Ending Human Trafficking

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Rachel Thomas to discuss psychological coercion. Rachel is a personal survivor of human trafficking and has extensive experience teaching, training, curriculum writing, public speaking, and mentoring.  She is the director of Sowers Education Group and lead author of Ending The Game: An Intervention Curriculum for Survivors of Sex Trafficking.

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Ending the Game

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Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 196 – Rachel Thomas: Ending the Game.

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 [00:00:35] 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. And today we have with us an important voice in the human trafficking conversation, a survivor. And as we’ve had many times, Sandie, another perspective from a survivor in our conversation. And I’m really pleased to welcome to the show today, Rachel Thomas. Rachel is a former music video model and sex trafficking survivor. She is now a dynamic educator who speaks from the heart and aims at the head with a Master’s in Education from UCLA and over 12 years of experience in teaching and mentoring. Rachel founded Sowers Education Group to sow seeds of Sex Trafficking Awareness and survivor empowerment. Rachel was a junior at Emory University where she unknowingly met a trafficker, a professional and well-spoken “modeling agent”. He had business cards and a portfolio of contracts with beautiful models of all ethnicities. He groomed her with high-quality all-expense paid photo shoots and legitimate modeling work in various music videos and magazines. Then after he had collected a W9 form from Rachel, including her parent’s address and Social Security number their relationship became dangerous. He began forcing her to have sex with buyers, threatening to kill her and her family if she didn’t obey. He became physically and psychologically abusive, ushering Rachel into the dark world of sex slavery. Thankfully, the police and FBI were eventually able to help Rachel and the traffickers dozens of other victims to escape this devastating situation. As Rachel continues to overcome and understand her experience she is turning a mess into a message that will spread prevention and empower victims. Sandie, I’m so glad we get to welcome Rachel to the show today.

Sandie [00:02:32] Hi Rachel.

Rachel [00:02:34] Hi.

Sandie [00:02:35] We are so glad to have you. I’ve known you for a number of years now and what I really appreciate about you is your slow, methodical, professional approach to education. And I suppose that’s not surprising considering you have a masters from UCLA. So thank you so much for agreeing to be on the Ending Human Trafficking podcast today.

Rachel [00:03:00] Thank you. Thank you both for all that you do and for spreading these important messages. I’m really honored to be on today.

Sandie [00:03:07] So let’s start out, can you just give us an overview of this curriculum, Ending the Game?

Rachel [00:03:14] Sure, so Ending the Game is an intervention curriculum for victims of commercial sexual exploitation. And really it is the curriculum that I needed and that so many other victims need on our road to survivorhood, when we’re trying to take two feet firmly out of the game, or the life, and walk in a new direction. So it’s a cycle educational curriculum that teaches about the psychological coercion that lures people into sex trafficking and then how to break those bonds.

Sandie [00:03:49] So where is the Ending the Game curriculum being used?

Rachel [00:03:54] So we actually it’s our five year anniversary this year, it’s very exciting. So we are in over 100 facilities, we’re in 23 states, and we have we met the 500 mark for trained facilitators.

Sandie [00:04:09] Wow.

Rachel [00:04:09] Yeah, we’re all over, and we’re growing. And it’s all through word of mouth because survivors, you know, attest that it works and it’s helpful. And it’s kind of been a missing link in helping someone on the road to recovery because we can take someone out physically and you know give them shelter, and food, and get them medical attention, and cover a lot of the bases. But psychologically, mentally you know if they’re still entrapped in that thinking, in that lifestyle they will find their way back.

Sandie [00:04:44] So let’s focus on that psychological coercion piece. Can you explain what that is?

Rachel [00:04:49] Yeah, so psychological coercion is mental manipulation, mind control. Anytime that you are manipulating someone’s thinking in a way that eventually will manipulate their behavior and bel...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss supply chains and sustainable development with John McCarthy. John is currently the Chair of the Sydney Archdiocesan Antislavery Task Force and former Australian Ambassador to the Holy See. Together, they examine the Sydney Framework and the impact that communities across the world could have on ending modern-day slavery and forced labor.

Key Points

Resources

17 – California Transparency in Supply Chains Act

8 – Partnering With Students to End Human Trafficking

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 195, The Sydney Framework: Supply Chains and Sustainable Development Goal 8.7.  

Production Credits: [00:00:13] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.  

Dave: [00:00:34] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.  

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

Dave: [00:00:42] 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 yet another expert who has been hard at work and really working in partnership to end human trafficking. I’m so excited about this conversation.  

Sandie: [00:01:00] I am too. Why don’t you go ahead and introduce our guest?  

Dave: [00:01:03] I am pleased to welcome to the show today Ambassador John McCarthy. John is the chair of the Sydney Archdiocesan Antislavery Task Force. He was also Australian Ambassador to the Vatican from 2012 until 2016. During his diplomatic service at the Holy See, Mr. McCarthy was closely involved with human rights issues particularly with the eradication of modern slavery and human trafficking, a cause which Pope Francis has made a worldwide priority. Mr. McCarthy was also heavily engaged in conference and consultations in Rome during 2015 with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals. Since returning to Australia, he has remained engaged in the antislavery cause and since May 2017 has been chair of the Sydney Archdiocesan Antislavery Task Force. Mr. McCarthy lives in Sydney and is married with six ch...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by a long time partner, Paraskevi Champeridou. Paraskevi, affectionately referred to as Voula, is the director of the Syrian Humanitarian Initiative, BRIDGES. She co-established a holistic restoration and integration approach for Syrian refugees passing into Greece daily. Together, they examine how refugees are vulnerable to further victimization and exploitation.

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Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 194, Is the Refugee Crisis Over?

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: [00:00:34] 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, yet another friend today who has been a partner for so long in this work to end human trafficking. We have a guest here in the studio who is a longtime friend of yours.

Sandie: [00:00:57] I am so, excited to have Paraskevi Champeridou from Athens, Greece. She was here speaking at Ensure Justice 2019. If you missed it, please be sure to go online and look at the links to see what you missed and plan to come next year 2020. Paraskevi Champeridou is also, known to me as Voula and I’ve known her for so, many years, I don’t want to say how many years. She’s a mother, a wife of 25 years, she has two daughters 20 and 16, she’s a social worker and a family counselor. She had been working as a private counselor for many years teaching human relationships in Athens, Greece and has been participating, speaking, and organizing many conferences on mental health, family relationships, domestic violence, and human trafficking. But in 2013 she and her husband, Elias, established the NGO humanitarian initiative, BRIDGES, as they foresaw that huge waves of Syrian refugees would pass through Greece, and that happened in 2015. Now they envision their holistic restoration and full integration. She is the legal representative of BRIDGES, working with her husband to give voice to the voiceless and victimized refugees who are daily passing from Greece. Voula welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast.

Voula: [00:02:30] Thank you, it’s a privilege to be here.

Sandie: [00:02:32] We are so, happy to have you! On Friday when you spoke about the refugees at Ensure Justice, you quoted someone as explaining their plight as “all gone”. Can you explain that for us?

Voula: [00:02:47] Yes, it’s a real quotation, it’s from someone who said that to us that when they arrived in Greece they arrived because “all gone”. And by this they meant that actually, they had lost everything, they had lost their lives, they had lost their family, they lost their counsel, they lost their habits, their schooling, their fields. They have actually lost their everyday life, their memories, their feelings, everything. So, saying this, it’s actually they lost their own soul and they were sharing their tears because they had nothing else. And when everything is gone, when all is gone, then by itself this is a motivating power because when what is left, you have to go for the next step because there is nothing else behind. So, by itself, this is a great motivation to leave everything and go for the next step. But also, there is such a big wound and then you can so, easily be victimized because you are looking for hope and whatever it is being offered to you, you are going to take it because all is gone, nothing has been left.

Sandie: [00:04:01] When I visited you two years ago I was shocked as you were talking to a young man who was desperate to at least be reunified with his family, who had made it to another European country. And he was trying to figure out how to get there. The process is difficult, the countries aren’t accepting him, but that’s where his family is. So, he told you he found someone to take him and you said, “Do you trust your smuggler?” I thought who asks that kind of question. But when people are desperate, they become vulnerable to believing lies and becoming victims of smugglers, and even of human trafficking, because somebody offers them hope, offers them a job. What is your definition of a refugee?

Voula: [00:05:00] You see, a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution of war or violence. This is a definition by UNHCR and their standard many times it’s a definition that sounds very bureaucratic and it’s very good for all of us to understand what violence means, what war means, and what persecution means. And it takes time because we sometimes we have never walked in their shoes to understand and I strongly believe that for all of us we can very easily be refugees. We are just a war away for being refugees and just to walk in their shoes. And we do not understand this; we think that they are refugees, but we are not because we are safe, but we are not.

Sandie: [00:05:52] When our students first go, and they visit BRIDGES, the most exceptional thing they discover is that these are families just like we are. They would walk back to our accommodations at night discussing, I met a dentist, I met at school teacher, I met an attorney, I met a judge and their children and now they are sleeping in accommodations that are sometimes condemned hotels. They’re sleeping in tents, they’re sleeping in what was supposed to be temporary circumstance, and now some of them have been there for years already. Can you give us some examples of what political and family persecution, or all of the different examples?

Voula: [00:06:44] Most of these people they are very well educated but unfortunately because of this situation they have to come into Greece and ask for asylum and sometimes because of their culture, the political and the family situation ca...

Chad Salitan joins Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak again, to further discuss the TIP Report and its special topics. Chad serves in the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons office as a Deputy Coordinator for the Reports & Political Affairs Section to lead the U.S. government’s diplomatic engagement on sex trafficking and forced labor. Chad and Sandie discuss the many challenges that need to be restored in this special topic of child institutionalization.

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 193, Child Institutionalization and Human Trafficking.

Production Credits: [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

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

Sandie: [00:00:35] 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. On the last episode of 192, we talked about the Trafficking in Persons Report with our guests Chad Salitan and he is returning here on this episode. Chad is in the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons office as the deputy coordinator for the reports and political affairs section. He works with the management team to lead the U.S. government’s diplomatic engagement on sex trafficking and forced labor. If you didn’t listen to episode 192, it’s a great starting point to the Trafficking in Persons Report. And Sandie, we’re going to dive in a bit on one of the key topics in the report here.

Sandie: [00:01:22] Welcome back, Chad.

Chad: [00:01:24] Thank you.

Sandie: [00:01:25] We are looking at some of the special topics and I’m sure we could do an entire series of podcasts, but one of them that particularly impacted me, everybody remember my background in pediatric nursing, is the impact on children because the hallmark of global efforts to end human trafficking has been a trend too. And you all know me well enough, I’m going to use air quotes for rescue, “rescue” and house survivors in shelters. And for children, that’s often a fairly permanent placement. I have friends that I dearly love who make visits to orphanages overseas regularly. And so, Chad I think this special topic is so, helpful. So, maybe we can start with kind of a summary of how that became a special topic and then we’ll talk through that report.

Chad: [00:02:24] Great. Yes, I think we could spend a lot of time on this. How it really came to the attention of this office in earnest a few years ago. We place a heavy emphasis when we’re looking at foreign government efforts on what’s the government response to official complicity. Meaning, how are they enforcing the trafficking law when it’s government officials that are the traffickers? We consider that particularly heinous and since the Trafficking in Persons Report is a judgment of government efforts, we really want to take a special lens when it comes to what’s happening there. And we sometimes use the word orphanages other times you know child institutions, but basically, places where children are now wards of the state, the parental rights have been taken away or anything along those lines. You know a lot of those are publicly run and there are a whole host of problems that we’re going to get into on this podcast about the problem with placing a lot of children in public institutions. What particularly we’re seeing in our research was the worst of the worst that we can get into in depth, but we are seeing basically orphanages that were turning into brothels being run by state employees. So, that’s really what kicked it off for us here and since then we’ve only snowballed in terms of our problems that we’ve collected with child institutionalization.

Sandie: [00:03:48] Wow. Well, let’s just start off with how that institutionalization increases vulnerability for these kids.

Chad: [00:03:56] Yes absolutely. So, you know what we’re seeing in the research, and I’ll give a hat tip to the NGO Lumos out of London that’s doing excellent research on this. You know when you pull a kid away from a family environment it’s just not conducive to healthy cognitive development. We, of course, have a whole range of how good the care is in institutions, you know some are of course better than others but there’s just no substitute for a family setting. And unfortunately, this is just mind-blowing is that you know Lumos estimates that 80 to 90 percent of children i...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Chad Salitan, who serves in the State Department Trafficking in Persons office.  As a Deputy Coordinator for the Reports & Political Affairs Section, he works on the production of the annual TIP Report. He sheds light on the TIP Report and its value, the Tier statuses, and the 2018 report’s focus.

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 192, What is the Trafficking in Persons Report?

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: [00:00:35] 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. Sandie, so, many partnerships and organizations that are part of this effort, and today we have a guest with us that’s going to bring really substantial perspective to us on the Trafficking in Persons Report, right?

Sandie: [00:00:58] That’s right. I’m so, excited to have Chad Salitan.

Dave: [00:01:01] Chad Salitan is in the State Department’s Trafficking in Persons office as deputy coordinator for the Reports and political affairs section. He works with the management team to lead the U.S. government’s diplomatic engagement on sex trafficking and forced labor. Chad’s team researches and analyzes how to best combat trafficking and engages foreign government officials in Washington and abroad to promote the adoption of effective policies. The section is responsible for the production of the secretary of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, the TIP Report as it’s known, is the U.S. government’s principal diplomatic and diagnostic tool to guide relations with foreign governments on human trafficking. Prior to this managing role, Chad served as an analyst on the same team with primary responsibility for countries in Europe and Asia. He joined the State Department in 2011 as a Presidential Management Fellow. Chad was born in Rochester, New York and earned his B.A. in International Relations from the State University of New York at Geneseo and has an M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Chad, we are so, glad to welcome you to the podcast.

Chad: [00:02:16] Well, thank you very much for having me.

Sandie: [00:02:18] We’re excited to have a conversation that you and I have been trying to put together for a few months. But the annual Trafficking in Persons Report is a significant document that has emerged as a valuable evaluation tool. And also, for my students and a lot of my listeners, we look at it every year and we can see how it has improved, increased our capacity to understand international as well as national issues around this. So, tell us first why the TIP Report is even done. What is the value?

Chad: [00:02:56] Sure, thank you. And maybe I should zoom out first, just for those who don’t know, the Trafficking in Persons Report is an annual Report released by our State Department and at its core, it is a roundup of what each foreign government, each government around the world is doing on human trafficking. So, we cover 187 countries every year and each narrative in there covers each country and what each government is doing in the area of prosecuting the criminals, protecting the victims, and preventing the crime in the first place. We also, cover a kind of a profile of what trafficking looks like in each of these 187 countries. This Report has been going on since the year 2000 when the U.S. Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. That was also, the same year that the United Nations passed the Palermo protocol, as it’s commonly called, which is kind of a global compact to fight trafficking. So, that the two acts are actually quite similar in their approach and those three keys of prosecuting the traffickers, protecting the victims, and preventing the crime in the first place. The TIP Report also, is a collection of special topics where we try to delve into research into new areas, try to be on the cutting edge of various topics that are going on in the human trafficking community, new things that we’re learning, new ideas that we want to make sure to get out there. But it’s also- we try to remind the whole world each year about what trafficking is. There’s, of course, a lot of myths around it, which a few of your episodes have done a great job of trying to clear up, such as about movement and things like that. So, it’s also, a good reminder to try to increase global understanding about what human trafficking really means.

Sandie: [00:04:37] So, who uses the TIP Report?

Chad: [00:04:41] We have seen such a wide array of use. Now, I will say of course that we do make it for ourselves principally, and we do use it as our principal diplomatic tool because we use this as kind of the foundation for all the bilateral engagement we’re going to have government to government. So, if we want to say the U.S. and say the government of Moldova for example, you know where the basis for that conversation is going to be on what was in the last Trafficking in Persons Report because that Report is really pinpointing where the greatest needs are and also, where is any government really making progress that we could share with other governments in like situations. So, we do use it for ourselves quite a bit. Besides those diplomatic engagements, we also, use it in a diagnostic sense for our foreign assistance. So, the State Department and other agencies in the U.S. governments that says the USA does a lot of money every year, millions for specifically human trafficking and we want to make sure that that money is going towards the most needed areas. So, although you know the approach the trafficking is the same in terms of those three P’s, every government has specific areas where they would be most in need of assistance. And having the TIP Report, identifying where the biggest shortfalls are, we can target t...

In this episode, Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss the Biblical and historical story of Joseph and how it relates to human trafficking survivors today. Sandie observes how we can integrate an understanding of this ancient case study into how we fight against human trafficking and respond to survivors in our communities.

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Contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions at [email protected].

Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 191, Joseph: An Ancient Human Trafficking Case Study.

Production Credits: [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning., maximizing human potential.

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

Sandie: [00:00:35] 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. And as you expect on each episode of the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, Sandie we’re taking everyone to Broadway today, right? I think that’s what you told me.

Sandie: [00:00:53] Yeah that’s right. That’s right and you’re going to start us off with the theme song.

Dave: [00:00:57] Go go go, Joseph. You know what they say. Hang on now Joseph you’ll make it someday. Sha la la Joseph. That’s the one we’re doing, right?

Sandie: [00:01:06] That’s it. That’s it. Wow. How many of you remember coloring the coat of many colors from the story of Joseph.?

Dave: [00:01:15] Yes of course of course. I remember my brother singing that soundtrack all around the house. He was Joseph in production in our local community.

Sandie: [00:01:23] Oh my goodness. Well you know this month, every year at our church I’m asked to speak on Freedom Sunday. January is our National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. And so, I just came back from Istanbul last week and then on Sunday was able to bring awareness and understanding about some of the issues around human trafficking and use a case study from the Book of Genesis. And that’s where Joseph comes from people. He was not dreamed up in a graphic artist studio. He was a historical figure.

Dave: [00:02:10] And interesting about this story a lot of us are familiar with it either because of our Sunday School curriculum or because we’ve seen the Broadway show and the popularized version of it. But one of the really interesting things about this story is, although it is an ancient story, how many similarities there are with some of the things we see in modern-day trafficking, aren’t there?

Sandie: [00:02:34] Absolutely. And I think one of the things, especially in our faith-based communities, we look at the justice side of fighting human trafficking and we don’t look back at our own historical connection to institutionalized slavery. And when we go back to the very beginning and we’re not actually going to start in Genesis 1, but if we look in Genesis 16 we see a really famous story about a slave named Hagar, who was a slave to Sarah. Sarah was the wife of the patriarch Abraham. And Hagar runs away because she’s been mistreated. And the Genesis 16 says that the angel of the Lord comes to her and says, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’ And when I first read that, and I am always looking for great stories that illustrate issues around slavery and how we deal with people who have experienced that kind of trauma. And people often talk about how for Hagar to be seen, to be noticed was so, important in her struggle. And the way that that particular phrase is broken down into where have you been and where are you going, is a good way to look at a case study on human trafficking. So, I’m going to use those two questions to look at the story of Joseph.

Dave: [00:04:18] Where have you been and where are you going.

Sandie: [00:04:20] Where have you been and where are you going. Absolutely. And so, many times we hear counselors, we hear therapists say to people that they want to help coach in working with victims of any kind of trauma or emotional distress, don’t ask them what’s wrong with you. Ask what’s happened, what’s happened to bring this to where it is today? So, we’re going to look at Joseph, and unlike the musical, it doesn’t happen in an hour and 30 minutes.

Dave: [00:04:56] Indeed.

Sandie: [00:04:57] In fact, Genesis 37-50 covers a span of 93 years. And it’s so, interesting in the story because we get a lot of detail about Joseph in 14 chapters. It starts off and actually says he was 17 years old when he told his brothers about his dreams. And what you know from either your Broadway experiences, musicals and TV and all of that, or from your studies in your Sunday school class that you were mentioning that Joseph had dreams where he told his brothers that someday they were going to bow down to him. Right? So, you’ve got to ask where did that come from? And one of the things that I’ve noticed about a lot of survivors that I’ve talked to they have had dreams that made them very vulnerable to being trafficked. We sometimes think that it’s the weakest that become trafficking victims. But in the last couple of years in going to Greece and working with refugees escaping violence, what I saw with the 16, 17, 18-year-old young men and young women is they had a mission- they wanted to make something of their lives, they wanted to be important in helping their families. And so, they would take risks because of those dreams. And if someone offered them a position, a job they based on those dreams of success and a future they often took risks and were very courageous that ended very badly. And so, if you really asked Joseph where you’ve been, and we look at his history we can see that there were some family problems that were more than just about the dreams though. He was the first-born son of Jacob’s second wife. And you have to go back, and you read all these stories and you find out that Jacob had worked to ear...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Ramona Braganza, celebrity trainer and global fitness expert. Ramona shares her 30-year journey of wellness, and how she is using her passions and expertise to contribute to the fight against human trafficking. She shares her goal of providing real-world education and skills training in the health and wellness sector to young female survivors caught in the vicious cycle of India’s Sexual exploitation and trafficking business through a North American based non-profit organization she established, 321 Empower.

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 190, Wellness Training: A Path to Empower.

Production Credits: [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave: [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie: [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave: [00:00:36] 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, every time we get together we are either having a conversation ourselves or we’re bringing in a conversation with a partner, someone else in the world who is doing some incredible work on helping us to end human trafficking. We’ve had so, many amazing partnerships and conversations that have emerged over the years. And this conversation is going to be similar, right?

Sandie: [00:01:04] That’s right.

Dave: [00:01:06] I am so, glad to be able to welcome to the show today Ramona Braganza. Ramona is a celebrity trainer and global fitness expert, and maybe most known for sculpting hot Hollywood bodies including that of Jessica Alba’s and Halle Berry’s, but also, for her love of fitness and her quest for excellence that has facilitated the transformation of hundreds of people’s bodies and attitudes worldwide. Recognized as one of the top personal trainers in the world among the entertainment industry. Ramona has worked as Jessica Alba’s personal trainer for over 12 years and continues to train many other celebrities. Ramona has over 30 years in the fitness industry and has contributed editorial content to a dozen magazines including Shape, Marie-Claire, Men’s Health, Allure, Fit Pregnancy, and many others. She is also, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. And she has established 321 Empower, a North American based non-profit organization with a goal of providing real-world education and skills training in the health and wellness sector to young female survivors caught in the vicious cycle of India’s sexual exploitation and trafficking business. Ramona, we are so, glad to welcome you to the show.

Ramona: [00:02:19] Thank you very much. I’m excited to be here and thank you very much to Dr. Sandie Morgan and to you Dave for having me here.

Sandie: [00:02:26] Well, we’re excited about what you’re doing and let’s start off with what exactly is the 321 Empower nonprofit that you’ve started.

Ramona: [00:02:39] Well it’s a passion project that I’ve started working with girls in India and it takes girls that have been saved from trafficking and helps to transform their lives through fitness. So, I empower them on a personal level and then I also, manage to give them some job skills for a growing fitness industry. It’s a 1.8-billion-dollar industry currently in India, that’s mostly dominated by male fitness trainers.

Sandie: [00:03:05] So, one of the things I want our listeners to pick up right away that I love about talking with you is you start right out with the business model. You’re not just about oh we want to do something to help the girls, but you’ve done your research. And when we want to do something to help survivors we have to have more than just passion, we have to have some expertise. And you bring a lot of expertise. Tell us just a little bit about your background in wellness and fitness.

Ramona: [00:03:40] Sure. I actually started as a gymnast when I was very young, and I grew up in Canada. My parents are from India. And for me I grew up in a small town that was very, there were very few minorities, and so, I found gymnastics as a real help in my own empowerment. And through the gymnastics that led me to do some dancing, I became a cheerleader with the NFL and then I went on to do fitness strength training and a lot of the fitness competitions. So, my own personal journey with exercise, it’s completely formulated who I am. And having dealt with adversity, it really helped empower me. And as my life continued, fitness evolved into becoming a fitness trainer. I ended up having Jessica Alba as a client and went on to start my own fitness company in Canada. And during that time, I managed to make a trip back to Mumbai where my parents are from, be a part of the fitness industry there and I recognized a real need in an industry where girls aren’t necessarily treated as they’re treated here in the United States and Canada. So, that really empowered me to do something about it and my own wellness journey led me to this cause.

Sandie: [00:04:54] All right. I love how you call that a wellness journey because we’re recording this in January and lots of us start out the new year with goals for diet, nutrition, and exercise, and how many miles we’re going to walk every day. And so, this journey concept is a powerful image. But let’s look at how you chose to do this in India. You have your own personal connection, but on your website, you talk about the problem and you say that there are almost 20,000 women and children who are survivors of human trafficking in India, just in the year 2017, up 25 percent from the previous year according to the Thompson Reuters Foundation. And child survivors make up 40 percent of India’s prostitution industry. And for people who know me using the word child and prostitute in the ...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak inquire about lessons learned from The Lighthouse, a transitional living program for young women who are survivors of sex trafficking, from the program supervisor, Polly Williams. Polly has over 18 years of experience in all aspects of working with youth including those experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges, and substance abuse. She developed and implemented Orangewood Foundation’s The Lighthouse in 2016 using a framework of trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and a survivor-centered approach. Polly introduces a thoughtful report and review of 11 learned lessons from this program.

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 189, Lessons Learned Serving Domestic Survivors of Sex Trafficking.

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: [00:00:36] 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 been on a journey together for the last eight years in producing the show and really aiming to do if not all three of those at least one of those every time we get together studying the issues, being a voice, and ultimately making a difference in bringing an end to this terrible thing that we all are working hard to end. And today a conversation that I know will help us all to learn some more lessons, correct?

Sandie: [00:01:12] Absolutely.

Dave: [00:01:14] Well we are thrilled to welcome to the show today Polly Williams. Polly has over 18 years of experience in all aspects of working with youth including those experiencing homelessness, mental health challenges, and substance abuse. Polly’s love of working with young people came from extensive practical experiences as an outreach worker on the streets of Melbourne, Australia where she provided crisis response, harm reduction, needle exchange, and overdose support to homeless youth. Polly also, spent six years working at Venice Beach as Director of Programs at Safe Place for Youth, in which she developed, implemented and managed their street-based outreach, case management, drop-in, and onsite therapeutic programming. Polly is currently the program supervisor of Orangewood Foundation’s The Lighthouse, a transitional living program for young women who are survivors of sex trafficking. Polly developed and implemented the program in 2016 using a framework of trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and a survivor-centered approach. Polly, Sandie and I are so, glad to welcome you to the show.

Polly: [00:02:20] Thank you for having me.

Sandie: [00:02:21] Well we’re excited and I know that your rich background contributes significantly to how you approach working with the young women in your care. And so, I thought we should kind of revisit a couple of important priorities in delivering care for survivors and that would be looking at the victim-centered approach, how that works, and how you implement it at The Lighthouse.

Polly: [00:02:54] Sure, so, victim-centered approach really is the concept by which we live and breathe when we work with our young women at our transitional living program. The way that we work with a victim-centered approach is that we provide, and we give the power back over to the young lady who’s being trafficked for them to tell us what their needs are, what their concerns are, and for them to lead us in their journey. So, their priority might be around their health, maybe around getting into education, maybe around safety. So, we work with them and they lead us. We support them in their journey.

Sandie: [00:03:34] Wow. So, this idea of empowering them and then it becomes survivor driven services, really.

Polly: [00:03:45] Absolutely.

Sandie: [00:03:46] Yeah. So, that is very counter. I mean you know I’m a pediatric nurse by my background and so, I would come, and I have a protocol and I follow that. I don’t go around to my patients and say How would you like me to serve you. And so, I have conversations with people who don’t get that. What is the rationale what drives you to be so, responsive...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak speak with Lieutenant Joe Laramie about the difference between multidisciplinary teams for child abuse and sex trafficking, the challenges associated with MDT, and the direction we need to move forward with. Joe is the program manager with the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College working in the Missing and Exploited Children’s and the Internet Crimes Against Children Training and Technical Assistance Programs. With more than 30 years of child protection, investigation, and training experience he sheds light on this topic with a fresh perspective.

Key Points

Resources

36 – Why Healthcare Providers Matter and What They Can Do

185 – Educational Resources for Health Care Providers

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 188, Building an MDT for Victims of Child Sex Trafficking.

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: [00:00:36] 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, you’ve been empowering me for eight years of learning new things on this topic and we will be down that road again today because the acronym MDT is in the title of this episode. I have absolutely no idea what that is and I’m guessing some in our listening community also, do not know what that is. So, this is going to be an education for all of us today, I believe.

Sandie: [00:01:07] Good, I always love it when I can teach you something new.

Dave: [00:01:11] We have, as always, an expert with us today that is going to really help open up the doors and help us to even learn more about this complex issue. I’m pleased to welcome an expert to the show today and that is Lieutenant Joe Laramie. He is the program manager with the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College working in the Missing and Exploited Children’s and the Internet Crimes Against Children training and technical assistance programs. He retired in 2010 from the Glendale Missouri Police Department with more than 30 years of child protection investigation and training experience. During his time with the Glendale PD, he was Police Juvenile Officer and child abuse investigator, a D.A.R.E. officer, and in 2001 created the Greater St. Louis Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. He is nationally known as a speaker on the topic of online child exploitation, child sex trafficking, and technology related protections for youth families and professionals. Lieutenant Laramie, we’re so, glad to welcome you to the show.

Joe: [00:02:15] Well thank you so, very much. I’m really excited to have this opportunity today.

Sandie: [00:02:20] We should start right at the beginning with putting Dave out of his misery here and let’s talk about what is an MDT, and why is that the best process?

Joe: [00:02:32] Well for the law enforcement officers who listen in, MDT does not stand for a mobile data terminal. That’s the computer that you normally see in police cars. It stands for multidisciplinary team. And truly, multidisciplinary teams have evolved over the last 35, maybe 40, years to address child abuse investigations and they are pretty much the standard all across the United States and in foreign countries as well. They’re building out team approaches to investigating child abuse and exploitation. And it all boils down to it doesn’t take away each individual discipline; so, that’s law enforcement, that’s Child Protective Services, it’s the prosecution, and that’s the forensic interviewer, the child at the center, the medical staff, the child advocate, and mental health. They are all part of the team and each of them has their own role, but as they work to an investigation a review of the situation and the incident of the abuse, their collaborative work is so, much better than their individual work.

Sandie: [00:03:52] That’s really powerful that collaborative work is more beneficial than all of our little individual. So, when we come together it sort of amplifies the team experience.

Joe: [00:04:07] Oh, absolutely. And it reduces trauma to the victim, it provides- well I don’t want to say one-time interview of the victim because they’re still going to be multiple interviews of the victim, but it certainly reduces the number of times that the victim has to tell their story.

Sandie: [00:04:23] Okay. So, what’s the difference between an MDT for child abuse and an MDT for child sex trafficking?

Joe: [00:04:32] Well I think the biggest difference is the members. It’s still the same type of process where people can come together, they can talk about the situation that they’re familiar with, they’re part of their investigation, the things that they need other people to help them with. But we’ve expanded out a team in the trafficking investigation to include people that you may not have even thought of before. We’re going to add foster families to the mix. And when we talk about teams, it doesn’t mean that teams all sit in the same room and talk about everything in front of everyone. So, I don’t want anybody to think that when the team comes together that this is all inclusive, everybody gets to know what everybody else is doing kind of thing. There are times when the foster family of a trafficking victim, it’s possible that the victim, the survivor, does not have a foster family, they have a regular family but many times they do have a Foster family. So, the school should be involved, the non-government organizations where they are providing services to the survivor. So, this person who has been trafficked is now receiving extra services, sometimes it’s housing, sometimes it’s mental health, sometimes it is support, sometimes it’s medical, all of those things come together, and non-government organ...

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Rena Shahandeh and Anh Truong to shed light on the most infrequently discussed topic in human trafficking, labor trafficking. Rena is the Deputy City Attorney assigned to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office’s Anti-Sex and Labor Trafficking Program.  She has over 20 years with the City Attorney’s Office. Anh is the Director of the Anti-Sex and Labor Trafficking Program within the L.A. City Attorney’s Office.

Rena Shahandeh

Rena Shahandeh (SHA-HAN-DAY) is the Deputy City Attorney assigned to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office’s Anti-Sex and Labor Trafficking Program.  She has over 20 years with the City Attorney’s Office.  As a trial deputy in the criminal branch, she handled domestic violence, assaults with a deadly weapon, battery, and driving under the influence cases.  She quickly worked her way up to the specialized gang unit, where she was assigned to the Northeast and Pacific Community Law Enforcement and Recovery (CLEAR) units.  There, she prosecuted the City’s most hardcore gangs, including MS, 18th Street, Avenues, Venice Shoreline Crips, among others.  Most recently, Rena was in the civil branch defending complex, high-profile LAPD civil rights cases in both state and federal court.  Notably, she defended LAPD from a civil lawsuit filed by the traffickers in the notorious Guatemalan sex trafficking case involving juvenile girls.  Rena has also defended against class actions, including one involving 5,700 plaintiffs.  She has served as lead trial counsel in over 60 jury trials. Rena was previously awarded the Wiley W. Manuel Certificate for her pro bono legal work for Bet Tzedek on a home equity fraud class action.  She was also recently appointed to the Judicial Appointments Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association for a 3-year term. Rena graduated from UCLA School of Law and earned her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley with honors and high distinction in philosophy.

Anh Truong

Anh Truong is the Director of the Anti-Sex and Labor Trafficking Program within the LA City Attorney’s Office.  He previously served as the Assistant Supervisor of the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program, focusing on civil enforcement actions to rid problem properties of narcotics, gangs, and vice activity.  As trial and appellate counsel, Anh obtained a series of favorable published decisions, especially with respect to medical marijuana.  He is a recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s 2017 Sherwood Prize for Combating Hate for his work on the San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, a white supremacist gang.  With respect to human trafficking, Anh is currently chair of the Labor Trafficking Subcommittee of the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, and he previously served on the LA Metro Taskforce on Human Trafficking.  He drafted legislation to expand civil abatement laws to address human trafficking (AB2212; Pen. Code, § 11225).  He has also filed civil abatement actions against motels that have served as bases for human trafficking, narcotics, and other illegal activities.  Prior to joining the City Attorney’s Office, Anh was with Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP, focusing on securities, business, and entertainment litigation.  While in law school, Anh consulted for the Appointed Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission as well as the Pasadena Charter Reform Taskforce on recommended changes to their respective city charters.  Anh was a former Los Angeles Coro Fellow, and previously served as City Attorney James K. Hahn’s Special Assistant.   Anh graduated from U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award in Complex Civil Litigation.  He graduated from Occidental College with honors in Public Policy.

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Transcript

Dave: [00:00:01] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 187, Why is Labor Trafficking so Hard to Find?

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: [00:00:35] 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, and Sandie we have an exciting pair of guests with us today.

Sandie: [00:00:49] Yes, we do, two Los Angeles City Attorneys.

Dave: [00:00:54] I am glad to welcome to the show Rena Shahandeh. She is the deputy city attorney assigned to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office anti-sex and labor trafficking program. She has over 20 years with the city attorney’s office. She has prosecuted the city’s most hardcore gangs including M.S., 18th Street, Avenues, Venice Shoreline Crips, among others. Most recently, Rena was in the civil branch defending complex high-profile LAPD civil rights cases in both state and federal court. Notably, she defended LAPD from a civil lawsuit filed by the traffickers in the notorious Guatemalan sex trafficking case involving juvenile girls. I’m also, pleased to welcome Anh Truong to the show. He is the director of the anti-sex and labor trafficking program within the L.A. city attorney’s office. He is the recipient of the Anti-Defamation leaks 2017 Sherwood prize combating hate for his work on the San Fernando Valley pecker Woods, a white supremacist gang. Anh is currently c...