Ending Human Trafficking

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252 – What It Takes to Get Unstuck with Kathy McGibbon Givens Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Kathy McGibbon Givens discuss how to get “unstuck” in survivor aftercare. They consider the language we use, aftercare programs, and holistic approaches when serving survivors on their journey to become unstuck.

Kathy McGibbon Givens

Kathy McGibbon Givens is a wife, mother, author, and playwright who has overcome the dark world of sex-trafficking. Kathy’s goal is to raise awareness, fight for those who are being trafficked, and mentor those who have overcome it. She is now Co-Founder and Executive Director of Twelve 11 Partners and in 2021, she was appointed to be a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking.

Key Points

Kathy explains her use of “overcomer” as opposed to “survivor” as a term to denote how she herself overcame her past and is now thriving.
The cycle of toxicity in human trafficking is not easily broken and requires knowledge of the obstacles survivors face.
Survivors are crucial in the first step to becoming unstuck.
Successful mentor and support groups require survivor leaders input, as well as mentorship for the survivors and other mentors.

Resources

Kathy McGibbon Givens – Full Bio
Twelve 11 Partners
Ensure Justice 2022 Conference – March 4-5, 2022

Transcript

Dave Stachowiak 0:03
You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 252, What It Takes to Get Unstuck with Kathy McGibbon Givens.

Production Credits 0:10
Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave Stachowiak 0:31
Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandra Morgan 0:37
And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave Stachowiak 0:39
And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, we are always working together with partners and we of course are helping all of us in this work to get unstuck. Today’s guest is going to really help us to do that. I am so glad to welcome Kathy McGibbon Givens to the show. She is a wife, mother, author, and playwright who has overcome the dark world of sex trafficking. Kathy’s goal is to raise awareness, fight for those who are being trafficked, and mentor those who have overcome it. She is now Co-Founder and Executive Director of Twelve 11 Partners. And in 2021, she was appointed to be a member of the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking by presidential appointment. Kathy, we’re so glad to welcome you to Ending Human Trafficking.

Kathy McGibbon Givens 1:34
I’m so glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Sandra Morgan 1:38
Kathy, we haven’t got to be in the same room yet, but you were a speaker at Ensure Justice just a few months ago here at Vanguard. And there were rave reviews. Everyone felt so empowered by your workshop and your panel presentation during the plenary. So, thank you so much.

Kathy McGibbon Givens 2:01
That was a wonderful time. I thank you for having me. I keep thinking about that event. And that is definitely one of the highlights. Thank you so much for that platform.

Sandra Morgan 2:10
Well, and my husband attended your workshop. He’s a faithful attendee at Ensure Justice. And he’s a pastor. So he’s been hearing about how churches should respond for many years. And he loved hearing you use the term overcomer as opposed to victim or survivor. Can you tell us why that’s important and what it takes to be an overcomer?

Kathy McGibbon Givens 2:39
Absolutely. So, in my own journey of restoration, when I first came out of the life, and when I first understood what trafficking was, I still felt, I still took on a lot of that blame, I still felt like a victim. So it was very hard for me to even say that I was a survivor because I still felt that shame associated with that lifestyle. And so, the more I started sharing, and my healing journey continued, I said, ‘Okay, well, I’m a survivor,’ like I think that some of that stuff is in the past and I think that I’m growing. I was growing in my professional career; I was growing emotionally and spiritually. And, I thought that I had arrived, I’ve survived that thing, I beat it. Well, I was doing a presentation one year and I remember this moment so specifically. I kept saying, ‘I must have as a survivor of trafficking, and as a survivor of sexual exploitation’– I use that term throughout this whole presentation. And this gentleman came up to me and he said, ‘You know what, I loved everything about your presentation. But, you’re so resilient that I cannot associate you with your past, because I see you now.’ And he said the only reminder that I had was the fact that you kept using that term survivor. And once you said that, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s right. She, she did overcome trafficking.’ And so he went into this spiel, and he gave me this long, beautiful story about his wife overcoming cancer and we were both in tears. And I realized, it made me pause and realize, wow, I really overcame certain things in my life. I really overcame trafficking. And so for me, that term means that I defeated it. It’s a term that is associated with thriving. So, I’m thriving spiritually, emotionally, mentally. When victims come out of the life and then they survive the life, and then they start growing in their healing journey, I believe that we have overcome. I believe that we have all overcome the things that tried to defeat us. And so, that’s why that term–I’m really passionate about that term if you can’t tell. But, I’m really advocating that that term be used especially for individuals that have overcome trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Sandra Morgan 4:53
I loved it. And when I read on your website, under the part–just so people can find it–you have a word from the founder. And what you really did for me is you’ve framed the complexity of what it means to become an overcomer. We sometimes have, I don’t know, an instant idea of going from victim to survivor when someone comes out of human trafficking, and especially out of sex trafficking. But, you set this stage for building normalcy into your life. Nothing was normal. You were embedded in a life of trauma that affected every aspect of your life. So, you actually included a term, break the cycle of toxicity, and you talk about a trauma cycle. Can you explain what that means for us to better understand?

Kathy McGibbon Givens 6:03
Absolutely. And as you stated, once someone has come out of the life of trafficking, a victim, I think what people need to understand and what people need to hear is that the psychological chains are so much stronger than the physical chains, than the physical captivity. So, just because I escaped, just because an individual escaped their perpetrator or their trafficker, doesn’t mean that they’re free at that moment. There are certain things that you have to work it and re-learn. So for me, particularly, I had to re-learn how to engage in society again. I had to learn how to be an upright citizen again. It didn’t all come naturally, because everything was stripped away from me. My voice was taken from me. My identity was almost taken from me. So, everything was kind of wrapped up in that, that lifestyle. So, when I came out and was reintegrated, there are things that I had to do step-by-step to make sure that my healing journey progressed. Things like looking people in the eye. I had to learn that, that didn’t come naturally to me. Getting a job. It was so hard for me to get a job because I had the skills, but I couldn’t break again that ment...

251 – How to Build an Anti-Human Trafficking Policy for Your Faith-Based Organization May 31, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss policy and its significant role for faith-based organizations in combatting human trafficking. Dr. Morgan explains how policies maintain the expectations of staff and volunteers and protect the mission of the organization.

Key Notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan is writing a book, in collaboration with fellow authors and activists Kim Yim and Shayne Moore, on anti-human trafficking for church leaders that’s coming out Winter 21-22.
The 3P Paradigm has been expanded to 5 Ps: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Partnership, and Policy.
Policies are designed to serve leaders, staff, and the volunteers of an organization.
Organizational policies serve three goals:
1. Policies create process and develop patterns of ethical best practice.
1. Policies operationalize your value for human dignity.
2. Policies build in accountability.

Resources

Enhanced Collaborative Model: The 5 Ps – GCWJ
EHT Ep. 250 – How to Work with Law Enforcement, with Dr. Stephany Powell
Live2free – Student Mobilization Group
EHT Ep. 226 – Media Ethics: Where Do You Draw the Line?
EHT Ep. 233 – Bella Hounakey: A Fierce Survivor Advocate
Ensure Justice 2022 Conference – March 4-5, 2022

Transcript

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 251, How to Build an Anti-Human Trafficking Policy for your Faith-Based Organization.

Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:33] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie Morgan [00:00:38] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave Stachowiak [00:00:41] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, believe it or not, we have been going over 10 years now on the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. What a privilege it has been to work with you and share the microphone with you this whole time. I have learned so much and there’s so much more to learn. And in fact, you’re writing a book, aren’t you?

Sandie Morgan [00:01:08] I am. My friends and I decided we needed to put together a handbook for Christian leaders on ending human trafficking. And they convinced me that between the three of us, we could get it done. Because you know me, I’ve got six things going on at the Global Center for Women and Justice, and so I thought: ‘when I retire, I’ll write a book.’ But, we did it by collaboration–and you know how much I love collaboration. And it is now at the publisher–the manuscript–and they’ve shown us cover samples, and it’s really going to happen.

Dave Stachowiak [00:01:51] Wow. Cool. Well, today is going to be the first of probably a number of conversations that we’re going to have in the future on this topic. And of course, as you’d expect, the topic is going to be on ending human trafficking in a faith-based organization. And so today, maybe a bit of an introduction to this so that we can really support those who are in our listening community of beginning to think about this from a faith-based standpoint. And Sandie, as we talk about so often, with the importance of partnership in so many venues, law enforcement, like we talked about last time; government, as we often talk about on the show, having government leaders on; and of course, the faith-based community is such an important partner in the work we’re doing, aren’t they?

Sandie Morgan [00:02:37] Absolutely. Absolutely. And over the years, I love thinking about this, this is our our 10th anniversary. We need to have a party. Wait, I have to get my last vaccine first and then we can have a party. So we started out with just three P’s: Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution. Right. And then we added Partnership, and then we added Policy. And I want to talk about policy today with regard to our faith-based partners.

Dave Stachowiak [00:03:09] What’s the importance of looking at and talking about policy?

Sandie Morgan [00:03:16] Policies give us a way to operationalize our procedures. If you think about policies from a business perspective, you’ve got HR policies, accounting policies, codes of conduct, email policies, diversity and inclusion policies. And all of them are designed to maintain our expectations between each other, which that reduces friction, and protect the mission of the organization. So, anti-human trafficking policies are going to create process, develop patterns of ethical best practice that everybody in the organization agrees on. So many times, I feel a little frustrated when I listen to leaders, I’m not overusing the word pontificate about how valuable individual people are, but we need to be able to prove that we value human dignity. So this term operationalize, that’s a way for us to put down on paper that when these things happen, this is how we know that we have maintained human dignity–and it creates an instrument for accountability. If we all agree that confidentiality around survivors is a standard in our organization, when someone breaks that, we have a place to say, see, we all agreed on this and you signed this agreement. So, we’ve got to figure this out. So, it helps us develop accountability.

Dave Stachowiak [00:05:07] Who are policies for?

Sandie Morgan [00:05:10] Now, that’s a great question, because in the faith-based community we are, we have a pretty loose structures. We don’t have like a flowchart down to everybody in the organization. At Vanguard, we have a staff and faculty flowchart and I know where everybody fits, but that doesn’t happen in our faith-based community and our churches. So, we want policies, though, to be inclusive for leaders, for staff, and especially for volunteers. And this is probably the biggest gap: our volunteers don’t know what the standards are.

Dave Stachowiak [00:05:55] You mentioned the five P’s, and of course, as you also mentioned originally, this started with three P’s. But when we’re thinking about the lens of the five different P’s, what’s a good starting point on each of these areas?

Sandie Morgan [00:06:11] Well, you know, I’m from a non-tech generation, so for me, I imagined a binder. I discussed this with some of my colleagues and especially my students, and they’re like, no, we want to have a central drive where everybody can access this, but, bear with me and just imagine a binder with five sections in it.

Dave Stachowiak [00:06:35] Like a trapper keeper that I had when I was a kid going to school.

Sandie Morgan [00:06:39] Exactly.

Dave Stachowiak [00:06:39] With the different folders in it.

Sandie Morgan [00:06:42] And you’re going to have a divider for each of the five P’s: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution, Partnership, and Policy.

Dave Sta...

250 – How to Work with Law Enforcement, with Dr. Stephany Powell May 17, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dr. Stephany Powell discuss the role law enforcement plays in the fight against human trafficking. They consider the relationship between law enforcement and nonprofits and how to best support and serve victims. Dr. Powell and Dr. Morgan discuss the future of the anti-human trafficking movement and how it can evolve to better combat exploitation.

Dr. Stephany Powell

Dr. Stephany Powell retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a Sergeant in charge of a Vice unit. Dr. Stephany Powell’s unique insight into the world of sexual exploitation and trafficking gained through her thirty years with the Los Angeles Police Department has made Dr. Powell an unparalleled choice to lead Journey Out in 2013 (formerly known as the Mary Magdalene Project). Journey Out assists victims of human trafficking in finding their way out of violence and abuse, due to sexual exploitation or forced prostitution. In 2020, she joined the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) as the Director of Law Enforcement Training and Survivor Services. She is also the law enforcement human trafficking training consultant for Selah Way Foundation.

Key Points

Dr. Stephany Powell trains law enforcement officers on the ins and outs of human trafficking. She shares stories of times she missed signs of human trafficking and wishes she had known better. Now, she educates officers, so they can detect signs and help victims.
When law enforcement works with non-profits, victims can receive the well-rounded support that they need, which builds trust between survivors and non-profits.
According to a study done by ASU, out of all first responders, firefighters are the most likely to be the first point of contact of someone who is in captivity.
In order to combat demand for human trafficking, we must enforce consequences on those that are creating the demand and treating human begins as a commodity.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 250, How to Work With Law Enforcement, with Dr. Stephany Powell.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innervate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak

Sandie [00:00:36] and my name is Sandie Morgan,

Dave [00:00:39] and this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie today’s conversation I’m really looking forward to because we have with us an expert who’s going to really help us to discover the practical ways to work with law enforcement as we talk about, often on the show, the importance of partnerships across organizations, across agencies and, of course, law enforcement. Such a critical partner in all the work we are doing to end human trafficking. I’m so pleased to welcome to our show today. Dr. Stephany Powell. Stephany retired from the Los Angeles Police Department as a sergeant in charge of a Vice unit. Her unique insight into the world of sexual exploitation and trafficking, gained through her 30 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, made her an unparalleled choice to lead Journey Out in 2013, formerly known as the Mary Magdalene Project. Journey Out assists victims of human trafficking and finding their way out of violence and abuse due to sexual exploitation or forced prostitution. In 2020, she joined the National Center on Sexual Exploitation as the Director of Law Enforcement Training and Survivor Services. She is also the law enforcement human trafficking training consultant for the Selah Way Foundation. Dr. Powell, so glad to have you here on our show.

Stephany [00:02:06] Thank you so much. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Sandie [00:02:09] Well, I can hardly wait to dive into this conversation, and I know our listeners will benefit from your years of experience. We were doing a little pre-show recording talk, and during covid, we haven’t seen each other very much. And the last time that we were in person was literally at the human trafficking summit in the White House. So, I just say that because I want you all to know what a rock star, we have on our show today. So, Stephanie, let’s start talking about what are the keys to training your peers around the unique issues related to human trafficking and especially sexual exploitation. You’re like the guru of law enforcement training.

Stephany [00:03:04] You know, thank you so very much, and I think the key is when members of law enforcement can connect the dots, meaning that not only is it happening to the people they serve, but to perfectly understand that this could be their family member as well. So, giving them the human side of this, because usually when I’m doing a presentation with law enforcement and I start talking about the fact that this could be their daughter or their granddaughter or grandson or son, they are on the phone during the break either calling their daughter or son, and that’s the way in college or calling their wives and telling them all the ins and outs of what they’ve learned. And so, I think when there’s a relationship or they can identify personally, I believe that it gives them more of a push. The other aspect, I think, is when you’re working with law enforcement, there’s so much scrutiny, you know, especially now with the feeling that you know, some people really aren’t in support of them. And so, when you’re in fron...

249 – How to Include Survivors, with Amy Rahe May 03, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Amy Rahe, Freedom Fund Director of North America, discuss the global anti-slavery organization Freedom Fund and their role in anti-human trafficking. They speak on the importance of organizations being survivor-informed and what that looks like in practice.

Amy Rahe

Amy Rahe is a leading voice on the need for survivors to be included in more meaningful ways within the anti-slavery movement through avenues such as employment and leadership. She joined the Freedom Fund in 2020 as Director of North America, managing major partnerships and engagements, and is active as part of the global management team. Amy is a passionate advocate for sustained liberation pointing to the need for long-term support to survivors and working to dismantle the root causes that allow modern-day slavery to flourish. She describes herself as a storyteller, catalyst, and connection maker.

Key Points

The Freedom Fund is a global anti-slavery organization, that identifies and invests in the most impactful frontline organizations in areas with the highest prevalence of exploitation (both sex and labor trafficking).

The Freedom Fund invests in these organizations with funding from donors interested in directly supporting communities most impacted by modern slavery and with support in scaling these organizations and networking with one another to have an even deeper impact.

Being survivor-informed means being survivor-led. We need to make room for survivors in the fight against human trafficking.

A survivor may have many opportunities to better themselves; however, if we do not provide access, they are still going to be stuck in the same place.

Survivors are very much capable of leading and working in the anti-trafficking space, we just need to provide them access to the opportunities.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 249, How to Include Survivors with Amy Rahe

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak

Sandie [00:00:36] and my name is Sandie Morgan,

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, today, again, we have another friend and partner with us to help us to continue to get better at not only ending human trafficking but also serving those who are affected by it. I’m so glad to welcome to the show today. Amy Rahe. She is a leading voice on the need for survivors to be included in more meaningful ways within the antislavery movement through avenues such as employment and leadership. She joined the Freedom Fund in 2020 as director of North America, managing major partnerships and engagements and is an active part of the global management team. Amy is a passionate advocate for sustained liberation, pointing to the need for long-term support to survivors and working to dismantle the root causes that allow modern-day slavery to flourish. She describes herself as a storyteller, catalyst, and connection maker. Amy, we’re so glad to have you here on the show.

Amy [00:01:45] I’m so pleased to be here. Thank you so much for a warm introduction and welcome.

Sandie [00:01:50] So, Amy, I haven’t known you very long. I met you when you presented on a State Department webinar and you captured my heart when you really challenged people about providing scholarships for survivors. I’m at a university and this has been something I’ve struggled to do. But we have four recipients right now. And it’s just so empowering to hear other people talking about education as a transformation for survivors. So, I’m really just excited to learn more from you. And I think where I’d like to start is for us to hear a little bit about what Freedom Fund does.

Amy [00:02:45] Yeah, and that’s a wonderful place to start. Firstly, let me just say I’m so glad that we did get to connect after that webcast, that webinar. And I will say that a lot of people reached out after that comment about education because I think it’s such an important one. But I will digress from that moment and talk about the Freedom Fund. So, we’re a global anti-slavery organization. And what the Freedom Fund does is identify the most impactful frontline organizations and areas with the highest prevalence of slavery. And what we do is through identifying those frontline organizations that are having a high level of impact, we then invest in them and we invest in them with both funding and through support with scale be...

248 – Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking – Sex and Labor Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Melissa Gomez, Project Director of PACT, discuss many of the different facets of child trafficking. Melissa Gomez explains the goals and purpose of the organization PACT and their role in the fight against human trafficking. They explain the different aspects of labor trafficking and go over the red flags and signs of human trafficking.

Melissa Gomez Melissa Gomez has contributed 20 years of service to the anti-trafficking movement. Her international and local leadership has been instrumental in establishing multi-disciplinary coalitions and in coordinating comprehensive care to survivors of both labor and sex trafficking in Europe and the Central Valley, California. As the Chair of the Central Valley Freedom Coalition and Program Manager of Fresno’s Central Valley Against Human Trafficking, she contracted with partnering agencies to provide services throughout six central valley counties. Additionally, she acted as regional liaison to facilitate 24-7 trauma response in partnership with Polaris’ National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Melissa is dedicated to the advancement and integration of diverse voices to pioneer systemic change and co-create pathways of empowerment. Ms. Gomez is currently the acting Director of the Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking Project for the Child and Family Policy Institute of California, in conjunction with the California Department of Social Services facilitating a statewide model of cross-coordination to strengthen child trafficking programs within child welfare agencies in California. The project serves to improve outcomes and services to children and youth who are impacted by sex and/or labor trafficking. Melissa resides in Marina on the Central Coast of California and is the proud mother of two amazing and creative boys.

Key Points

Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking (PACT), preventing and addressing child trafficking, was established in 2014, in relation to the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act.

PACT’s main goal is to address systemic issues concerning child welfare, the most effective strategy to fighting against these issues being collaboration.

PACT connects people, which connects resources to places they need to be to fight this battle.

There are forms of legal child labor; such as, a child 14 years old or older getting compensation for their work and working in an environment that is not harmful to their development. Any type of child labor that falls out of that definition is child exploitation and illegal.

Labor trafficking is still widely underreported and misunderstood.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, in 38% of cases involving trafficked minors, the minor was trafficked by a family member or foster family.

It’s very important for everyone in the community to know the signs of human trafficking and look for them.

Resources

What is PACT?

Child and Family Policy Institute of California

CSEC

EHT Ep. 73 – Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern Child Slave – A Conversation With Shyima Hall

HTIAM-14 Human Trafficking Identification Questionnaire

233 – Bella Hounakey: A Fierce Survivor Advocate

PACT’s Child Welfare Response to Child Labor Trafficking in California is a research brief and accompanying Child Labor Trafficking Online Toolkit, which highlights a case study of ten child welfare agencies participating in the Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking Project and their efforts to implement a comprehensive approach to child trafficking.

Child Labor Trafficking Desk Guide – Basic Awareness Guide for Child Welfare, Probation, and Partners.

Identifying and Responding to Child Labor Trafficking – Red Flags/Indicator Tool

California Service Provider Matrix

Covenant House HTIAM-14 Assessment – Validated Screening/Assessment Tool for Older Youth

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If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to subscribe or rate the podcast on iTunes by clicking here. Click here for FAQs about podcasts and how to subscribe.

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 248, Preventing and Addressing Child Trafficking – Sex and Labor.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, today we have a guest wit...

247 – Perspectives on Transformation in Labor Trafficking, with Ben Skinner Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Ben Skinner discuss the nonprofit Transparentem. Ben describes the role Transparentem plays in combating human trafficking and creating better opportunities for those being exploited. They discuss the standards that must be put in place to combat labor abuse in global supply chains.

Ben Skinner

Ben Skinner is the Founder & Principal of Transparentem, a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the well-being of workers and communities by exposing hard truths to those with the power to transform industries. Previously, as a journalist, he reported on diverse topics from five continents for Time, Newsweek International, Travel + Leisure, and others. His first book, A Crime So Monstrous, was awarded the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for nonfiction, as well as a citation from the Overseas Press Club in its book category for 2008. He was named an Adventurer of the Year 2008 by National Geographic Adventure.

Key Points

Transparentem adheres to the highest ethical standards of investigative journalism. They seek to document and expose hard truths while doing no harm in the process.
Transparentem investigates evidence of endemic problems that affect the health and welfare of a substantial number of workers and communities, including human trafficking and other forms of forced labor. Once documented, they bring their findings to the attention of companies with the leverage to address the problems, not only with their own supplier groups but also with the industry as a whole.
Holding companies accountable for their actions is very important but pressuring companies to cut ties with worksites where evidence of abuses are found too often leaves workers in worse places.
When signs of child labor or forced labor are found, Transparentem provides detailed reports to involved companies and engages with companies on remediation, providing recommendations on best practices to address these issues.
Many individuals that find themselves in an environment with forced labor were originally promised good jobs with fair pay. Transparentem works with companies in an effort to fix the jobs to be more in line with those that were promised to workers and to create good opportunities for those that are being exploited.

Resouces

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is episode number 247 Perspectives on Transformation in Labor Trafficking with Ben Skinner.

Production Credits [00:00:11] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:31] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak

Sandie [00:00:37] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking, Sandie. Today we have with us someone who is an expert voice on human trafficking. They are going to help us in so many ways with perspective. And I’m really excited about this conversation. I’m so pleased to welcome Ben Skinner to our show today. He is the founder and principal of Transparentem to a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the well-being of workers and communities by exposing hard truths to those in power to transform industries. Previously, as a journalist, he reported on diverse topics from five continents, four Time, Newsweek, International Travel and Leisure, and others. His first book, A Crime So Monstrous, was awarded the two thousand nine Dayton Literary Prize for nonfiction, as well as a citation from the Overseas Press Club in its book category. For 2008, he was named An Adventure of the Year in 2008 by National Geographic Adventure. Ben, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Ben [00:01:44] Thanks so much, Dave. Good to be with you and Sandie.

Sandie [00:01:46] All right. So, let’s dove in. I read a crime so monstrous a decade ago and then I pulled it out and read it again this year during January, National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. And even in your early work, you were focused on why things were happening. And so, thinking about that, I have this sense that being an investigative journalist made your approach to this a little different. Can you tell us what it means to you to be an investigative journalist?

Ben [00:02:27] Sure. So, the first two principles of journalism, ethical principles are seek the truth and tell it and do no harm in the process. And the code of Ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists has a long list of ethical principles which we here at Transparentem to seek to adhere to when we build our own ethical code around that. But for me personally, it was extraordinarily important when we’re talking about survivors when we’re talking about those that are currently suffering from slavery, forced labor, human trafficking, that that do no harm principle is put forward very strongly. Everything that I’ve done as a journalist and everything that we do as an organization, we go to great, great lengths to not only seek the truth and tell it, but to make sure that what we’re doing makes the lives better. For those that we are writing that we are writing about, that we’re reporting on, and at the very least doesn’t make their life any worse.

Sandie [00:03:35] So, Ben, how does your book, A Crime So Monstrous, fit your perspective now more than a decade later?

Ben [00:03:44] It’s a very good question. And first of all, I appreciate you picking it up again. I’ve been doing the same not only in anticipation of this but to touch base with myself from ten years ago and to see what’s changed. I think fundamentally, the definitions remain. Slaves are those forced to work, held through fraud, under threat of violence for no pay beyond existence. In our work today, we use the term slavery sparingly. We talk much more about forced labor. We talk about human trafficking. And that’s primarily because we seek to engage with...

246 – Why You Should Read The Car Thief Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and author Vicki Reed breakdown the fiction book The Car Thief: A Boy’s Perilous Journey Through the Juvenile Justice System. They discuss the plot of this story and how it reflects real-life situations; as well as, how this story is a great educational resource.

Vicki Reed

With a degree in Law Enforcement, a Master’s in Criminal Justice, and decades spent working in the child welfare and juvenile justice field, she is able to take readers behind the closed doors of a system the public seldom sees. She began her career as line staff in a juvenile detention center before moving to a job as a juvenile court probation officer. In her mid-twenties, she landed the position of director of a private youth-serving agency that operated a group home for status (runaways/truants) and public offender youth. While in this capacity, she obtained funding and housing to open a shelter facility for public offender boys who would otherwise have been placed in secure detention. Eventually, she moved into the Kentucky state government and helped develop a training curriculum for all of the state’s child welfare workers and community juvenile staff. A sought-after speaker, Vicki presented at numerous state and national conferences on juvenile justice and wrote a monthly article for the Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC), dealing with behavior management of difficult youth in school settings.

Key Points

Vicki Reed is the author of the book The Car Thief, a fiction story about a child going through the juvenile justice system.
This story follows the main character, a kid named Kelly, on his journey through foster homes, courtrooms, and dealing with trauma.
This book has become a resource to educate people on the various topics and themes throughout the story.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is episode number 246: Why You Should Read The Car Thief.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking, Sandie. Today we have a conversation with someone that’s a little different than we normally do. And yet I’m really excited for this conversation to discover more. Aren’t you?

Sandie [00:00:56] Oh, I can’t wait.

Dave [00:00:58] I am so glad to welcome Vicki Reed to our show. Vicki, after earning her bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and master’s degree in criminal justice, immersed herself in a successful, decades-long career in juvenile justice. She’s a sought-after speaker and is currently executive director of the Kentucky Juvenile Justice Initiative in Lexington, where she lives with her husband and son. And she’s also an author of a book. Vicki, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Vicki [00:01:29] Thank you so much. I’m really excited to be here and I love the good work that you all do.

Sandie [00:01:34] Well, Vicki, we met at a conference for kids, and I knew right away we were kindred spirits. And you sent me your book, A Car Thief, and I read it in one weekend. And as I was reading it and Dave, you probably have this feeling because you read so much. I kept thinking of people I wanted to read it to because it’s so clearly illustrated a trauma-informed or an uninformed approach to communicating with young people. So, my first question for you, Vicki, I mean, you’re an expert in juvenile justice. Why did you write a fiction book?

Vicki [00:02:18] Well, I didn’t start out to actually, I didn’t start out to write any book. It wasn’t one of those people that said, oh, I want to write a book someday. But I am a voracious reader. I love to read. And I wanted to read about juvenile justice. But when I looked, you know, I really couldn’t find much out there, especially when it came to fiction that things that were there were very much inaccurate. And if you’re in the system, I guess it’s like a doctor who was reading a book about medical stuff. And if you say they didn’t sterilize the instruments or something, you’d be grimacing. So anyway, so I had Toni Morrison, who you’ve probably heard of, a famous author, said that if there’s a book you want to read that’s not out there, write it yourself. So, I decided I would write a nice little nonfiction and explain how kids get in the system and who they are and how traumas involved in that and so forth. And it really wasn’t going well. And about three o’clock in the morning, one night when I was trying to work on it, when I couldn’t sleep, it morphed to fiction and I felt much better. I was taking this hypothetical kid all through the system and basically Kelly, the kid in the story, he took over and he wrote the book from there.

Sandie [00:03:30] So, OK, so let’s talk a little bit about Kelly and some of the other characters. But don’t tell the ending. We don’t want a spoiler in our podcast. We want people to get the book and read it themselves. So, tell us about Kelly.

Vicki [00:03:50] Well, he starts off. He’s 12 years old and he has been involved in you know, he lived in Wyoming. He’s had some trauma in his life. And I don’t know that I wanted to do that. Should I tell what the trauma is?

Sandie [00:04:04] Yeah. Why don’t you start off by telling what his trauma is.

Vicki [00:04:07] OK, well, I’ll start off by saying that the book actually starts in the mi...

245 – Health and Human Services OTIP Resources Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Katherine Chon, OTIP Director, discuss the Office on Trafficking in Persons and their recent activities. They consider how OTIP’s mission statement and goals are aligning with current projects. They also explain the importance of data collection and the exchange of information in the fight to end human trafficking.

Katherine Chon

Katherine Chon is the founding director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) and senior advisor on human trafficking at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). OTIP is part of the HHS Administration for Children and Families, responsible for developing strategies and implementing programs to prevent trafficking, increase victim identification and access to services, and strengthen the health and well-being of survivors. OTIP also collaborates with government and non-government partners to raise public awareness, identify research priorities, and inform policy recommendations to strengthen the Nation’s public health response to human trafficking. As the director, Katherine leads the office and determines certification and eligibility for survivors of human trafficking who may be eligible for refugee benefits and services.

She is the federal executive officer of the National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the U.S. As senior advisor, Katherine serves on multiple committees under the Senior Policy Operating Group of the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. She serves on other related federal inter-agency working groups on violence against women, child exploitation, and Native American affairs. Prior to her government service in 2012, Katherine was the co-founder and President of Polaris, establishing the global organization’s innovative programs to assist survivors of human trafficking, expand anti-trafficking policies, and fundamentally change the way local communities respond to modern slavery.
Katherine received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brown University, and a certificate in Executive Nonprofit Leadership from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Key Points

The Office on Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) fights against human trafficking in a unique way. They look at the issues impacting every aspect of human trafficking and attack many issues at the same time. They develop strategies and implement programs to prevent human trafficking, increase victim identification and access to services, and strengthen the health and well-being of survivors.
OTIP is creating a national human trafficking prevention framework and prevention action plan in order to connect efforts to combat human trafficking. They partnered with the CDC and other researchers to strengthen their prevention efforts.
OTIP has created a huge emphasis on data collection. They are working on creating uniform data standards with the potential for interoperability between government departments. Meaning they are in the process of creating systems that streamline information collection, decrease the burden for the public, increase data security and create opportunities for systems to work together. This also allows for more efficient collaboration efforts.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 245, Health and Human Services OTIP Resources.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:36] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking, Sandie. I’m so glad to be back with you today. We are here to feature a wonderful partner and an organization that just does tremendous work on providing resources for all of us in our efforts to end human trafficking. We’re so glad to welcome to the show today, Katherine Chan. She is the founding director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons known as OTIP and Senior Advisor on Human Trafficking at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. OTIP is part of the HHS Administration for Children and Families responsible for developing strategies and implementing programs to prevent trafficking, increase victim identification and access to services, and strengthen the health and well-being of survivors. OTIP also collaborates with government and non-government partners to raise public awareness, identify research priorities and inform policy recommendations to strengthen the nation’s public health response to human trafficking. As the director, Katherine leads the office and determines certification and eligibility of survivors of human trafficking who may be eligible for refugee benefits and services. Katherine, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Kathrine [00:01:58] Thank you for having me on. Good morning.

Sandie [00:02:01] I am so glad to have you back. You were an Ensure Justice conference keynote a few years ago and I’ve been in your office a few times when I’ve been out in Washington, D.C. and we always find common ground because of our collective passion for prevention. So, I’m excited to have you back today.

Kathrine [00:02:24] Thank you, Sandie. I think when I was at that Ensure Justice conference, the focus was on the intersection between human trafficking and substance use, which continues to be an issue impacting communities across the country. And the issue of human trafficking intersects with so many other issues that communities are facing. So, I’m glad to be on here and have this conversation with you and Dave.

Sandie [00:02:51] I so value what your office is doing. And the introduction that I gave Dave for you really focused ...

244 – The Role of Customs and Border Protection in Disrupting Supply Chain Forced Labor and Why it Matters to All of Us! Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner Cynthia Whittenburg examine the role U.S. Customs and Border Protection plays in combating Labor Trafficking. They discuss the authority the CBP has and what that looks like when it’s put into action. The impact of their actions are analyzed from a global perspective. Steps that can be taken to educate about the issues of labor trafficking and inform businesses about best practices are outlined.

Cynthia Whittenburg Cynthia Whittenburg was appointed Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner, Office of Trade, in 2016, charged with overseeing one of the most important aspects of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) complex mission: facilitating lawful trade while protecting our supply chain to support our nation’s economic growth and security. Under her leadership, CBP addresses many of the complex challenges in today’s trade environment including e-commerce, forced labor, unfair trade practices, and regulatory reform.

Ms. Whittenburg’s civil service career began with the U.S. Customs Service at the Port of New Orleans as an import specialist 32 years ago while serving in a parallel career as a commissioned U.S. Army Reservist.

Ms. Whittenburg is a graduate of Dillard University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Business and has earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Georgia Southern University. Additionally, she graduated from the Department of Homeland Security Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program in 2013 and the Senior Managers in Government course at Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2016.

Key Points

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a large role in the fight to end human trafficking that most people are unaware of. CBP has the authority to stop goods from coming into the U.S. that have been produced with forced labor.

The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act was passed in 2016 which gave CBP more authority to detain shipments coming into the U.S. that are made wholly or in part with forced labor.

When businesses use forced labor they are upsetting the economic competitiveness of American business, and negatively impacts other businesses’ abilities to compete in a fair and competitive manner.

There are many resources available to the public to see which companies and products have been in contact with forced labor. These websites and reports also give readers the ability to see what regions in the world are high in labor trafficking; in order to, avoid buying products from those areas that have the potential to be tainted with human trafficking.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 244: The Role of Customs and Border Protection in Disrupting Supply Chain Forced Labor, and Why it Matters to All of Us.

Production Credits [00:00:13] Produced by Innovate Learning, maximizing human potential.

Dave [00:00:34] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:40] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:43] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking, Sandie. I’m so glad for our conversation today. We are so pleased to have a leader that’s part of an organization that’s such an important partner in the work we are doing to end human trafficking. We’re so glad to welcome today Cynthia F. Whittenburg to the show. Cynthia was appointed Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Office of Trade in 2016, charged with overseeing one of the most important aspects of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) complex mission: facilitating lawful trade while protecting our supply chain to support our nation’s economic growth and security. Under her leadership, CBP addresses many of the complex challenges in today’s trade environment, including e-commerce, forced labor, unfair trade practices, and regulatory reform. Miss Wittenburg’s civil service began with the U.S. Customs Service at the Port of New Orlea...

243 – Ethical Story Telling in Prevention Feb 08, 2021

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Rachel Goble discuss the purpose and beliefs of the organization The Freedom Story. Prevention is at the forefront of every action The Freedom Story takes. They mainly operate in Thailand where they work to protect children and prevent vulnerable people from falling victim to human trafficking.

Rachel Goble

Rachel Goble grew up in an interconnected and multicultural world. Whether traveling to Central America with her family to survey land for the founding of a non-profit or trudging through the Sierra Nevadas as her parents sought to awaken Christians to our role as creation’s caretakers, Rachel learned early that the world’s peoples and problems are connected and that we must all help in overcoming them. Rachel co-founded The Freedom Story to prevent child trafficking in Northern Thailand through education, resources and mentorship. After developing close relationships with the children The Freedom Story serves, Rachel founded Ethical Storytelling, a community of non-profit practitioners and storytellers learning how to integrate a new standard of storytelling. Today, Rachel serves as the CEO of The Freedom Story and Executive Director of the Goble Family Foundation.

Key Points

With the support of others, Rachel Goble started the Sold Project, which was renamed The Freedom Story, in order to raise awareness for human trafficking and prevention efforts.

The story that is told about human trafficking is very powerful. If the story does not represent the true struggles of the victims of human trafficking, it can be very detrimental to anti-human trafficking efforts, as well as prevention and funding.

The Sold Project began with a documentary about the vulnerabilities to sex trafficking of children in Thailand.

Sadly, there is a common story among people who have been subjected to human trafficking and helped by an organization. They tell their story to help that organization the way they were helped. However, when that survivor begins on the path to healing, oftentimes they don’t want their story to be available on the internet anymore. They don’t want to be known for what happened to them.

The theory of change has created a standard that The Freedom Story organization uses to help track prevention efforts.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast, this is episode number 243, Ethical Storytelling in Prevention.

Production Credits [00:00:09] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking, Sandie. I’m so glad we get to have another conversation today about the importance of prevention, and I’m so glad to welcome to the show today Rachel Goble. Rachel grew up in an interconnected and multicultural world, whether traveling to Central America with her family to survey land for the founding of a nonprofit or trudging through the Sierra Nevada’s as her parents sought to awaken Christians to our role as creation’s caretakers, Rachel learned early that the world’s peoples and problems are connected and that we must all help in overcoming them. Rachel co-founded the Freedom Story to prevent child trafficking in northern Thailand through education, resources, and mentorship. After developing close relationships with the children, the Freedom Story serves, Rachael founded Ethical Storytelling, a community of nonprofit practitioners and storytellers learning how to integrate a new standard of storytelling. Today, Rachel serves as the CEO of the Freedom Story and executive director of the Global Family Foundation. Rachel, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Rachel [00:01:47] Thank you so much for having me.

Sandie [00:01:49] Rachel and I were kind of reminiscing about when we first met, and it’s been a very, very long time since we’ve seen each other. But I’ve watched you from afar, and I would love for our listeners to learn a little bit about how you started in this and the Sold Project and how it morphed into what you’re doing now.

Rachel [00:02:12] Sure, yes. I think the last time we saw each other was probably in 2007 when I was a student at Fuller Seminary in L.A., and I believe our paths crossed there at an anti-trafficking seminar. And so, when I was a student, it was the early 2000’s and I had just learned about human trafficking. And given that I had grown up so connected to the nonprofit world, I think, like many people, was surprised that this is happening in our world and wanted to do something about it and so was able to dedicate a lot of my studies to trafficking research. And that brought me their work in Los Angeles and through India, South Africa. And all along that journey, I kept hearing this narrative of the need of prevention and the lack of resources that were available for prevention work, whether that was financial resources or just staff capacity. And so, I came home from that trip with a really clear understanding that I wanted to raise awareness about the need for prevention and the anti-trafficking space, and then was able to meet a couple of other individuals, one of whom was a Thai national, and had a similar vision for his village. And so, we put our minds together and our hearts together and thus was born what was then the Sold Project and today has been rebranded to the freedom story.

Sandie [00:03:41] Wow. OK, so tell us then let’s jump right into our favo...