Ending Human Trafficking

Susie Baldwin

The root of the problems of sex trafficking and labor trafficking is very similar.

When we focus on primary prevention, we have the ability to stop the problem before it presents itself.

Looking at human trafficking from a healthcare perspective is a fairly new concept; however, it has changed the way we approach and deal with human trafficking.

Viewing human trafficking as a healthcare issue, allows us to take a holistic approach to solve this issue. Meaning, it allows us to focus on the roots of the problem within our community, rather than making it an individualistic issue.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is episode number 235: Human Trafficking and Public Health.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we’re so glad to welcome an expert with us to really help us look at the complex and important intersection around human trafficking and public health. I’m so glad to welcome Susie Baldwin to the show today. Susie is a preventative medicine physician whose career focuses on public health, women’s health, sexual and reproductive health, and advancing health equity. She has worked as a clinician, researcher, advocate, epidemiologist, and trainer. Dr. Baldwin serves as the medical director for the Office of Women’s Health at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and is the co-founder and board president of Heal Trafficking, where she also leads work on developing protocols to respond to trafficked people in health care settings. Susie, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Susie [00:01:32] Thank you, Dave. I’m very excited to be here. And good morning, Sandie.

Sandie [00:01:36] Good morning. I’m just reading your bio out loud. I could imagine five podcasts could go in this direction. But first, I really want people to understand the scope of public health. And then we’ll dive into where that really intersects in human trafficking. Can you address that?

Susie [00:02:00] Of course. Public health is a big field and the goal of public health, in general, is to allow people to be healthy and to live in communities that are healthy and that optimize conditions for them to have lives where they can enjoy safety and well-being. So public health is a field that’s extremely broad and it’s almost humorous when you think about the American Public Health Association, which is the U.S. body that brings together public health professionals, the conferences have so many different topics going on at every given moment. You might want to be attending five different sessions. So public health incorporates things ranging from health behaviors and health education that the very individual level all the way to transforming communities and societies through policies and laws that can advance wellness for people and health equity. So many things under the sun can fall under the realm of public health. But I think some of the key things about the field and the aspects of it which are important to human trafficking or approaching human trafficking are that, number one, it is grounded in science and evidence. Number two, that it takes a population-level approach. So while health care delivery is a very important part of public health, particularly when systems are publicly funded, but also because the health of all people in a community, whether it’s a county or state or town or tribe or a country or the world, the health care that people receive is an important factor contributing to the overall health of people. But the realm of public health goes beyond your health care and getting your vaccination or getting your mammogram to creating the conditions in which people live. So inclusive of the first public health effort, which was getting people clean water, which saved more lives than many of the interventions we have today that we rely on. So, it goes to very fundamental issues of sanitation and safety and life. So, it’s research-based or evidence-based. It’s inclusive of health and health care. And it’s also focused on prevention. So whereas health care, particularly in the United States, given our system, which is rather unique in the world, sometimes in wonderful ways and sometimes in terrible ways, public health aims to prevent disease, disability, and death. So, we really take what’s known as an upstream approach where you go back to try to look at where things start, where the problems start, and correct them at their roots, which is often very challenging. But that’s also part of what makes it exciting, because when you can really change the origins of where problems come from, then you have the opportunity to impact millions of lives in a good way.

Sandie [00:05:21] And I think you may remember that my background’s pediatric nur...

Rebecca Bender

Key Points

When victims are exploited together, they often form familial bonds with one other causing them to fell a sense of obligation to stay in their position for the other person.

Human Trafficking is very similar to a cult mentality, this can make it. very difficult for victims to leave.

It’s important to listen to those who have survived Human Trafficking and value their knowledge and expertise on the subject.

When human trafficking is inaccurately illustrated in the media and in awareness campaigns, there is a detrimental effect on the ability to recover victims and on the perception of those being trafficked.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 234, Relentless Advocate Rebecca Bender.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan, 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 [00:00:46] Today, we’re so glad to welcome Rebecca Bender to the show. She is relentless in her mission to help others find their purpose. Rebecca is the founder and CEO of Elevate Academy, the largest online school for survivors of trafficking. She is an author and speaker that brings insight, expertise, and lived experience to her highly sought-after trainings and consultations. She also serves the U.S. National Advisory Council, Department of Justice Advisory Council, and advises a number of nonprofits. Rebecca, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Rebecca [00:01:20] Thank you so much for having me.

Sandie [00:01:22] I’m really excited to have this personal conversation with you. Rebecca, I’ve been following you for a while. Your book, In Pursuit of Love, is on Amazon and it has over two hundred five-star reviews. So, anybody who wants to read. It’s a very, very readable story with a lot of lessons embedded in it. So welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast.

Rebecca [00:01:52] Thank you so much. I didn’t know it had that many reviews yet. I’m really honored people would listen and read it.

Sandie [00:01:59] Isn’t that great? That’s great. So, can you give us like a 30-second overview? You know, I want to talk about the past so much, but just so people understand where you were a survivor and how long you’ve been out.

Rebecca [00:02:16] Yeah, I was trafficked. I met a young man really on a college campus. It was not the college I was attending, but it was on a college campus in Eugene, Oregon. And I was a single young mom, 19-year-old mom trying to put myself through community college. And he ended up being a trafficker who took me and my daughter to Las Vegas. And I ended up getting trafficked for nearly six years between three different men. He was just the first one then. I had a lot of stuff happen in that time. Obviously, a lot of twists and turns and multiple attempted escapes. Multiple things happen. Ended up being trafficked in a home with multiple women. And so just the trauma bonding that takes place between other victims in the home as really hard to just run when one bad thing happens because it becomes much more layered and complex. And some may argue that’s intentional on the traffickers’ part to create these false senses of family. That’s harder for you to run when bad things do happen because you feel so bonded to the other women and other children. And then thankfully, I did run, and I escaped on December 31, 2007. I remember the date because I remember watching the ball drop on the TV in the airport. That’s why I remember the day. Yeah.

Sandie [00:03:36] Big celebration for your liberation. Interestingly, when we chatted before we said we’re just going to have a conversation. But the very first thing on my conversation is to talk about that sense of family. And you led right into that. Can you expand on that just a little bit?

Rebecca [00:03:57] Yeah, well, you know, one of the things I think for so many trafficked victims is this innate desire and in humanity in general that desires to love and be loved. Right. We all need community. We all need a tribe. We all need a sense of belonging that’s just inherent as humans, oftentimes with traffic victims. There are multiple vulnerabilities that have created a real lack of community and belonging and need to love and be loved and oftentimes because of that lack. There’s also been layers of desensitization to abuse or poverty, gender, race, all of this giant cocktail that sort of makes you most at risk and most vulnerable to predators and exploiters. And so that was a lot. You know, my story’s no different in terms of that. I mean, we all have differences. But I think at the core, I felt really alone, unwanted, and unimportant with a parent’s really ugly divorce in. And so, when I found myself a young mom, my trafficker offered me that to not be alone, to be important, and to be wanted. And so, through time, I met his other trafficked… I ended up getting trafficked into a home. Towards the e...

Bella Hounakey

Bella Hounakey is a fierce advocate of anti-trafficking initiatives to combat and abolish human trafficking. As a survivor herself, she understands the adverse impact of trafficking. This empathy has guided her career and interests to support policies that contribute to supporting victims as they navigate life after victimization. Bella currently serves on two Human Trafficking Council- she’s a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking and Framework -training and technical assistance project aimed at building capacity to address labor trafficking in the United States.  As part of the Council, Bella worked with the Trump Administration on an Executive Order on Combating Human Trafficking and Online Child Exploitation. Her goals remain steadfast: raise awareness, reduce the risk of victimization, educate members of the judicial system and general public, and advocate for victim protection and treatment. Bella received a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Spanish; and a Master’s degree from Western Michigan University.

Key Points

It is important to educate others on the toll trafficking takes on a victim’s mind.

It can be very difficult mentally/physically for a survivor to testify in court against. their captor.

In court, the words used to present victims have to ability to be very detrimental.

When a community comes around a survivor they have the ability to give them an opportunity to live a normal life.

Resources

Bella Hounakey’s Speech At Summit On Human Trafficking

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 233, Bella Hounakey, a fierce survivor advocate.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innervate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we are honored to bring a story from a survivor here to the podcast. I’m so glad to welcome Bella Hounakey to the show today. She is a fierce advocate of anti-trafficking initiatives to combat and abolish human trafficking. As a survivor herself, she understands the adverse impact of trafficking. This empathy has guided her career and interests to support policies that continue supporting victims as they navigate through life after victimization. Bella currently serves on two human trafficking councils. She’s a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking, and Framework, a training and technical assistance project aimed at building capacity to address labor trafficking in the United States. As part of the council, Bella worked with the Trump administration on an executive order on combating human trafficking, and online child exploitation. Her goals remain steadfast. Raise awareness, reduce risk of victimization, educate members of the judicial system and the general public, and advocate for victim protection and treatment. Bella, we are so glad to welcome you to the show.

Bella [00:01:52] Thank you. Thank you for having me here.

Sandie [00:01:54] So, Bella, you are a hero for me. I met you in Washington, DC in January and I’ve just been inspired watching you. I read the U.S. Advisory Council 2020 report and I’m going to put a link to that in the show notes so other people can join me. But the thing that really inspires me is how you describe yourself as a fierce advocate. Can you tell me what that looks like?

Bella [00:02:26] I did five years with Framework, an ability, effort, and personal commitment to take adversity into advocacy for either yourself or others. And for me, it’s doing what I can with what I have and not waiting for like a savior to see victims, instead being a part of that.

Sandie [00:02:48] Wow. I love that. Not waiting for somebody to come and rescue. But being a part of your own resilience, that’s great. I want to be fierce like you.

Bella [00:02:59] I think you can. It’s possible. Yes.

Sandie [00:03:02] All right. So, let’s dig into some of these things you’ve been working on. And you, after going from victim to survivor, you went to college and you speak Spanish. That is amazing. I really love that. Even got a master’s degree. I think sometimes people don’t realize what resilience looks like and the potential for someone to really attain their dreams. That often may have been how they were lured into being trafficked. So, let’s keep digging into training agendas. What would you make, like your top three things that you want judicial system leaders to know? You got ten minutes. They’re busy. What are you going to tell them?

Bella [00:03:52] That’s a really good question. You know, I think the first thing, like you mentioned, me going to college I’m actually a trained therapist. And so, the first thing I would say, based on my personal and professional views, is this idea of trauma in the brain. What victims go through beyond trafficking. After this idea of being rescued or being found, there’s another reality that is the first door that is closed. Right now, you assume that we’re going to be in this New Haven, but that’s not the reality. So, I would like to train them on the trauma in the brain so that they understand what victims go through when they have to comply with the investigation process of sentencing the perpetrator or the trafficker. So that would be my first thing is for a victim. This is what it looks like to testify in court. This is what my body feels like. And I’ll come back to this in a second. That’s the first thing. The sec...

Ruthi Hanchett and Sandie Morgan discuss the role social media has played recently in spreading misinformation about human trafficking. They also go into detail about how the rise in children being online, due to COVID-19, is exposing them to a greater risk of coming into contact with predators. As mothers, both Sandie and Ruthi list actions parents can take to protect their children from becoming victims to predators.

Ruthi Hanchett

Ruthi Hanchett has been a leader in the field of children’s and women’s rights, human trafficking, and gender equality for over a decade. While working for World Vision International, she regularly represented the organization to global political leaders, the UN Human Rights Council, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Girls Education Initiative, and the NGO Advisory Council on Violence Against Children. One of her favorite responsibilities has been enabling children and youth around the globe to speak out for justice. Ruthi currently serves on the board of Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice, teaches as an adjunct professor, and coaches Vanguard’s Live2Free student-teams, which speak on human trafficking in local middle and high schools. Ruthi often lectures and speaks on issues related to human trafficking, as well as mentors survivors of human trafficking in her local community. Ruthi is a volunteer with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, a wife, and mamma to two little girls.

Key Points

The majority of people who are exploited are exploited by someone they know.

Ruthi and Sandie discuss the role social media has taken in spreading false information about human trafficking.

There has been a rise in predators accessing children online since quarantine began.

There are steps a parent can take to protect their children when online.

It is our job as a community to protect and look out for the children in our lives

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is Episode 232: Social Media and Finding the Truth About Human Trafficking.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, we have a friend back with us today who’s been on several times before, who’s going to help us to navigate what’s happening in social media right now. We’re so glad to welcome back Ruthi Hanchett. She is the Live2Free coach, adjunct professor, and also on the board of the Global Center for Women and Justice here at Vanguard University. And she’s a mom, too. Hello, Ruthi. We’re glad to have you back.

Ruthi [00:01:11] Hi. It’s good to be back. Thanks.

Sandie [00:01:14] We want to dive into the flurry of social media that has just I mean, my inbox is full. I have emails, my phone. I get texts, I get phone calls because people are anxious about some of the stories being circulated on social media. So, I thought it would be a really interesting conversation for us to talk about it. Partly from the perspective of our basis. Both of us have been working and anti-trafficking for a very long time, but also from the perspective. I’m a grandmother, you’re a mom, Dave’s a dad. So how do we find the truth in the midst of all of this? And you have to factor in why we might be seeing this as it relates to having been in this lockdown mode. Does that have anything to do with how the longevity of some of these stories is emerging? So, Ruthi, you wrote a blog for the Global Center for Women and Justice. The title is Hashtag Activism, Conspiracy Theories, and the Truth About Human Trafficking. People if you want to see that blog, you can go to gcwj.org and click on blog, or you can find it on our Facebook and our Instagram. So tell us what your experience has been in this season.

Ruthi [00:02:51] Yeah. You know, there’s not a lot going on. It’s a very challenging and anxious time, as you mentioned, Sandie because people have a lot of concerns and fears right now for very good reasons. And a lot of us are facing these big challenges of working from home or having to work outside the home and not feeling completely safe. Concerned about our kids. You know, I’m homeschooling my kids right now back to school from home. And there’s a lot of fear and concerns and also this sense of not being in control. And then when we add in this issue of human trafficking, it’s scary because it is an awful thing to happen to anyone. And then when we think about it possibly happening to someone we love and care about, that makes us anxious. It makes us fearful. And so, I think people are looking for ways to control the narrative, to have some sense of both understanding what is this issue, how does it happen and how do I keep myself and my loved ones safe. But what we’re seeing, unfortunately, I think right now is a lot of misinformation on the Internet. A lot of posts and videos and documentaries and claims that are linking both human trafficking and the way it happens to even larger issues that people are concerned about. And that’s leading to this spiral of concern and anxiousness that I think is really hurting both us as a community and a society. But even hurting the real victims of human trafficking, because it’s perpetuating myths that simply aren’t true or typical of the real experiences that most human trafficking victims experience.

Sandie [00:04:29] So let’s start with one of the first ones. I woke up to a text. I wake up pretty early and my friend knew how early it was and she was texting me. Have you heard Wayfair is selling children in cabinets? And I just thought, oh, my goodness. I got to look this up and find out where she’s getting this. So talk about that.

Ruthi [00:04:53] Yeah. I also had those sorts of texts from friends like, have you seen, do you know, is this true? And I appreciate that pe...

Key Points

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 231, the Intersection of Diversity and Human Trafficking Vulnerabilities.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be your voice and make a difference in ending human trafficking and Sandie today I’m so glad for us to welcome to the show, Liliana Yanez. She is the managing director of the Center for Legal Services at My Sisters’ Place. She’s a lawyer with over 20 years of experience and prior to working at My Sisters’ Place, Liliana taught at the immigration clinic at the City University’s School of Law. Liliana, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show today.

Liliana [00:01:11] Thank you. Happy to be here.

Sandie [00:01:13] I met Liliana through the CEO of My Sisters’ Place, Karen Cheeks-Lomax, also an attorney. And Karen Cheeks-Lomax serves on the Public Private Partnership Advisory Council to end human trafficking with me. When we started talking about this, I wanted to know more about My Sisters’ Place, and Liliana one of the things I love about your web page is your tag line, providing hope, achieving justice, and changing lives. So, before we get into our conversation, would you give us kind of an overview of My Sisters’ Place?

Liliana [00:01:56] Yes, thank you. So, My Sisters’ Place is an organization that works, to serve survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in many facets. The Center for Legal Services, of which I am the managing director, provides legal assistance in family law and immigration law to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. We also have a domestic violence education and prevention department that targets young people in learning to talk about relationships. What’s a healthy relationship? What’s not a healthy relationship? And to identify signs of abuse. We have counseling services, supportive counseling services for both adults and children that survivors can access. We also have a human trafficking department again, where survivors of human trafficking can access services, can learn about their rights, can get support on leaving their situation, and turning to an empowered life. We also operate a shelter, a residential shelter for people who are fleeing, obviously emergency situations. Those are our departments. And again, we offer a holistic service model in helping all of our survivors and multifaceted ways.

Sandie [00:03:15] I love your Web site. If anybody wants to find it, it’s mspny.org and they’re on Facebook and Twitter as well. So, My Sisters’ Place, it just feels like a place I could go and feel safe. I really appreciate what you guys are doing and how long, I think it’s been around 40 years?

Liliana [00:03:36] Yes, it’s 40 years. It was a grassroots development, so to speak. You know, 40 years ago, domestic violence wasn’t acknowledged as such. And so, these women are founding mothers, saw that there was definitely a need and started organizing around this. And the name My Sisters’ Place, it comes from somebody wanting to access something as well as us wanting to keep somebody safe so that if you were telling somebody who and maybe there was somebody, an abuser present, he or she wouldn’t know what My Sisters’ Place was. It’s it was a was code for accessing a safe place for survivors.

Sandie [00:04:19] Wow. OK, let’s dive into our topic this morning. The intersection of diversity and human trafficking. Can you unpack that for us?

Liliana [00:04:30] Yes. And one of the things like language. I just mentioned the importance of language. I look at diversity and I think of something positive and something to be embraced. But it’s not always the case. And to me, the juxtaposition to diversity is different. And in highlighting on a difference, instead of highlighting on diversity, is where we can get into trouble and where society can get into trouble. And in my work, I see that when difference is highlighted, right, when we make somebody other, othering, different from us. Instead of highlighting the humanity and embracing the diversity, we other it. And that’s where I see a lot of the intersection in immigration law family law and that vulnerabilities are highlighted. Right, like it can be in skin color. It can be in race, can be in language. If you don’t speak English in the United States. What services you get or what you don’t get mostly. If you are poor, if you lack education, those things automatically become a place to exploit that difference.

Sandie [00:05:43] So for some of our listeners, they may not have heard this term of ot...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Callahan Walsh, a child advocate for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. They discuss how COVID-19 has presented challenges and opportunities in the fight against child sexual exploitation and how we can make sure that kids are equipped with safe and smart decision making to prevent online exploitation.

Callahan Walsh

Key Points

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 230 – Callahan Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Protecting Our Children.

Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:33] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:39] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:41] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, I’m so glad for our guest today because he and his family have been such an important voice and important partners in the work that so many of us care so deeply about. And today I know we’re going to learn so much from him. I’m so pleased to welcome Callahan Walsh to the show today. He is a child advocate for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. He is the son of John and Reve Walsh, who co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1984 after the kidnapping and murder of their first son, Adam. Following his parents’ footsteps, Cal has focused his energy on fighting crime, helping find missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, and preventing child victimization. Cal we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Cal [00:01:40] Thank you for having me. I really appreciate being here.

Sandie [00:01:43] So, Cal, I’ve been associated with a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for many years, worked with some greats that have been part of the team there. And when I read the latest statistics, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children published this note: that you have experienced a 90.46 percent increase in Cyber Tipline reports between January and June 2020 versus the same time period last year. And I have a quote from NCMEC Vice President, John Shehan, who said, “COVID-19, has presented challenges and opportunities in the fight against child sexual exploitation in the first quarter of 2020. NCMEC became aware of predators,” I have to pause here because I want people to listen, “became aware of predators openly discussing the pandemic as an opportunity to entice unsupervised children into producing sexually explicit material. At the same time, we experienced an explosion in reporting to our Cyber Tipline from both the public and electronic service providers, all while transitioning to a telework environment.” Cal, this is overwhelming. If I’m the parent of a child being schooled at home, what’s the first thing I need to do?

Cal [00:03:20] Well, it’s important for parents to understand some of the dangers that lurk online that their children face. Now the internet has created a life for the better in so many ways, but it has created new ways to harm children. And the fact that so many more kids and adults have increased screen time during this COVID epidemic has only increased the opportunities for those child predators to prey on victims, on these children. And so, it’s important for parents to understand that, it’s important for parents to understand these things and talk to their children about safe and smart decision making. As that quote that you just read from John Shehan. We did observe chatter on the darknet from these child predators, discussing how this is a great time to try to exploit children online, including sharing best practices. We have seen overall a 90 percent increase in the last few months, although in April alone there was over a 300 percent increase in reports to the Cyber Tipline of suspected child sexual exploitation and abuse. It went from last year’s numbers about a million reports during April, to over four million reports in April alone. And this from a few different factors. There were a few CSAM videos, child sexual abuse material videos that went viral, if you will, on some popular social media channels. Many people seeing those horrific images and videos, of course, want it to end. And they are well intended, but a bit misguided in the fact that they will often share that video or that post in hopes that it brings attention possibly to identify the child or the perpetrator. However, that is not the best course of action. We urge anybody who comes across this type of abuse online, and that’s anything from the child sexual abuse material to online enticement, grooming, sextortion, sex tourism to not share it, because any time you are sharing an image of that child, it’s re-exploiting that child and in fact, it is legal as well. But to report it, that is the right path to take to report it to the social media platform...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Dr. April Harris Akinloye, the former Chief Diversity Officer and Title IX Coordinator at Vanguard University. Together they take part in a Courageous Conversation, which is an initiative that was launched to bring the community together to have a safe place where they could discuss very uncomfortable topics that touched upon things that were happening throughout society and our country at large. They predominately discuss how to navigate representation, right, and resources as parents.

Dr. April Harris Akinloye

A diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional with 18+ years of experience leading teams into strategic analysis of practices, policies, and communication. Facilitates institutional culture change by bridging intercultural and intergenerational perspectives through critical analysis, organizational accountability, and collaboration. Delivers DEI initiatives that are practical, measurable, and manifest representation of all constituents. Known for exceptional communication skills that cultivate trust and influence across all roles and functions.

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is episode number 229 – Courageous Conversations.

Production...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Victor Boutros to examine the recent developments of this issue. Victor serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Human Trafficking Institute, which he helped to co-found in 2015. They review the trends found in the Institute’s 2019 Federal Human Trafficking Report.

Victor Boutros

Chief Executive Officer Victor serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Human Trafficking Institute, which he helped to co-found in 2015. Prior to his role at the Institute, he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and trained law enforcement from different parts of the world on how to investigate and prosecute human trafficking. He is co-author with Gary Haugen of The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (Oxford Press). In 2016, Victor and Gary received the Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Impacting World Order, awarded annually to the authors of one world-changing book based on originality, feasibility, and potential impact. Victor is a graduate of Baylor University, Harvard University, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago.

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 228 -Human Trafficking Institute Analyzes Federal Human Trafficking Criminal and Civil Prosecutions.

Production Credits [00:00:13] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:33] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:39] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:41] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we have a return guest with someone who’s just has a tremendous amount of experience, is going to help us to really look at some of the recent developments, also to help us to really consider and look at the perspective from federal human trafficking prosecutions. I’m so glad to welcome back to the show, Victor Boutros. Victor serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Human Trafficking Institute, which he helped co-found in 2015. Prior to the role at the Institute, he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s human trafficking prosecution unit and trained law enforcement from different parts of the world on how to investigate and prosecute human trafficking. He is co-author with Gary Haugen of The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence from Oxford Press. In 2016, Victor and Gary received the Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Impacting World Order, awarded annually to the authors of one world-changing book based on originality, feasibility, and potential impact. Victor is a graduate of Baylor, Harvard University, Oxford, and the University of Chicago. Victor, we’re so glad to have you back.

Victor [00:01:59] Thank you. It’s a privilege to be with you all again.

Sandie [00:02:02] So, we’re going to dive right in because the latest version of the Human Trafficking Institute report came out not too long ago. And first of all, I love how you guys use graphics because you take concepts that are difficult for the non-legal person to understand and to see the changes in just a glimpse. So, thank you for using so many infographics. And if anybody wants to see this report, we’ll have a link in the show notes as well. So, let’s talk about the goal of the report and what makes it so unique this year.

Victor [00:02:42] Yeah. Thank you for saying that. We do spend a fair bit of time trying to think about how to visually present the information. We have an incredible graphic artist who has been just a huge help over the years in helping us to refine the visuals and make sure that they’re easy to consume for folks. So, I appreciate you saying that. In fact, one of the focuses of this year’s report was to do a little bit of a redesign structurally to make it more readable and digestible for the average reader to consume and understand the data really easily and simply. And so, in terms of the goal of the report, the report really came out of what we perceived as a gap in the trafficking space. We felt like there was a real need to have very clear data on what human trafficking looks like at the federal level here in the U.S. So, we wanted to be able to put out that data in order for policymakers, for government leaders, and for practitioners, one, to be able to see trend lines that are happening and identify those trends as they’re happening, but also to be able to make arguments based on data so that their policy arguments are now sort of grounded in a common set of data and that we’re kind of all reading from the same sheet of music. So, that was a big part of it to kind of fill that gap for reliable data. We want to be able to answer some key questions about what the federal government was doing to hold traffickers accountable, like how many cases were filed each year, what types of cases, what are the dominant business models that are being used, how long does it take for these cases to resolve, what are the highest performing districts, what are the lowest-performing districts, and how many traffickers are being convicted. So, it’s been an intense process. It really involves a year-long process of data collection and analysis by a small army of attorneys and law students, led by some of the key attorneys at the institute who really are the architects of this and put it all together. And so, the final product is hopefully a v...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Diana Mao, President and Co-Founder of the Nomi Network. Diana is an abolitionist with a mission to eradicate human trafficking in her lifetime. Diana actively champions for change, and her visionary skillsets have urged the Nomi Network forward into enormous growth and success. They discuss the Nomi Network’s unique business strategy, the nature of child and forced marriages, and current challenges of the anti-trafficking movement.

Diana Mao

Diana Mao is an abolitionist with a mission to eradicate human trafficking in her lifetime. Diana actively champions for change, and her visionary skillsets have urged Nomi Network forward into enormous growth and success. She is a 2015 Presidential Leadership Scholar, New York Academy of Medicine Fellow, and co-chaired the Nexus Human Trafficking Modern Day Slavery Work Group from 2013-2019. She currently serves on the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking. Diana also writes for the Huffington Post, Reuters, and the United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. She received the 2018 Pioneer Award from Asian Americans for Equality and 2018 Recent Alumni Impact Award from New York University (NYU). Diana earned her Bachelor’s in Business Economics and Chinese from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has a Master’s in Public Administration, with a specialization in International Management from NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. While she lives in New York, Diana spends most of her time traveling to raise awareness and funds for Nomi Network, building partnerships with industries and leaders in private, public, and government arenas to fight human trafficking.

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the ending human trafficking podcast. This is episode number 227 – Another Form of Human Trafficking: Forced or Child Marriage.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan. And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. I was telling Sandie before our conversation today that I’m so glad that we get to welcome today’s guest to really help me to learn more about something I know very little about, which is forced or child marriage. And Sandie, I know today’s guest is going to really help us to explore this more so we can really understand more of the complexities of trafficking, but also how we can do better in our work. I’m so glad to welcome to the show today, Diana Mao. She is an abolitionist with a mission to eradicate human trafficking in her lifetime. Diana actively champions for change and her visionary skill sets to have urged Nomi Network forward into enormous growth and success. She is a 2015 presidential leadership scholar, New York Academy of Medicine fellow, and co-chair at the Nexus Human Trafficking Modern Day Slavery Workgroup from 2013 to 2019. She currently serves on the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to end human trafficking. Diana also writes for the Huffington Post, Reuters, and the United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. Diana, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Diana [00:01:57] Thank you so much. It’s great to be on your show today.

Sandie [00:02:00] And as you guys could tell from the introduction, I met Diana in Washington, D.C. at our very first Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council meeting this last January. So, we’re colleagues and now new friends. And I admire so much the work and the community that she’s built around her abolition work. So, tell us just a little bit, Diana, to start with- how did Nomi Network start out? Because you didn’t start as a social worker victim service provider. Tell us how it started.

Diana [00:02:38] Yeah, absolutely. Well, I started my journey in the world of ending human trafficking in 2007. And at the time, I didn’t know much about the issue. I was a graduate student at New York University, and I was charged with a summer fellowship research project for Microfinance Bank where I and two other colleagues traveled throughout Cambodia, about five provinces, and interviewed 300 Microfinance clients, most of whom lived below a dollar a day. It was there that I met a single father who lived near the Thai border and was also making at the time less than a dollar a day, had seven children. And after we had surveyed him, he, out of desperation, offered his youngest daughter to my male colleague in broken English. And at that moment, we were horrified, and I was heartbroken seeing that they had nothing. They were all sleeping on the floor and with a bowl of rice to eat a day. And so, coming back to the states, human trafficking became more on my radar, especially having spent time in t...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss new guidelines released by the U.S. Department of State for effective public awareness and outreach efforts for human trafficking. In order to have ethical practices to empower victims, we must be vigilant in how we frame our media messages. Sandie emphasizes three central ideas from the guidelines that are necessary for ethical public awareness and outreach.

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the ending human trafficking podcast. This is episode number 226 – Media Ethics: Where Do You Draw the Line?

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:37] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, today a conversation about media ethics and where we draw the line. And this is a conversation we’ve had many times in different contexts, of course, of the show. But there’s some new materials available that we wanted to dive in on.

Sandie [00:01:03] Yes, and I’m excited to bring to your attention a new guideline that has been released by our Department of State Office on Trafficking in Persons. First, though, I’d like to respond to some text messages, emails, and social media increase about how is the Global Center for Women and Justice doing during COVID-19? And to respond to that, I just want everyone to know we are working remotely. And Dave and I are recording this remotely. He’s in his stay at home secure place and I’m in mine. And the biggest thing that people can do is to continue to support the work. Our work continues even in COVID-19. We continue to work remotely. We’re still working with task forces and survivors who are pursuing their education now entirely online. So, if you wanted to do something, please give. And you can go to www.gcwj.org and hit the donate button. That’s how you can help us during COVID-19.

Dave [00:02:26] We have many people in our community that do support not only this show, but perhaps more importantly, support the work of the center and all the work you’ve done Sandie over the years through the Global Center for Women and Justice. So, thank you if you have been one of those supporters. And to reinforce what Sandie said, we are very blessed, we have a wonderful team, we have wonderful volunteers already. We’re not seeking more help in that way. You can certainly continue to give, though, or perhaps give for the first time if you have not before. That’ll continue to support our work and support Sandie’s work and the work of the show. So, here we are, Sandie, and we’re continually moving forward as we always are, regardless of what’s happening in the world, because this is such an important issue. And today, even more on how we can use, speaking of the podcast, how we can use media well in order to get the message out there.

Sandie [00:03:18] And we have such a great platform to share these guidelines. And it’s very interesting, guidelines are vetted documents when they’re produced by our government. And so, this wasn’t something that somebody put together overnight, it’s a five-page document. And I really want to emphasize it’s only five pages, which is pretty spectacular for a government guidelines document. Don’t you agree?

Dave [00:03:47] I do agree.

Sandie [00:03:48] And what is particularly unique about this is it is a survivor informed document. So, federal agencies worked on it together. The president’s interagency task force, along with the Survivor Advisory Council. So, it is not just somebody’s rules. These have been vetted and we have heard from survivors about how they want their story told.

Dave [00:04:20] One of the challenges I know Sandie when thinking about telling stories is the way to do that and also what not to do that and how to really think about the implications of telling a survivor story. And I know you have seen many examples of this done poorly or done without thought. And you’ve also seen some good examples of this. At a big picture level, what are some of the things that are concerning to you when you do see them out there in the world as first people sharing stories?

Sandie [00:04:52] Well, I share a lot of the angst that comes through in this document from the survivors. It’s their story to tell. So, make sure you have permission to tell their story. And sometimes in fundraising, there’s a chance that we might focus so much on a single story that we use it. And I’m emphasizing the word “use it” to raise the emotional response to the giving opportunity when we actually need to be thinking about not just our outputs, but what are our outcomes? How are we using our platform, our nonprofit, the funds that people give for the big picture? And that is what part of this document is about. So, I’m excited to have this conversation with you.

Dave [00:05:53] As you’ve reviewed this document and thought about the work that we do and how we utilize media. What comes up for you as central that you’d love to see organizations really lean in on and leaders and organizations who are helping to end human trafficking to be thinking about?

Sandie [00:06:13] Well, I think there are two segments. One is how we talk about statistics. And the other is how we talk about messaging. And when we look at statistics, I know people are very aware of how often I talk about statistics and how I avoid using conflated statistics. And so, when I teach the antihuman tr...