Liberty Line: 20th Anniversary of the TVPA, 179 Arrested in Operation Autumn Hope, US moves to ban imports tied to forced Uighur labor, and the Underutilization of the T Visa Program
A deep dive into the credibility of Human Trafficking Statistics, the Risks for women & children migrating from the Northern Triangle, & Why is Human trafficking on the rise in Rural America?
Good morning activists,
How’s everyone doing? As our last week’s newsletter indicated, I’m feeling very married right now! I returned from my honeymoon with my wonderful new hubby yesterday and am ready to get back to it with providing you all with fresh and quality content around the issues of sexual exploitation and human trafficking! This morning was not only the fall back to standard time but also the beginning of #NOPORNOVEMBER! For those of you that have followed this newsletter for a while, it’s no secret that I’m a lover of most content put out by Fight The New Drug and this #nopornovember movement, is no exception! Check out what Kanye West has to say about the correlation of sex trafficking and porn HERE.
To read what @fightthenewdrug has to say about this movement, check out the following article👉 13 Ways To Get Involved This #NoPornovember And Raise Awareness On Porn’s Harms
As always, thanks for being part of our growing community of activists and as a reminder, we love hearing from you! All feedback is welcome!😊 Enjoy the read!
Our “Why”:
The United Nations defines human trafficking as any form of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving a person by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, or deception, for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation.
600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually and, of these, 80% are women or girls and 50% are minors. Trafficking exploits individuals in some of the most heinous ways imaginable, raking in an estimated $150 billion for traffickers. This effects men, women, and children, both globally and domestically.
For information on trafficking in your state, click here
For trafficking statistics in your country, click here
Our desire is that this newsletter would build and bring together a community that’s fiery about this topic, informing individuals to action through the sharing of stories, initiatives, and people who are spearheading the counter-trafficking movement.
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In a letter written by the late Edmund Burke,
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
And without further delay,
This Week..
ACTIVIST OF THE WEEK:
John Richmond
John Richmond is a Founding Director of the Human Trafficking Institute. For more than a decade, he was a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and a founding member of the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. He has investigated and prosecuted numerous victim centered labor and sex trafficking cases throughout the United States. He worked to train new federal prosecutors and assisted in the management of the Criminal Section. Mr. Richmond also prosecuted cross burnings, police misconduct, and neo-Nazi hate crimes cases. Mr. Richmond’s work to combat human trafficking has earned numerous honors, including: being named one of the “Prosecutors of the Year” by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, receiving the David Allred Award for Exceptional Contributions to Civil Rights, twice earning the Department of Homeland Security’s Outstanding Investigative Accomplishments in a Human Trafficking Award, receiving Shared Hope International’s Pathbreaker Award for Innovations in Combating Human Trafficking, as well as twice receiving the Department of Justice’s Special Commendation Award. Mr. Richmond frequently serves as an expert on human trafficking, for the United Nation’s Working Group on Trafficking in Persons and at the European Union’s multilateral meetings on human trafficking. He has trained judges, prosecutors, federal agents, law enforcement officers, non-governmental organizations, and international delegations on human trafficking investigative and prosecutorial strategies. Mr. Richmond has taught Human Trafficking Law, Policy, and Litigation at Vanderbilt School of Law and he is a regular contributor to the Storyline blog. Prior to forming the Human Trafficking Institute and joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Richmond worked on human trafficking crimes as the Director of the International Justice Mission’s slavery work in India, where he built and led a professional team that worked with local authorities to rescued more than 1,400 human trafficking victims forced to work as slaves in South India. He also developed a replicable investigative model for victim rescue in accordance with Indian law. Mr. Richmond is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington and Wake Forest University School of Law, where he was Captain of the National Trial Team and a member of the Moot Court Board.
👉Check out an interview with him conducted by Dressember, HERE!
FOR YOUR EYES:
179 arrested in Ohio anti-human trafficking sting 'Operation Autumn Hope'
US moves to ban imports tied to forced Uighur labor in China’s Xinjiang region
FOR YOUR EARS:
Women from the Northern Triangle: Escaping Violence? (podcast)
Wayfair and Human Trafficking Statistics (podcast)
Human Trafficking is on the Rise in Rural America (podcast)
👉 If you enjoy staying informed about the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking movement, share to tell others about it:
FOR YOUR EYES:
Happy 20th Anniversary Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Check out this blog post by Polaris to read \the basics of the TVPA and of how the U.S. addresses human trafficking. A question I often ask others when discussing the topic of HT, what’s your vision?-- Where must we go in the next 20 years, to prevent, reduce and ultimately end sex and labor trafficking?
“October 28th marks 20 years since the first Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) was signed into law establishing the crime of human trafficking in the United States. Subsequent reauthorizations honed the law further in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2013, and 2017.”
👉To learn more about the TVPA, we recommend reading this article HERE!
179 arrested in Ohio anti-human trafficking sting 'Operation Autumn Hope': As stated in the article: As a result of the operation, 76 missing and exploited children cases were cleared, including a 14-year-old girl who was reported missing by the Lancaster Police Department and was found in Columbus within six hours, according to Yost’s office.
“According to the news release, the jointly led operation had four primary goals: rescuing human trafficking victims, recovering missing and exploited children, apprehending those looking to have sex with a minor and arresting those looking to buy sex with a minor.”
👉Click HERE to read more about Operation Autumn Hope!
US moves to ban imports tied to forced Uighur labor in China’s Xinjiang region: Repressive measures against the ethnic minority in China’s Xinjiang region have progressively worsened. The Chinese government has corralled more than 1 million Uighurs into internment camps, where they have been subjected to political indoctrination, forced sterilization, torture, and forced labor.
“Tragically, the products of the forced labor often end up here in American stores and homes,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “We must shine a light on the inhumane practice of forced labor, hold the perpetrators accountable and stop this exploitation. And we must send a clear message to Beijing: these abuses must end now.”
👉Check out The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region HERE!
Underutilization of the T Visa Program for Human Trafficking Victims: Learning From and Creating Partnerships With Advocacy Organizations: Check out this thesis in the Field of International Relations for the Degree of Master of Liberal Arts in Extension Studies from Harvard University written by Tracy Zeppi.
“Human Trafficking is a growing global issue, and it has been recognized as an area in need of focus by the United States government. In an effort to encourage victims who have immigration status concerns to come forward to both receive assistance and help in bringing their traffickers to justice, the T visa was created. To date, the program has failed to meet expected participation rates and therefore has not reached its full potential as a tool to combat trafficking.”
FOR YOUR EARS:
Women from the Northern Triangle: Escaping Violence?: (podcast, 30 minutes) This Wilson Center podcast episode features Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera who’s a Wilson Center Fellow and Associate Professor at George Mason University. Listen as she discusses the vulnerabilities and risks women and girls encounter when migrating from the Northern Triangle.
“Migration from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala - the Northern Triangle - poses many risks for women and girls migrating in search of a better life. Women embark on a journey north despite the risk of exploitation, human trafficking and gender-based violence, now exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reasons for migrating vary from country to country, but relate to how steep inequality and gang violence directly affect women. During this episode, Wilson Center fellow, Guadalupe Correa, talks to us about the misconception between human trafficking and human smuggling, the differences between gang violence and cartel organizations when it comes to gender-based violence, and explains how these comprehensive networks take advantage of women’s vulnerability as transit governments do not provide a comprehensive network of support and protection for them.”
Wayfair and Human Trafficking Statistics: (podcast, 57 minutes) Statistics around the issue of human trafficking can be sticky, controversial, and difficult to validate. This podcast breaks down the difficulties around this and sheds light on what is known.
“In another "mini" episode that accidentally turned mega, Mike tells Sarah about the Wayfair conspiracy theory and the sketchy statistical screenshots that have shown up in its wake. Digressions include "Inside Llewyn Davis," Miranda Priestley and (sigh) Jeffrey Epstein. This episode contains, we're sorry to say, detailed descriptions of child abuse.”
👉The hosts of this show recommend listening to this episode alongside their "Human Trafficking" episode from last year, which contains much more context for understanding this issue: click HERE to listen!
Human Trafficking is on the Rise in Rural America: (podcast, 33 minutes) It’s difficult to place a blanketed image of what human trafficking is, globally. What trafficking of persons looks like in Bangladesh or Spain is different from what you’ll find in the Netherlands or China. The nuances are even present and relevant from a city to a more rural community, as well. Listen as Dr. Sadulski dives in to this topic!
“Human trafficking can look a lot different than most people expect, especially in rural areas. In this podcast episode, AMU criminal justice professor Dr. Jarrod Sadulski talks to Dr. Christi Bartman about her work in rural Ohio to dispel myths and provide education, awareness, and resources about the reality of human trafficking. Learn about specific warning signs, what questions to ask, the type of resources human trafficking victims need, and much more.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed this issue of Liberty Line, a weekly newsletter dedicated to providing you with the most pertinent information surrounding the stories, initiatives, and people within the counter human trafficking and sexual exploitation movement. To learn more about the The Liberty Coalition, visit: www.thelibertycoalition.com