This presentation offers a comprehensive exploration of human trafficking through the lens of an ecosystem perspective, integrating thorough research, poignant case studies, and actionable solutions. By adopting a multi-dimensional approach, it seeks to provide a holistic strategy for combatting this pervasive issue. Central to this strategy is the implementation of a hub and spoke framework, strategically leveraging accurate data to unite diverse stakeholders in a concerted effort toward eradication. Key components of the presentation include a meticulous gap analysis to identify critical areas for intervention, as well as a PESTEL analysis to contextualize the socio-political landscape surrounding human trafficking. Moreover, it outlines a survivor-centered response within the hub and spoke framework, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing the needs and experiences of survivors in our collective efforts. The presentation elucidates the essential elements of successful coordination and collaboration among stakeholders, highlighting the significance of partnering and mutual support in achieving meaningful impact. By fostering a culture of collaboration and leveraging resources effectively, we can cultivate a unified front against human trafficking. Ultimately, this presentation advocates for a comprehensive and collaborative approach to tackling human trafficking, grounded in robust research, practical solutions, and a steadfast commitment to collective impact. It serves as a call to action for stakeholders across various sectors to unite in the fight against this grave violation of human rights.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Describe current gaps in the landscape hindering effective survivor identification and support

•  Explain the interconnected nature of areas of responsibility

•  Provide key tools for helping improve collective impact initiatives to serve survivors with excellence

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The presenter met “Jane Doe” when she was a 13-year-old victim of human trafficking. It took almost two years of investigation, interviewing suspects, and collecting evidence until law enforcement arrested 170 men and women including her biological mother. There were over 50,000 pages of social media evidence with thousands of chats, pictures, and videos documenting her abuse. At the center of all this evidence was one little girl who needed to be protected. One of the teams’ biggest concerns was keeping Jane Doe safe and her identity protected. The team used the pseudonym “Jane Doe” in every single filing with the Court. They redacted the evidence to make sure that her privacy was protected and that she was safe before the prosecution began. Once the discovery process began, the presenter filed almost 100 protective orders to keep her identity hidden from the public. This included editing out every piece of information that could be used to identify her. This presentation will help prosecutors, law enforcement, and other allied professionals prepare for a human trafficking case. It will provide tips and ideas on how to prepare voluminous digital evidence for court while protecting your victim. The presenter will discuss the things she learned, what she would do differently, and some of the real difficulties she experienced moving forward. She will also talk about her trauma and how it influenced the case as it went through the criminal justice system.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Describe the types of privileged information that exists and why it should be protected

•  Discuss the type of preparation that goes into an investigation/prosecution of a case this size

•  Discuss and explain what worked, what didn’t, and what was learned in hindsight

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Christian faith-based NGOs (CFBOs) are major players in caring for survivors, but public representation of female survivors can reinforce stigma and feelings of powerlessness among the women they aim to help. Interviews with CFBO representatives revealed perspectives attributing trafficking to cultural factors, parenting, and the Khmer Rouge legacy’s impact on families. However, these portrayals tend to be generalized rather than reflecting survivors’ individual experiences and neglect to address larger systemic inequities. Interviews with trafficking survivors were a sub-group of the Butterfly Longitudinal project. They found CFBO marketing, especially when identifying survivors, led to experiences of dishonor, lost agency over their stories, and increased societal stigma. Recommendations include CFBOs partnering with survivors on ethical representation, targeting messaging to local audiences to mobilize community-level change, and refraining from using rescue and slavery narratives. Faith-based NGOs have an opportunity and a responsibility to restore dignity and power to survivors in how their stories are shared.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Examine current practices in how CFBOs represent trafficking survivors in Cambodia

•  Discuss the impact of CFBO marketing on survivor experiences of stigma and agency

•  Provide recommendations for how faith-based NGOs can ethically portray survivors

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In the decades since global and national measurement has proven elusive, communities have grappled with the challenge of measuring prevalence with imperfect data. Estimates of the scope of the problem continue to vary, with evolving systems perpetually adapting to turnover, funding fluctuations, and societal stereotypes. Understanding statewide and regional contexts beyond prosecution and other system counts have been possible through the Colorado Projects’ 10-year longitudinal community-based participatory research (CBPR). Using theoretical public health frameworks, this session focuses upon the key findings from the Colorado Projects to provide contextualized knowledge about the nature of human trafficking and who is counted, who has access to systems, who is overrepresented, and who is missing. Inclusive CBPR methods empower survivors, underserved community members, practitioners, and activists with data that help to answer the research question of how trust, equity, and effectiveness are reflected in anti-trafficking responses. Focusing upon Colorado Project 2023 findings, this session will illustrate ways communities of color including immigrant and tribal communities, individuals who hold LGBTQ+ identities, and youth experiencing homelessness continue to be more vulnerable to exploitation and human trafficking in Colorado. The session will focus on the nature of trust, equity, and effectiveness within the anti-trafficking partnerships across Colorado that contribute to these inequities, notably the lack of critical representation in partnerships necessary to be more effective. This session will engage participants in the Colorado Project research recommendations focused on inclusion, training, partnership actions, and housing needed to sustain survivor-centered trauma-informed anti- trafficking responses across urban, rural, and frontier communities.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Provide a brief overview of the community-based participatory research key questions and methodologies of the longitudinal Colorado Project to Comprehensively Combat Human Trafficking

•  Present research findings for participants to gain insights on the nature of trust, equity, and effectiveness within the anti-trafficking partnerships across Colorado,

•  Describe the implications of the recommendations within the Colorado Project 2023 Action Plan focused on inclusion, training, partnership actions, and housing needed to sustain survivor-centered trauma-informed anti-trafficking responses

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The Region of Peel’s Anti-Human Sex Trafficking (AHST) Program is a unique, first of its kind program in Canada. With its three-pillar approach, the Peel AHST Program seeks to combat human trafficking through: 1) Prevention – aims to increase awareness and education of sex trafficking through advocacy and training initiatives, community engagement, and education/awareness events; 2) Intervention – aims to increase access to dedicated wrap-around services and supports for victims, survivors, and individuals at-risk through the integrated services hub; and 3) Exits/Housing – aims to increase access to dedicated, safe, and supportive housing for victims and survivors. The Peel AHST Survivor Remuneration Framework acknowledges that the voices of survivors and expertise of survivor leaders must be at the forefront of the anti-trafficking movement. In doing so, the framework advances an equitable and ethical approach to meaningfully engage with survivors by integrating a best practice model for remunerating those with lived experience based on the principles of being non-tokenistic, trauma informed, and preventing further harm. The framework provides guidelines based on identified best practices for compensating survivors of sex trafficking and maintains that organizations cannot expect survivors to offer their time and expertise pro bono. Ethical financial compensation is the only way anti-trafficking organizations can value and acquire vital survivor expertise. Increasing the ethical inclusion of survivor expertise in all aspects of programming, service delivery, policy development, and client pathways is critical to improving anti-trafficking efforts. At the same time, organizations must be cognizant of the ethical, equitable, and meaningful inclusion of survivors into organizational processes.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Promote recognition that an ethical and equitable approach which incorporates the expertise of survivor leaders must be at the forefront of the anti-trafficking movement

•  Discuss how to integrate a best practice model for remunerating those with lived experience based on the principles of being non-tokenistic, trauma informed, and preventing further harm

•  Explains the value and importance of meaningfully engaging with survivor leaders/ individuals with lived experience

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Today’s online world has led to an epidemic of victimization of children. Offenders can locate, groom, and victimize children through numerous apps. Now, with artificial intelligence (AI), offenders can create AI versions of children, manipulate photos of children, and create child sexual abuse material. They can use AI at scale to machine learn victim behavior and utilize that technology to groom at scale. This presentation will highlight current trends and dangers that artificial intelligence poses to victims and the threat to society we now face. It will cover how machine learning can mimic children’s social media accounts to use their own information against them. The presenter will go over the open web and how a simple photo at a school event can be used to exploit children. Attendees will better understand the how AI is employed by how offenders exploit children for online child exploitation and trafficking. They will also learn some safe tips to protect their own social media platforms.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Discuss what AI and machine learning is

•  Explain how offenders are using different technology to make it easier to groom victims

•  Explain how AI will be used by offenders in trafficking and child exploitation

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Maya Tamang, 44, was born into a low-income family in a rural area of Nepal and is the mother of one daughter. She was trafficked to India when she was eight years old. 500 minor Nepalese girls were rescued during the 1996 Indian government raid on all brothels in the nation. When she returned to Kathmandu, WOREC granted her two years of shelter, and then they assisted her in reintegrating with her family in her village. She was forced to move to a different place because of the stigma and discrimination against her HIV condition. Later, she married a man from a different caste. She suffered violence from her husband, and sadly, their marriage was not able to withstand it. Maya started Shakti Samuha, the first organization in the world, founded by human trafficking survivors together with fifteen other survivors. She is employed with the organization. She faces a number of intersectional challenges in her reintegration. In 2013, she was given the opportunity to take part in a participatory action research study conducted by University of Calgary PhD candidate, Rita Dhungel. The study provided her with a safe and judgment-free platform to reflect on her own intersectional oppression and raise her voice, which had been silenced, through the use of photovoice and media conferences. Maya Tamang, who is currently working as a reintegration officer with Shakti Samuha, will share her journey from oppression to liberation. She will also discuss how engaging in participatory action research gave her more self-assurance and empowered her to support campaigns that aim to prevent, protect, and prosecute human trafficking.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Help participants critically understand the challenges of trafficking survivors in reintegration

•  Share the power of trafficking survivors in their reintegration

•  Highlight how participatory action research provided Maya with the opportunity to raise her silenced voice and become involved in advocacy practice

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The Northern Ohio REACH Coalition rightly prides itself on helping victims grow to become survivors and then thrivers. We applaud these gains. Those of us with sexual convictions are never victims. However, we can be viewed as survivors of our prison journey even if that journey was due to our choices. This promotes community safety. Sexual offenders have the ability to learn how to thrive and make a difference in their communities. Everyone can feel safer and more productive when both survivors and those who have abused also thrive. This involves accepting the consequences of past behavior and advocating for humanity and recovery. The judgement of many people creates barriers. Many people believe that pedophilia is incurable and untreatable, but research and hard work allow many of us to thrive. Robert Longo lists seventeen areas where those of us with sexual convictions need to achieve for community safety, which will be examined in further detail in this presentation with the end goal of helping people thrive. In this session, the presenters will discuss the importance of involving mental health agencies to assist in confronting any denial or minimization. This also is important when family reunification takes place. A cooperative arrangement of individuals, family members, mental health, and law enforcement can work together to enhance community safety and a thriving population. The more we establish this sense of community, the better the opportunity to have restorative individuals all living together. The presentation will feature both discussion and slides to reinforce the concepts of healing.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Demonstrate the challenge of reentry and regaining trust

•  Describe how to challenge and refrain our assumptions about life

•  Demonstrate the importance of taking full responsibility for our past behaviors

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Law enforcement, service providers, and medical responders experience sustained exposure to child maltreatment, sexual assaults, and human trafficking. The resulting effects can be devastating and include substance abuse, increased rates of suicide, marital distress, depression and anxiety, and decreased physical wellness. This presentation will focus on learning more about vicarious trauma and gaining tools to assess our personal experience with vicarious trauma to improve our wellbeing. The presenter will differentiate between vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, burn out, moral suffering, and post-traumatic stress disorder to understand the impact high-stress work environments have on the wellbeing of those in the profession. Discussion regarding personal experiences, cultural changes within the workplace, and the normalization of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue will be a main priority during this session. The presenter will include various resilience strategies to assist attendees in self-care routines, which also ensures less turnover and better services provided to the victims they serve.

 

Presentation Objectives:

•  Assist attendees to recognize their own levels of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma by learning about them and the related effects of high-stress work

•  Discuss the need to normalize vicarious trauma in high stress work and access tools and resources to improve their personal and professional lives

•  Describe how to advocate for culture change in the workplace by discussing the importance of leadership buy-in and tools to make a difference

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