program”

• Report, “Foreign students recruited as au pairs face abuse in U.S.”

• AEquitas resource, “Leveraging Attorney General Offices' Varied Roles in Combating Labor Trafficking” 

• AEquitas webinar, “State-Level Responses to Labor Trafficking”

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Forced criminality occurs when traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to compel victims to work for the trafficker’s profit, but the work they are doing is itself illegal. This makes it even harder for victims to escape or report their exploitation, because they too may be prosecuted. Lou Longhitano sits down with FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ashley Kizler to examine the case of US v. Tracie Dickey and the investigative strategies that uncovered the trafficking behind the criminal conduct. Together, they explore victim identification, victim-centered investigation, and how prosecutors and investigators can support victims and hold traffickers accountable.

For More Information:

• Agriculture’s Growing Problem: Labor Trafficking in the Illicit Cannabis Industry https://assets.aequitasresource.org/documents/Agricultures-Growing-Problem.pdf

• The Victor Rax Case: Forced-Criminality-Through-the-Lens-of-the-Victor-Rax-Case.pdf

• Victor Rax presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGaNf-gnS4w 

• Tracie Dickey - DOJ Press release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/woman-sentenced-12-years-federal-prison-coercing-members-church-ministry-forced-labor

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

The H-2A visa program provides an important source of seasonal agricultural labor, but traffickers can exploit its structure to recruit and control vulnerable workers. Jane Anderson sits down with Georgia Bureau of Investigation prosecutor Diane McLeod to explore how seemingly legitimate labor practices can cross the line into trafficking. Using the landmark “Onion Case,” they examine the indicators that helped uncover the exploitation, the investigative partnerships and financial evidence that strengthened the case, and the strategies behind one of the country’s largest labor trafficking prosecutions.

For More Information:

• AEquitas resource, “Leveraging Attorney General Offices' Varied Roles in Combating Labor Trafficking” 

• AEquitas webinar, “State-Level Responses to Labor Trafficking”

• Article, “Workers fight for and deliver justice: Traffickers sentenced to federal prison in landmark case”

• Article, “A human-trafficking case exposed farmworker abuses. The government is promising change”

• Website, “H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers”

• Press Release about the Los Villatoros case: “Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy Involving the Forced Labor of Mexican Workers”

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

People with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities face unique risks for labor trafficking, yet these cases often go unidentified. Lou Longhitano is joined by former DOJ prosecutor Lindsey Roberson to examine the case of US v. Bobby Edwards and the challenges of recognizing exploitation disguised as care, employment, or opportunity. Together, they discuss victim-centered investigations, working with survivors with disabilities, and how prosecutors can distinguish legitimate support from criminal exploitation.

• Lindsey Roberson is a seasoned trial attorney, having prosecuted many of the first human trafficking cases in the state of North Carolina.
• She had a hand in strengthening that state’s human trafficking laws.
• She went on to prosecute both sex and labor trafficking cases across the US on behalf of the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
• And she serves as an adjunct professor of law at UNC Wilmington.

For More Information:

• Summary about the Kozminski case: https://traffickinginstitute.org/on-this-day-in-history-united-states-v-kozminski/ 

• The Edwards indictment: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/12/white-restaurant-manager-enslaved-black-man-for-years-federal-prosecutors-say/

• About the guilty plea: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/07/617911813/s-c-man-pleads-guilty-to-enslaving-mentally-disabled-man

• On the sentencing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/07/white-restaurant-owner-admitted-enslaving-black-man-years-he-got-years-prison/

• On the sentencing: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/us/bobby-paul-edwards-conway.html

• About the outcome of the 4th Cir. opinion on liquidating the restitution damages: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/03/us/south-carolina-man-forced-work-restitution-doubled-trnd 

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

The Unaccompanied Minor Sponsorship Program is intended to place children with safe sponsors while they await immigration proceedings - but vulnerabilities in the system can be exploited by traffickers. Jane Anderson sits down with immigration attorney Emma Buckthal, who represented victims in a labor trafficking case in Dunkirk, New York, where a trafficker exploited the sponsorship process to gain access to vulnerable workers. Their conversation explores how the trafficker used coercion and abuse - including the sexual abuse of a minor - to exploit workers, and how a multidisciplinary response ultimately helped protect victims and hold the trafficker accountable.

For More Information:

• AEquitas resource, “Leveraging Attorney General Offices' Varied Roles in Combating Labor Trafficking” 

• AEquitas webinar, “State-Level Responses to Labor Trafficking”

• Press Release, “Dunkirk man going to prison for 30 years for labor trafficking and kidnapping”

• Office of Refugee Resettlement website

This podcast discusses the violent crime of human trafficking and related crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, and stalking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The Human Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

This Season of The Traffick Report is funded by a generous grant from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Jon Kurland examines I May Destroy You, Michaela Cole’s unflinching portrayal of alcohol-facilitated sexual assault, involuntary intoxication, and rape. Drawing on Jon’s decades of prosecutorial experience, they break down how the law defines consent and how intoxication—voluntary or involuntary—impacts consent.  

They explore the investigative challenges presented by memory gaps, how prosecutors handle cases where the victim may have only partial recall of the assault, how prosecutors work with or prepare to cross-examine toxicologists and other experts, and the importance of explaining victim behavior to fact-finders without reinforcing harmful stereotypes. The conversation also highlights how sexual assault against male victims is minimized or misunderstood, and what prosecutors can do to ensure all victims receive a trauma-informed and just response.

We discuss what I May Destroy You gets right about disclosure, offender behavior, and the communication of consent—and what practitioners can learn from it to strengthen investigations, improve courtroom practice, and advance justice for all sexual violence survivors.

For more information:

• Where to watch the HBO Limited Series I May Destroy You is available here.
• Prosecuting Alcohol Facilitated Sexual Assault, authored by the late Teresa P. Scalzo, Esq. (1969-2016), was one of the first comprehensive publications to offer strategies in these complex cases; this expert resource remains relevant today. 
• Visit AEquitasResource.org to access The ABCs of BAC: Toxicology for Prosecutors and Investigators and the expert publication “Stop it: Now”: Charging Considerations in the Prosecution of Rape Following a Revocation of Consent. 
• Senior Attorney Advisor, Jonathan Kurland’s bio can be found here.

This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The National Trafficking Hotline

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org/ or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

Assistant State Attorney and Intimate Partner Violence Specialist Kristina Mills joins to examine the Netflix series You and its portrayal of stalking behaviors, including surveillance, life invasion, intimidation, and interference. Using the first episode as a case study, they highlight why stalking behaviors are often minimized or dismissed as “romantic gestures”. Through You’s depiction of Joe’s method of victim selection, incessant victim blaming, creepy invasion of Beck’s privacy, and methodically orchestrated “surprise” appearances, audiences begin to understand the danger and distress stalkers pose to their victims.     

Kristina breaks down strategies prosecutors use to identify lethality indicators in victim reports, and explains to factfinders how stalkers abuse positive behaviors like listening and offering support or assistance to obtain information about the victims, which they then use to control or surveil them.  She also shares practical strategies for building stalking cases: reconstructing timelines, spotting intent in digital evidence, documenting repeated conduct, and using motions in limine and other-acts evidence to show a pattern of control.

This conversation shines a light on the realities of stalking—and the legal tools available to hold offenders accountable and keep victims safe.

For more information:

• The Netfix series You served as a case study in stalking behaviors for this episode.
• Assistant State Attorney and Intimate Partner Violence Specialist Kristina Mills’ bio is available at Linkedin. 
• Please visit AEquitasResource.org to find on-demand trainings, articles, amicus briefs, and request expert assistance including AEquitas’ Prosecutor’s’ Guide to Stalking.
• Expert Resources on Stalking, including a Discussion Guide for the entire You series are available at Stalking Prevention and Awareness Center (SPARC), a project of AEquitas.

This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The National Trafficking Hotline

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: https://aequitasresource.org/ or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram @aequitas_resource

AEquitas Senior Attorney Advisor Patti Powers and Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dan Van examine two powerful productions—Unbelievable and I Am Evidence—and examine what they reveal about serial rapists, untested rape kits, and the consequences of delayed justice. Drawing from decades of prosecutorial and appellate experience, Patti and Dan break down the strategies needed to reopen cold cases, rebuild thin or incomplete files, and secure convictions years after a crime.

Together, they explore trauma-informed approaches to re-engaging victims, how forensic science and CODIS hits reshape investigations, and why understanding offender behavior—including stalking, surveillance, and pattern variation—is essential to proving serial rape. They discuss charging decisions, using other-acts evidence, litigating Rule 404(b), preserving DNA, and strengthening the record for appeal. This episode shows how prosecutors can turn old files and untested kits into powerful cases—and what it takes to hold serial rapists accountable long after the system failed to act.

For more information:

• Where to watch the Limited Series Unbelievable is available here.
• Unbelievable was based on the book A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong. This book followed the authors’ investigative reporting  An UnBelieveable Story of Rape, copublished by Pro Publica and The Marshall Project, for which they won a Pulitzer Prize.  
• Senior Attorney Advisor, Patti Power’s Bio is available here. 
• The bio for Daniel Van, Assistant Supervisor Appeals Unit of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office is available on Linkedin. 
• Please visit AEquitasResource.org to find on-demand trainings, articles, amicus briefs, and request expert assistance and visit theRSVP.org for the Model Response to Sexual Violence for Prosecutors. In addition, this episode references CODIS, which stands for Combined DNA Index System. You can find information on CODIS at : https://le.fbi.gov/science-and-lab/biometrics-and-fingerprints/codis-2. 
• Additional AEquitas resources on the prosecution of cold case sexual assaults can be found at the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative website.

This podcast discusses the violent crimes of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and human trafficking. If you need support, please call: The National Domestic Violence Hotline, RAINN, and The National Trafficking Hotline.

If you'd like more info about AEquitas visit: AEquitasResource.org⁠ or email us at: [email protected]. Follow AEquitas on Instagram at @aequitas_resource.