Trafficking Prevention Through an Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppressive Lens
Crystal Bennett, LMSW | September 22 | 3:15-4:15 pm
Topic: Conceptual | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
Although it is important to recognize that human trafficking can happen to anyone, it is necessary to have critical awareness about the intersections of racism, sexism, and systems of colonization which disproportionality increase the vulnerabilities for people of color. In a two-year review of all suspected human trafficking incidents across the United States, 94% of suspected sex trafficking victims were female with Black females accounting for 40% and Latinx females accounting for 24% (Rights4Girls, 2018). Furthermore, data shows 40% of women who were victims of sex trafficking identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native, despite representing only 10% of the general population (NCAI Policy Research Center, 2016). Oppression is the use of power to disempower, marginalize, and silence individuals who are often thought of as “others”, while continuing to uphold the power and privilege of those who oppress. The selling of Black and Indigenous women and children for sexual purposes has occurred for centuries and it’s time to call it out and dismantle the oppressive systems which continue to allow its manifestation. Attendees will learn more about how human trafficking connects to broader systems of structural oppression, explore how society’s values, ideas, and power relationships have normalized the violence experienced by people of color, and learn about our collective responsibility to eradicate and respond to human trafficking through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens.
Presentation Objectives:
· Evaluate the occurrence of trafficking through the lens of intersectionality
· Define anti-racism and anti-oppression
· Call out the structures of oppression and societal values that normalize violence against “others”
· Identify the individual and collective actions that can be used to apply an anti-racist, anti-oppression lens towards anti-human trafficking work