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hello and welcome to an introduction to human trafficking for community members this webinar was created by the human trafficking initiatives of metropolitan Family Services if you have any questions or comments please feel free to email us at trafficking at metro family org or give us a call at three one two nine eight six forty 200 in this webinar we will be discussing the following what is human trafficking indicators of human trafficking remedies for survivors and how the community can help in the fight against human trafficking first and foremost what is human trafficking human trafficking is modern-day slavery is the exploitation of a person for the purpose of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force fraud or coercion here we can see multiple examples of how force fraud and coercion can be used in trafficking first we have force this is the use of actual physical force or restraint a trafficker may use linguistic social or physical isolation may use physical assault or battery against the victim or even go as far as sexual assault fraud pertains to lies or misrepresentations to trick or defraud the victim this can be through promises of marriage of love or support promises of certain working conditions or pay or benefits associated with that work it could be through debt bondage or confiscation of identification documents lastly we have coercion and these are threats of harm or threats to abuse the legal process we see this in threats of deportation or threats of physical or violent harm to the victim themselves or possibly their co-workers or family or friends can be through threats of arrest or threats to report the victim to authorities also this could be through confiscation of identification or other documents let's talk a little bit about labor trafficking compelled labor or labor trafficking is defined as the recruitment harboring transportation provision or obtaining of a person through the use of force fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude peonage debt bondage or slavery let's take a minute to look at Anne's story here and was smuggled into the u.s. from Thailand she was promised legal immigration status and a job she was set up with a job at a restaurant but her smuggler did not obtain immigration papers for her anything and earned working at the restaurant went directly to her smuggler and was forced to work for our days with only a five-minute break per day to eat she and other employees were housed in the restaurant sharing one small room when she complained the manager hit her and told her he would have her deported if she complained again when she told the smuggler what had happened he said that if she tried to escape he would kill her parents back home and story is one of the common ways that worker exploitation evolved into a labor trafficking we have many indicators of trafficking beyond the smuggling the long and unusual work hours without much break her housing situation as well as the physical violence now let's discuss sex trafficking a sex act becomes a commercial sex act when anything of value is exchanged for that act the thing exchange does not need to be money it can be the promise to do or not to do something it can be an exchange for a favor or an exchange of goods or services it also does not need to come into the hands of the victim for example a case that happened in the United States involved parents who offered their car salesmen to have sex with their fourteen-year-old daughter instead of paying the car installment payments the sex act became a commercial sex act when the car installment payments were used in exchange for the sex a third person namely the child's parents benefited from the child sex act it's important to note when the victim of a sex trafficking is a minor under the age of 18 he or she does not need to show that force fraud or coercion thus even if a child agrees to engage in sex acts and a third person benefits from the act the child is still considered a victim moreover the definition of sex trafficking of minors includes any kind of pornography involving minors as well again under trafficking laws anyone under 18 cannot agree to sex acts or child pornography thus in the previous case even if the daughter agreed to have sex with the car salesman she would still be considered a victim because it happened when she was under 18 years of age another example in US versus Lewis the trafficking of all the girls in that case followed the same pattern defendant Shelby Lewis would approach with a desire to induce prostitution girls who were young uneducated and socioeconomically marginalized some were homeless or Runaways defendant invited each victim to live with him to have sex with him and instructed them how to work as prostitutes as they were all under 18 they were all considered trafficking victims both federal and Illinois laws provide safe harbor for anyone under the age of 18 who is providing commercial sex acts what does this mean that means that they will not be arrested or charged with solicitation or prostitution and they are to be considered a trafficking survivor and referred to appropriate services so who can be a victim it's anyone victims can be US citizens or non-citizens men or women adults or children strangers friends family members your neighbors they can come from various socio-economic background the same can be said for traffickers as well it can be US citizens or non-citizens men are women adults or children strangers friends family members neighbors may or may not be members of the same ethnic origin or nationality as their victims and again they can come from various socioeconomic backgrounds now it's important to note there is a difference between smuggling and human trafficking smuggling is considered a crime against the state and involves movement namely the transportation of foreign citizens into the United States with the deliberate evasion of u.s. immigration laws trafficking however is considered a crime against persons not the state as defined under US and Illinois laws it also involves exploitation thus it may happen to both citizens and non-citizens and does not require movement many victims were and are born in and raised in Illinois and trafficked in Illinois however smuggling can evolve to trafficking just like Anne's story in the previous slide the fact of being smuggled is used by traffickers against victims like Ann to keep them in their trafficking situation but smuggling does not negate their status as trafficking victims nor their ability to seek legal or immigration relief to escape the trafficking situation another case that occurred in 2005 involved the initial smuggling of workers from Peru once they arrived in the United States instead of letting the workers go the smugglers forced the workers to stay in the smugglers home and to work for them they were supposed to work until they supposedly paid off the smuggling debt they owed to the smugglers who are now traffickers the debts ranged from 6 to 13,000 the traffickers confiscated the victims passports all of the workers pay and threatened them with reporting to authorities in case they tried to escape during the rate of three houses which the traffickers owned the authorities found 69 Peruvians living in squalid conditions 13 of them were minors that said trafficking victims who are foreign nationals are not always undocumented or do not always come in to the United States using false documents many enter the United States with valid visas and end up in situations of flavory there have been trafficking victims who have come to the United States on a k1 or fiancee visa on temporary worker visas such as the h-1b or h-2b visas on student or exchange program visas such as the j1 or f1 visas and others like the religious worker visas international organization workers Gafisa and the link in the case of David versus signal international workers from India were recruited under the H to be working visa process to work at signals shipyards in Mississippi and Texas the workers each paid the labor recruiters and a lawyer between ten and twenty thousand some paying even more in recruitment fees and other costs after recruiters promised good jobs green cards and permanent us residency for them and their families most sold property or plunged their families deeply into debt to pay the fees once they arrived in the United States they were abused and mistreated they were made to sleep in cramped heavily guarded quarters and were not allowed to leave the work premises they faced disparagement because of their nationality those who tried to complain or detained with threats of deportation this is just one of the many examples of how foreign nationals often do enter with valid visas and it ends up turning into a trafficking situation this map shows the various industries where trafficking has been found it is not representative of the actual geographic location where the trafficking has occurred the multitude of industries where trafficking has occurred can exist anywhere in the United States for instance in Illinois sex trafficking has been found in hotels residential brothels escort services and through the internet labor trafficking has occurred in domestic work factories massage parlors agriculture landscaping and others the list of industries is not exhaustive by any means it grows longer as more trafficking incidences are uncovered in other industries such as door-to-door or traveling sales crew and even health care now let's move on to human trafficking indicators trafficking is considered a hidden crime because it happens in both legitimate and illegitimate industries victims are often do not self-identify as victims the traffickers power and control is not always easy to discover but the methods power and control can manifest on a victim in various ways and the community can help detect it by looking closer the indicators of trafficking can be grouped into three general categories physical indicators the surrounding circumstances and the psychological indicators let's start with the physical indicators a trafficking victim may present as malnourished could have serious dental issues because they haven't seen a dentist in years may have bruises scars or signs of physical abuse or torture they may have a workplace injury potentially that has gone untreated from weeks months years it possibly could have chronic pain this shows that a primary objective of a trafficker is economic gain the victims are tools to make money and should keep working to make that money until they cannot due to disability or physical ailment that impedes the work for instance a nationwide trend is that gangs are changing their motives from drug trafficking to sex trafficking it's more lucrative because one victim can generate money every day as opposed to a one-time source of revenue like drugs another physical indicator maybe branding tattoos that show the name or symbol of their controller or trafficker besides names or symbols the trafficker may have forced certain words associated with their power and control such as loyalty or family on their victims now let's check the surrounding circumstances is there limited freedom or indications of limited freedom are there high security measures in the work or the living location is the individual not free to come and go as they please is there a lack of control victims may have few or no personal possessions they may not have any control over their own money their records or bank accounts they may or very large debt and are continually unable to pay it off they may not be in control of their own identification documents or know where they are they may be unable to speak for themselves having someone else always speaking on their behalf this could be because of the trafficker would state that the victim may be too young to express themselves do not speak the language or are not able to express themselves adequately let's look at the work conditions if the individuals under 18 in providing commercial sex acts in the commercial sex industry if they have a pimp or a manager if they're working excessively long hours or unusual hours or not allowed breaks even to use the restroom or suffer under unusual restrictions at work perhaps they were recruited via false promises regarding the nature and conditions of the work they are performing and lastly maybe their unpaid or paid very little or paid only through tips lastly let's look at psychological or mental indicators of trafficking victims a victim may be experiencing anxiety hopelessness sweetnesses exhaustion depression or the intense fear of being alone these indicators may show that a victim does not have sufficient rest days or they're working very long hours these may also reflect their constant fear due to threats of the trafficker that the victim will be deported or will be reported to authorities hence they may have a significant fear of authorities they may avoid eye contact when an image or an individual and authority is speaking with them they may be disoriented they don't know where they are the time of day or what day it is some trafficking victims are moved around from state to state not staying in one place helps erase the traffickers tracks so victims often do not know where they are their stories might change victims may be made to memorize a story and sometimes to change their name to conceal the trafficking now let's practice a bit in the slide what are the indicators of labor trafficking in this scenario as you can see in the beginning there's some form of confiscation of a passport or some identification document by the employer next we see the number of beds in the room reflecting a substandard housing condition for the worker to live in in the middle we see the worker is made to work long hours and even in inclement weather causing him to fall ill lastly we see possibly some form of threat of deportation or reporting to authorities with that identification document being waved in this face furthermore he's unable to take sufficient rest despite being sick he's forced to go back to work any of these indicators on its own may not be enough to show a trafficking situation but it may be reflective of a case of labour exploitation however lumping all the indicators together there are enough indicators to warrant a further review of the work situation and may yield a case of labor trafficking here's another example a case from some years ago that happened in a New York State Fair some workers from Mexico were brought on h-2b visas that's temporary worker visas to help sell food at the fair they worked 16 to 18 hour days for two weeks and on the twelfth day worked for 24 hours they were promised $10 an hour but paid only one they begged for food from people they were made to share beds infested with bedbugs and the workers eventually got super sick but were still forced to work and serve the food the employer allowed one worker eventually to go to the health center only after the bites were all over the workers hands and feet rendering him incapable to do the work event the workers were connected to a Labour nonprofit group who helped report a case of stolen wages to the Department of Labor's wage and hour division the Department of Labour found that because of all of the circumstances it was not just an wage issue but actually trafficking how about this scenario what indicators do you see here from the first initial images you see that this starts out as a romantic relationship but quickly escalates into physical and possibly emotional or mental abuse later in the series you see he is forcing her into a car taking money in exchange for what we can assume is a commercial sex act with another man there is fraud on this man's part his acts are promises of love were meant to conceal his true intent the physical assault was a way to ensure power and control the second-to-last panel shows the woman bruised and tired and in strat they're in distress one more in the scenario what indicators show that this may also be a case of trafficking look at where the woman sleeps she's in a garage without a proper bed look at how much work she has to do around the house but not o
ly that she is forced to scrub the floor with a toothbrush you can also see her employer yelling at her over a spot the employers psychological abuse is a use of her privilege in a form of power and control over her domestic worker many trafficking cases involve domestic servitude with scenarios similar to this exact scene the worker may be controlled through linguistic isolation where he or she is unable to communicate with others because he or she speaks a foreign language control through physical isolation may also occur where a workers movements are strictly controlled or monitored through the use of a tracking device or cameras in the household or is prohibited from going anywhere mingling with others or making any friends the domestic worker is also paid very little or almost nothing is not provided sufficient time to rest or is forced to work long hours a day everyday there may be verbal abuse physical abuse or sometimes sexual abuse as well this is a map from the National Human Trafficking Resource Center showing the hotspots for calls to the trafficking hotline the trafficking hotline was established in 2007 the darker areas show where more calls were received compared to other places throughout the country in 2017 there were 632 calls in Illinois made to the hotline 193 cases of trafficking as well from 2007 to 2017 there were four thousand three hundred and sixty-eight calls in Illinois made to the hotline in those years over 1500 victims exhibited high indicators of trafficking while there were nearly 1300 that indicated moderate indicators the hotline relies greatly on concerned citizens the number one resource of tips were community members or as some call it Good Samaritans the second source of the most tips are the trafficking victims themselves other sources though include family members victims of other crimes or nonprofit staff the hotline is a great resource because of its accessibility 24/7 the ability to provide free linguistic services and it is confidential they have a directory of services for every state in the United States the hotline will help you assess whether you have encountered a potential survivor of human trafficking identify local community resources to help survivors as well as coordinate with those local service agencies to help protect and serve survivors so they will begin the process of restoring their lives lastly there are remedies available to survivors one remedy may be to vacate or expunge criminal records of prostitution and other crimes forced to commit during their trafficking prostitution convictions are eligible at any time after an entry of a verdict or a finding of guilty so that means either immediately at that entry of a verdict or it could be years later as long as there's due diligence again there is a reminder though that minors should not be charged or prosecuted for prostitution criminal records may be eligible for immediate sealing upon completion of his or her sentence if the underlying offense was a direct result of trafficking another remedy available would be restitution or payment for harm caused from the trafficking the restitution could be for back pay or proper wages it could be payment for medical legal or psychological harm caused by the trafficking restitution could also be for other damages for example some traffickers take out loans in the name of the victim so that restitution would help pay back those loans as well as provide them some support after restitution for victims can come through criminal cases in federal or state court through civil cases so through the court system through labor agencies or commissions they also might be eligible for crime victim compensation as well furthermore there is immigration relief possibly available to survivors of human trafficking for example there may be a t visa eligibility for a survivor the t visa is strictly for survivors of human trafficking u visa which is for immigrant victims of crime may also be available to a victim trafficking may be one of those crimes or they could be a crime of sexual assault DV kidnapping fraud and foreign labor contracting etc it is a compass is a multitude of different crimes that an individual may qualify for are you lastly an individual may be eligible for immigration relief under vow or the Violence Against Women Act lastly there may be case management services available to those survivors case management services will help an individual connect to counseling if that is deemed necessary can help with applications for benefits possibly found housing etc depending on what the client is in need of in order to restore their lives as well as case management services may be able to have funds for those victims again depending on the situation that best serves the victim themselves here is a list of some of the services that are available in Illinois this is by no means an exhaustive list of the services provided throughout the state of Illinois but gives you an idea of some of these services in the legal field as well as comprehensive social services that may be available for victims and survivors and that concludes our webinar if you have any questions comments or need for technical assistance please feel free to reach out to us at trafficking at metro family org thank you you