In partnership with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), the Arizona State University Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (ASU STIR) developed a research plan to explore and analyze sex trafficking case files from 2010 to 2015. These files included police reports, records of interviews of alleged sex traffickers, interviews of alleged sex trafficking victims, and case-related information including evidence collected and case update notes by LVMPD staff. The purpose of the study was to explore the law enforcement work on sex trafficking in Las Vegas and to identify trends and patterns. The findings presented will be a one-year snapshot of sex trafficking cases developed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Vice & Sex Trafficking Investigations Section in 2014. One hundred and fifty-nine cases were analyzed for 2014, representing a total of 190 victims. Of the 190 victims, 67 (35.3%) were adult victims, and 123 (64.7%) were minors (under the age of 18). In the sex trafficking cases, 118 sex traffickers were identified. The sex traffickers were mostly males (n =103, 87.3%) with only 15 (12.7%) females. Patterns of recruitment and exploitation of both minor and adult victims will be discussed, as well as any differences in trafficking experiences of minors versus adults. Trafficker typology will also be discussed, as well as patterns in trafficker criminal histories and tactics.
Read MoreThis presentation will lay a foundational knowledge base defining the transgender umbrella, gender identity and gender expression. It will examine the myths and facts of being transgender and identify the increased risks that a transgender individual and community faces in our society. We will explore some state/federal laws and policies and identify strategies for advocacy and work as an ally.
Presentation Objectives:
· To define gender identity and gender expression
· To identify at least three increased risks to the transgender community
· To increase participant advocacy and ally skills
Read MoreLearn the results of a 4-year study that interviewed over 250 survivors of domestic sex trafficking. The study consisted of personal accounts combined with an extensive questionnaire on the physical and mental health needs of victims while being trafficked and then as survivors. Why was this missed in our healthcare system? Hear recommendations for how to identify and respond.
Read MoreThis presentation analyzes the experiences of a disabled sex worker and argues for an understanding of the experiences of sex work as a form of self-care. Sex work can function as a form of self-care by affirming one’s sense of self; by providing for basic necessities; by assisting one to realize their personal goals; by allowing one to work out trauma and providing access to community. Finally, sex work is a political act of resistance to capitalist modes of labor that can be exclusive. Additionally, this presentation examines the rarely theorized intersection of sex work and disability from the position of a disabled sex worker; an attempt to create space for an absent subject. This presentation will add to the growing body of scholarly first-person sex work narratives (Love 2013; Redwood 2013; JJ 2013; Johnson 1999; Frank 2002) and add more sex worker voices to the conversation about sex work.
Read MoreThe training will educate you on how human trafficking has impacted the Developmental Disabilities population. The speakers will share history and powerful stories of individuals who have experienced human trafficking. Attendees will have a better understanding of how to recognize signs and symptoms human trafficking and how prevalent it is with the DD population. There will be a discussion about how human trafficking is not only affecting the United States but other countries. The speakers will also cover Labor Trafficking and Organ Harvesting because the DD population is not exempt of this type of trafficking.
Read MoreEthiopian women who are sent to the Middle East to work as domestic workers and send money home find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. When families send their daughters they place a heavy burden of high expectations on them particularly because most of the rural families from where domestic workers are recruited are poor and often borrow money that is used to finance the long and tedious process of migration. In cases where families have borrowed and invested money, migrants are forced to pay the debt. On arrival in the Middle East, they become subjected to conditions of slavery, imprisonment, physical and psychological abuses. However, the gravity of their suffering at the hands of their masters is considered insignificant compared to the poverty at home.
This study focuses on a large number of women who returned home sooner than expected. Some women that returned without fulfilling their obligations have experienced rejection by families and communities and a number have committed suicide. This study examines the experiences of returnees through the intersectionality of cultural gender perspectives in Ethiopia (women’s low social status); the dynamics of globalizing Arab world cities where local traditions and practices of slavery may have become fossilized; and poverty of rural communities in Ethiopia, which often forces families to put their daughters in the hands of unscrupulous traffickers.
The objective is to commence a discussion among conference participants about how intersectional identities of gender, race and class shape the experiences of female domestic workers.