Ending Human Trafficking

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232 – Social Media and Finding the Truth about Human Trafficking Sep 07, 2020

Show notes

Ruthi Hanchett and Sandie Morgan discuss the role social media has played recently in spreading misinformation about human trafficking. They also go into detail about how the rise in children being online, due to COVID-19, is exposing them to a greater risk of coming into contact with predators. As mothers, both Sandie and Ruthi list actions parents can take to protect their children from becoming victims to predators.

Ruthi Hanchett

Ruthi Hanchett has been a leader in the field of children’s and women’s rights, human trafficking, and gender equality for over a decade. While working for World Vision International, she regularly represented the organization to global political leaders, the UN Human Rights Council, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Girls Education Initiative, and the NGO Advisory Council on Violence Against Children. One of her favorite responsibilities has been enabling children and youth around the globe to speak out for justice. Ruthi currently serves on the board of Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice, teaches as an adjunct professor, and coaches Vanguard’s Live2Free student-teams, which speak on human trafficking in local middle and high schools. Ruthi often lectures and speaks on issues related to human trafficking, as well as mentors survivors of human trafficking in her local community. Ruthi is a volunteer with the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, a wife, and mamma to two little girls.

Key Points

The majority of people who are exploited are exploited by someone they know.
Ruthi and Sandie discuss the role social media has taken in spreading false information about human trafficking.
There has been a rise in predators accessing children online since quarantine began.
There are steps a parent can take to protect their children when online.
It is our job as a community to protect and look out for the children in our lives

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is Episode 232: Social Media and Finding the Truth About Human Trafficking.

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, we have a friend back with us today who’s been on several times before, who’s going to help us to navigate what’s happening in social media right now. We’re so glad to welcome back Ruthi Hanchett. She is the Live2Free coach, adjunct professor, and also on the board of the Global Center for Women and Justice here at Vanguard University. And she’s a mom, too. Hello, Ruthi. We’re glad to have you back.

Ruthi [00:01:11] Hi. It’s good to be back. Thanks.

Sandie [00:01:14] We want to dive into the flurry of social media that has just I mean, my inbox is full. I have emails, my phone. I get texts, I get phone calls because people are anxious about some of the stories being circulated on social media. So, I thought it would be a really interesting conversation for us to talk about it. Partly from the perspective of our basis. Both of us have been working and anti-trafficking for a very long time, but also from the perspective. I’m a grandmother, you’re a mom, Dave’s a dad. So how do we find the truth in the midst of all of this? And you have to factor in why we might be seeing this as it relates to having been in this lockdown mode. Does that have anything to do with how the longevity of some of these stories is emerging? So, Ruthi, you wrote a blog for the Global Center for Women and Justice. The title is Hashtag Activism, Conspiracy Theories, and the Truth About Human Trafficking. People if you want to see that blog, you can go to gcwj.org and click on blog, or you can find it on our Facebook and our Instagram. So tell us what your experience has been in this season.

Ruthi [00:02:51] Yeah. You know, there’s not a lot going on. It’s a very challenging and anxious time, as you mentioned, Sandie because people have a lot of concerns and fears right now for very good reasons. And a lot of us are facing these big challenges of working from home or having to work outside the home and not feeling completely safe. Concerned about our kids. You know, I’m homeschooling my kids right now back to school from home. And there’s a lot of fear and concerns and also this sense of not being in control. And then when we add in this issue of human trafficking, it’s scary because it is an awful thing to happen to anyone. And then when we think about it possibly happening to someone we love and care about, that makes us anxious. It makes us fearful. And so, I think people are looking for ways to control the narrative, to have some sense of both understanding what is this issue, how does it happen and how do I keep myself and my loved ones safe. But what we’re seeing, unfortunately, I think right now is a lot of misinformation on the Internet. A lot of posts and videos and documentaries and claims that are linking both human trafficking and the way it happens to even larger issues that people are concerned about. And that’s leading to this spiral of concern and anxiousness that I think is really hurting both us as a community and a society. But even hurting the real victims of human trafficking, because it’s perpetuating myths that simply aren’t true or typical of the real experiences that most human trafficking victims experience.

Sandie [00:04:29] So let’s start with one of the first ones. I woke up to a text. I wake up pretty early and my friend knew how early it was and she was texting me. Have you heard Wayfair is selling children in cabinets? And I just thought, oh, my goodness. I got to look this up and find out where she’s getting this. So talk about that.

Ruthi [00:04:53] Yeah. I also had those sorts of texts from friends like, have you seen, do you know, is this true? And I appreciate that pe...

231 – The Intersection of Diversity and Human Trafficking Vulnerabilities Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Liliana Yanez, Esq, a managing Director of the Center for Legal Services at My Sisters’ Place. She is a lawyer with over 20 years of experience. Prior to working at MSP, Liliana taught in the immigration clinic at the City University School of Law. They discuss the detrimental effects of labeling people as other.

Liliana Yanez, Esq

Liliana Yanez, Esq is the Managing Director of the Center for Legal Services at My Sisters’ Place. A lawyer with over 20 years of experience. Prior to working at MSP, Liliana taught in the immigration clinic at the City University School of Law.

Key Points

When vulnerable people are labeled as other, it is much easier for them to be taken advantage of.
How do we begin to see people who differ from us in education, immigration status, or socioeconomic level not as other, but as a part of our community?
My Sisters’ Place is an organization with the goal to educate people about and help. people who have experienced 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 231, the Intersection of Diversity and Human Trafficking Vulnerabilities.

Production Credits [00:00:10] 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] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:39] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be your voice and make a difference in ending human trafficking and Sandie today I’m so glad for us to welcome to the show, Liliana Yanez. She is the managing director of the Center for Legal Services at My Sisters’ Place. She’s a lawyer with over 20 years of experience and prior to working at My Sisters’ Place, Liliana taught at the immigration clinic at the City University’s School of Law. Liliana, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show today.

Liliana [00:01:11] Thank you. Happy to be here.

Sandie [00:01:13] I met Liliana through the CEO of My Sisters’ Place, Karen Cheeks-Lomax, also an attorney. And Karen Cheeks-Lomax serves on the Public Private Partnership Advisory Council to end human trafficking with me. When we started talking about this, I wanted to know more about My Sisters’ Place, and Liliana one of the things I love about your web page is your tag line, providing hope, achieving justice, and changing lives. So, before we get into our conversation, would you give us kind of an overview of My Sisters’ Place?

Liliana [00:01:56] Yes, thank you. So, My Sisters’ Place is an organization that works, to serve survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking in many facets. The Center for Legal Services, of which I am the managing director, provides legal assistance in family law and immigration law to survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. We also have a domestic violence education and prevention department that targets young people in learning to talk about relationships. What’s a healthy relationship? What’s not a healthy relationship? And to identify signs of abuse. We have counseling services, supportive counseling services for both adults and children that survivors can access. We also have a human trafficking department again, where survivors of human trafficking can access services, can learn about their rights, can get support on leaving their situation, and turning to an empowered life. We also operate a shelter, a residential shelter for people who are fleeing, obviously emergency situations. Those are our departments. And again, we offer a holistic service model in helping all of our survivors and multifaceted ways.

Sandie [00:03:15] I love your Web site. If anybody wants to find it, it’s mspny.org and they’re on Facebook and Twitter as well. So, My Sisters’ Place, it just feels like a place I could go and feel safe. I really appreciate what you guys are doing and how long, I think it’s been around 40 years?

Liliana [00:03:36] Yes, it’s 40 years. It was a grassroots development, so to speak. You know, 40 years ago, domestic violence wasn’t acknowledged as such. And so, these women are founding mothers, saw that there was definitely a need and started organizing around this. And the name My Sisters’ Place, it comes from somebody wanting to access something as well as us wanting to keep somebody safe so that if you were telling somebody who and maybe there was somebody, an abuser present, he or she wouldn’t know what My Sisters’ Place was. It’s it was a was code for accessing a safe place for survivors.

Sandie [00:04:19] Wow. OK, let’s dive into our topic this morning. The intersection of diversity and human trafficking. Can you unpack that for us?

Liliana [00:04:30] Yes. And one of the things like language. I just mentioned the importance of language. I look at diversity and I think of something positive and something to be embraced. But it’s not always the case. And to me, the juxtaposition to diversity is different. And in highlighting on a difference, instead of highlighting on diversity, is where we can get into trouble and where society can get into trouble. And in my work, I see that when difference is highlighted, right, when we make somebody other, othering, different from us. Instead of highlighting the humanity and embracing the diversity, we other it. And that’s where I see a lot of the intersection in immigration law family law and that vulnerabilities are highlighted. Right, like it can be in skin color. It can be in race, can be in language. If you don’t speak English in the United States. What services you get or what you don’t get mostly. If you are poor, if you lack education, those things automatically become a place to exploit that difference.

Sandie [00:05:43] So for some of our listeners, they may not have heard this term of ot...

230 – Cal Walsh and Protecting our Children Aug 09, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Callahan Walsh, a child advocate for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. They discuss how COVID-19 has presented challenges and opportunities in the fight against child sexual exploitation and how we can make sure that kids are equipped with safe and smart decision making to prevent online exploitation.

Callahan Walsh

Callahan Walsh is a child advocate for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. He is the son of John and Revé Walsh, who co-founded NCMEC in 1984 after the kidnapping and murder of their first son, Adam. Following in his parent’s footsteps, Callahan has focused his energy on fighting crime, helping find missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, and preventing child victimization.

Key Points

John Shehan, NCMEC Vice President, shared, “In the first quarter of 2020, NCMEC became aware of predators openly discussing the pandemic as an opportunity to entice unsupervised children into producing sexually explicit material.”
Parents, educators, community leaders, and law enforcement have access to free online resources through NetSmartz that can help create a safer online community for kids.
Coming together as a community and using online safety programs can prevent the issues of missing and exploited children.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 230 – Callahan Walsh of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Protecting Our Children.

Production Credits [00:00:12] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

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

Sandie [00:00:39] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [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, I’m so glad for our guest today because he and his family have been such an important voice and important partners in the work that so many of us care so deeply about. And today I know we’re going to learn so much from him. I’m so pleased to welcome Callahan Walsh to the show today. He is a child advocate for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and co-host of In Pursuit with John Walsh on Investigation Discovery. He is the son of John and Reve Walsh, who co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1984 after the kidnapping and murder of their first son, Adam. Following his parents’ footsteps, Cal has focused his energy on fighting crime, helping find missing children, reducing child sexual exploitation, and preventing child victimization. Cal we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Cal [00:01:40] Thank you for having me. I really appreciate being here.

Sandie [00:01:43] So, Cal, I’ve been associated with a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for many years, worked with some greats that have been part of the team there. And when I read the latest statistics, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children published this note: that you have experienced a 90.46 percent increase in Cyber Tipline reports between January and June 2020 versus the same time period last year. And I have a quote from NCMEC Vice President, John Shehan, who said, “COVID-19, has presented challenges and opportunities in the fight against child sexual exploitation in the first quarter of 2020. NCMEC became aware of predators,” I have to pause here because I want people to listen, “became aware of predators openly discussing the pandemic as an opportunity to entice unsupervised children into producing sexually explicit material. At the same time, we experienced an explosion in reporting to our Cyber Tipline from both the public and electronic service providers, all while transitioning to a telework environment.” Cal, this is overwhelming. If I’m the parent of a child being schooled at home, what’s the first thing I need to do?

Cal [00:03:20] Well, it’s important for parents to understand some of the dangers that lurk online that their children face. Now the internet has created a life for the better in so many ways, but it has created new ways to harm children. And the fact that so many more kids and adults have increased screen time during this COVID epidemic has only increased the opportunities for those child predators to prey on victims, on these children. And so, it’s important for parents to understand that, it’s important for parents to understand these things and talk to their children about safe and smart decision making. As that quote that you just read from John Shehan. We did observe chatter on the darknet from these child predators, discussing how this is a great time to try to exploit children online, including sharing best practices. We have seen overall a 90 percent increase in the last few months, although in April alone there was over a 300 percent increase in reports to the Cyber Tipline of suspected child sexual exploitation and abuse. It went from last year’s numbers about a million reports during April, to over four million reports in April alone. And this from a few different factors. There were a few CSAM videos, child sexual abuse material videos that went viral, if you will, on some popular social media channels. Many people seeing those horrific images and videos, of course, want it to end. And they are well intended, but a bit misguided in the fact that they will often share that video or that post in hopes that it brings attention possibly to identify the child or the perpetrator. However, that is not the best course of action. We urge anybody who comes across this type of abuse online, and that’s anything from the child sexual abuse material to online enticement, grooming, sextortion, sex tourism to not share it, because any time you are sharing an image of that child, it’s re-exploiting that child and in fact, it is legal as well. But to report it, that is the right path to take to report it to the social media platform...

229 – Courageous Conversations Jul 26, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Dr. April Harris Akinloye, the former Chief Diversity Officer and Title IX Coordinator at Vanguard University. Together they take part in a Courageous Conversation, which is an initiative that was launched to bring the community together to have a safe place where they could discuss very uncomfortable topics that touched upon things that were happening throughout society and our country at large. They predominately discuss how to navigate representation, right, and resources as parents.

Dr. April Harris Akinloye

A diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional with 18+ years of experience leading teams into strategic analysis of practices, policies, and communication. Facilitates institutional culture change by bridging intercultural and intergenerational perspectives through critical analysis, organizational accountability, and collaboration. Delivers DEI initiatives that are practical, measurable, and manifest representation of all constituents. Known for exceptional communication skills that cultivate trust and influence across all roles and functions.

Key Points

The model of three Rs, representation, right, and resources can be used as a starting place to evaluate yourself and others.
Being an ally is speaking up for those without a voice. You are speaking through your actions: what you do, how you act, who you interact with, and who you bring alongside you in whatever environment you’re in.
Bettering our society when raising kids that are part of a structure where they enjoy a privilege, can start as basic as teaching them to treat others the way they want to be treated.
The more we begin to value each other in the different ways that we have expertise and resources, the more we can become inclusive and develop authentic give and take relationships.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast; this is episode number 229 – Courageous Conversations.

Production...

228 – Human Trafficking Institute Analyzes Federal Human Trafficking Criminal and Civil Prosecutions Jul 12, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Victor Boutros to examine the recent developments of this issue. Victor serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Human Trafficking Institute, which he helped to co-found in 2015. They review the trends found in the Institute’s 2019 Federal Human Trafficking Report.

Victor Boutros

Chief Executive Officer Victor serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Human Trafficking Institute, which he helped to co-found in 2015. Prior to his role at the Institute, he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and trained law enforcement from different parts of the world on how to investigate and prosecute human trafficking. He is co-author with Gary Haugen of The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (Oxford Press). In 2016, Victor and Gary received the Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Impacting World Order, awarded annually to the authors of one world-changing book based on originality, feasibility, and potential impact. Victor is a graduate of Baylor University, Harvard University, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago.

Key Points

The Human Trafficking Institute creates an annual report to provide policymakers, government leaders, and practitioners a common set of data on what human trafficking looks like at the federal level to better identify trends, make arguments, and inform policies.
In the 2019 report, there is an emphasis on the trend of a decrease in criminal prosecution and a significant increase in civil cases.
In order to solve the problem at its source, we need to consider ways to increase the risk and the cost for traffickers engaging in the crime.
As the anti-trafficking movement matures, it becomes increasingly important to have rigorous, clear data, which becomes the knowledge base to make wise policy and legal decisions.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 228 -Human Trafficking Institute Analyzes Federal Human Trafficking Criminal and Civil Prosecutions.

Production Credits [00:00:13] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

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

Sandie [00:00:39] My name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [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. Today, we have a return guest with someone who’s just has a tremendous amount of experience, is going to help us to really look at some of the recent developments, also to help us to really consider and look at the perspective from federal human trafficking prosecutions. I’m so glad to welcome back to the show, Victor Boutros. Victor serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Human Trafficking Institute, which he helped co-found in 2015. Prior to the role at the Institute, he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s human trafficking prosecution unit and trained law enforcement from different parts of the world on how to investigate and prosecute human trafficking. He is co-author with Gary Haugen of The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence from Oxford Press. In 2016, Victor and Gary received the Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Impacting World Order, awarded annually to the authors of one world-changing book based on originality, feasibility, and potential impact. Victor is a graduate of Baylor, Harvard University, Oxford, and the University of Chicago. Victor, we’re so glad to have you back.

Victor [00:01:59] Thank you. It’s a privilege to be with you all again.

Sandie [00:02:02] So, we’re going to dive right in because the latest version of the Human Trafficking Institute report came out not too long ago. And first of all, I love how you guys use graphics because you take concepts that are difficult for the non-legal person to understand and to see the changes in just a glimpse. So, thank you for using so many infographics. And if anybody wants to see this report, we’ll have a link in the show notes as well. So, let’s talk about the goal of the report and what makes it so unique this year.

Victor [00:02:42] Yeah. Thank you for saying that. We do spend a fair bit of time trying to think about how to visually present the information. We have an incredible graphic artist who has been just a huge help over the years in helping us to refine the visuals and make sure that they’re easy to consume for folks. So, I appreciate you saying that. In fact, one of the focuses of this year’s report was to do a little bit of a redesign structurally to make it more readable and digestible for the average reader to consume and understand the data really easily and simply. And so, in terms of the goal of the report, the report really came out of what we perceived as a gap in the trafficking space. We felt like there was a real need to have very clear data on what human trafficking looks like at the federal level here in the U.S. So, we wanted to be able to put out that data in order for policymakers, for government leaders, and for practitioners, one, to be able to see trend lines that are happening and identify those trends as they’re happening, but also to be able to make arguments based on data so that their policy arguments are now sort of grounded in a common set of data and that we’re kind of all reading from the same sheet of music. So, that was a big part of it to kind of fill that gap for reliable data. We want to be able to answer some key questions about what the federal government was doing to hold traffickers accountable, like how many cases were filed each year, what types of cases, what are the dominant business models that are being used, how long does it take for these cases to resolve, what are the highest performing districts, what are the lowest-performing districts, and how many traffickers are being convicted. So, it’s been an intense process. It really involves a year-long process of data collection and analysis by a small army of attorneys and law students, led by some of the key attorneys at the institute who really are the architects of this and put it all together. And so, the final product is hopefully a v...

227 – Another Form of Human Trafficking: Child and Forced Marriage Jun 28, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Diana Mao, President and Co-Founder of the Nomi Network. Diana is an abolitionist with a mission to eradicate human trafficking in her lifetime. Diana actively champions for change, and her visionary skillsets have urged the Nomi Network forward into enormous growth and success. They discuss the Nomi Network’s unique business strategy, the nature of child and forced marriages, and current challenges of the anti-trafficking movement.

Diana Mao

Diana Mao is an abolitionist with a mission to eradicate human trafficking in her lifetime. Diana actively champions for change, and her visionary skillsets have urged Nomi Network forward into enormous growth and success. She is a 2015 Presidential Leadership Scholar, New York Academy of Medicine Fellow, and co-chaired the Nexus Human Trafficking Modern Day Slavery Work Group from 2013-2019. She currently serves on the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking. Diana also writes for the Huffington Post, Reuters, and the United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. She received the 2018 Pioneer Award from Asian Americans for Equality and 2018 Recent Alumni Impact Award from New York University (NYU). Diana earned her Bachelor’s in Business Economics and Chinese from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has a Master’s in Public Administration, with a specialization in International Management from NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. While she lives in New York, Diana spends most of her time traveling to raise awareness and funds for Nomi Network, building partnerships with industries and leaders in private, public, and government arenas to fight human trafficking.

Key Points

Poverty, gender norms, and the caste system perpetuate child and forced marriages, especially in rural areas in India and Cambodia.
Although in India child marriage is illegal, there is a lack of implementation strategies throughout the nation that allows this form of human trafficking to continue at high rates.
While the anti-trafficking movement has matured greatly, especially considering this year is the twentieth anniversary of TVPA, there needs to be a shift in focus from surviving to thriving when reintegrating survivors of 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 227 – Another Form of Human Trafficking: Forced or Child Marriage.

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. And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. I was telling Sandie before our conversation today that I’m so glad that we get to welcome today’s guest to really help me to learn more about something I know very little about, which is forced or child marriage. And Sandie, I know today’s guest is going to really help us to explore this more so we can really understand more of the complexities of trafficking, but also how we can do better in our work. I’m so glad to welcome to the show today, Diana Mao. She is an abolitionist with a mission to eradicate human trafficking in her lifetime. Diana actively champions for change and her visionary skill sets to have urged Nomi Network forward into enormous growth and success. She is a 2015 presidential leadership scholar, New York Academy of Medicine fellow, and co-chair at the Nexus Human Trafficking Modern Day Slavery Workgroup from 2013 to 2019. She currently serves on the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to end human trafficking. Diana also writes for the Huffington Post, Reuters, and the United States Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. Diana, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Diana [00:01:57] Thank you so much. It’s great to be on your show today.

Sandie [00:02:00] And as you guys could tell from the introduction, I met Diana in Washington, D.C. at our very first Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council meeting this last January. So, we’re colleagues and now new friends. And I admire so much the work and the community that she’s built around her abolition work. So, tell us just a little bit, Diana, to start with- how did Nomi Network start out? Because you didn’t start as a social worker victim service provider. Tell us how it started.

Diana [00:02:38] Yeah, absolutely. Well, I started my journey in the world of ending human trafficking in 2007. And at the time, I didn’t know much about the issue. I was a graduate student at New York University, and I was charged with a summer fellowship research project for Microfinance Bank where I and two other colleagues traveled throughout Cambodia, about five provinces, and interviewed 300 Microfinance clients, most of whom lived below a dollar a day. It was there that I met a single father who lived near the Thai border and was also making at the time less than a dollar a day, had seven children. And after we had surveyed him, he, out of desperation, offered his youngest daughter to my male colleague in broken English. And at that moment, we were horrified, and I was heartbroken seeing that they had nothing. They were all sleeping on the floor and with a bowl of rice to eat a day. And so, coming back to the states, human trafficking became more on my radar, especially having spent time in t...

226 – Media Ethics: Where Do You Draw the Line? Jun 14, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak discuss new guidelines released by the U.S. Department of State for effective public awareness and outreach efforts for human trafficking. In order to have ethical practices to empower victims, we must be vigilant in how we frame our media messages. Sandie emphasizes three central ideas from the guidelines that are necessary for ethical public awareness and outreach.

Key Points

A central idea to take away from the new guidelines is to avoid conflated statistics and instead, use sources with reliable statistics that better demonstrate the bigger picture.
Another key idea is to frame our messaging in a thoughtful way that avoids promoting misconceptions about human trafficking.
Additionally, we must choose images that properly represent the story, are more in line with accurate statistics, and do not sensationalize survivors’ experiences.
Overall, we need to make sure that we understand what a victim-centered, trauma-informed message looks like. It’s going to be empowering and avoid re-traumatization.

Resources

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the ending human trafficking podcast. This is episode number 226 – Media Ethics: Where Do You Draw the Line?

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

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

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

Dave [00:00:37] 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 a conversation about media ethics and where we draw the line. And this is a conversation we’ve had many times in different contexts, of course, of the show. But there’s some new materials available that we wanted to dive in on.

Sandie [00:01:03] Yes, and I’m excited to bring to your attention a new guideline that has been released by our Department of State Office on Trafficking in Persons. First, though, I’d like to respond to some text messages, emails, and social media increase about how is the Global Center for Women and Justice doing during COVID-19? And to respond to that, I just want everyone to know we are working remotely. And Dave and I are recording this remotely. He’s in his stay at home secure place and I’m in mine. And the biggest thing that people can do is to continue to support the work. Our work continues even in COVID-19. We continue to work remotely. We’re still working with task forces and survivors who are pursuing their education now entirely online. So, if you wanted to do something, please give. And you can go to www.gcwj.org and hit the donate button. That’s how you can help us during COVID-19.

Dave [00:02:26] We have many people in our community that do support not only this show, but perhaps more importantly, support the work of the center and all the work you’ve done Sandie over the years through the Global Center for Women and Justice. So, thank you if you have been one of those supporters. And to reinforce what Sandie said, we are very blessed, we have a wonderful team, we have wonderful volunteers already. We’re not seeking more help in that way. You can certainly continue to give, though, or perhaps give for the first time if you have not before. That’ll continue to support our work and support Sandie’s work and the work of the show. So, here we are, Sandie, and we’re continually moving forward as we always are, regardless of what’s happening in the world, because this is such an important issue. And today, even more on how we can use, speaking of the podcast, how we can use media well in order to get the message out there.

Sandie [00:03:18] And we have such a great platform to share these guidelines. And it’s very interesting, guidelines are vetted documents when they’re produced by our government. And so, this wasn’t something that somebody put together overnight, it’s a five-page document. And I really want to emphasize it’s only five pages, which is pretty spectacular for a government guidelines document. Don’t you agree?

Dave [00:03:47] I do agree.

Sandie [00:03:48] And what is particularly unique about this is it is a survivor informed document. So, federal agencies worked on it together. The president’s interagency task force, along with the Survivor Advisory Council. So, it is not just somebody’s rules. These have been vetted and we have heard from survivors about how they want their story told.

Dave [00:04:20] One of the challenges I know Sandie when thinking about telling stories is the way to do that and also what not to do that and how to really think about the implications of telling a survivor story. And I know you have seen many examples of this done poorly or done without thought. And you’ve also seen some good examples of this. At a big picture level, what are some of the things that are concerning to you when you do see them out there in the world as first people sharing stories?

Sandie [00:04:52] Well, I share a lot of the angst that comes through in this document from the survivors. It’s their story to tell. So, make sure you have permission to tell their story. And sometimes in fundraising, there’s a chance that we might focus so much on a single story that we use it. And I’m emphasizing the word “use it” to raise the emotional response to the giving opportunity when we actually need to be thinking about not just our outputs, but what are our outcomes? How are we using our platform, our nonprofit, the funds that people give for the big picture? And that is what part of this document is about. So, I’m excited to have this conversation with you.

Dave [00:05:53] As you’ve reviewed this document and thought about the work that we do and how we utilize media. What comes up for you as central that you’d love to see organizations really lean in on and leaders and organizations who are helping to end human trafficking to be thinking about?

Sandie [00:06:13] Well, I think there are two segments. One is how we talk about statistics. And the other is how we talk about messaging. And when we look at statistics, I know people are very aware of how often I talk about statistics and how I avoid using conflated statistics. And so, when I teach the antihuman tr...

225 – What Jurors Want to Know Jun 01, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak interview Mary Chiappetta, a member of Soroptimist International Huntington Beach. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization providing women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Mary became passionate about raising sex trafficking awareness after serving as a juror on a criminal case in Orange County, California.

Mary Chiappetta

Mary Chiappetta is a member of Soroptimist International Huntington Beach. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization providing women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Mary chairs the Stop Human Trafficking committee for SIHB. She became passionate about raising sex trafficking awareness after serving as a juror on a criminal case in Orange County, California.

Key Points

Is a victim of human trafficking credible if he/she has previous crimes committed?
Within a prosecution, it is very important for the jury to understand the background and vocabulary within the specific sub-culture.
While social media must be used carefully, it often provides evidence to incriminate pimps.
Jury duty is often seen as a dreaded responsibility, however, Mary turned it into an opportunity to learn more about the issues and has become an advocate for victims as a result of her experience as a juror.

Resources

Soroptimist

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 225 – What Jurors Want to Know.

Production Credits [00:00:07] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:28] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:34] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:36] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Today, we have a special episode with the perspective from a juror. So, glad to welcome to the show today Mary Chiappetta. She is a member of Soroptimist International, Huntington Beach. Soroptimist International is a global volunteer organization providing women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment. Mary chairs the Stop Human Trafficking Committee for SIHB. She became passionate about raising sex trafficking awareness after serving as a juror on a criminal case here in Orange County, California. Mary, we’re so glad to welcome you to the show.

Mary [00:01:22] I’m delighted to be here. Thanks for having me.

Sandie [00:01:25] We’re glad to have, that’s for sure. I’ve often wondered how jurors feel when they’re sitting in a court at a human trafficking trial. And to get to talk to somebody and ask them those questions is really excited about this. We’ve never done a podcast like this before. Mary and I haven’t met until today and in recent emails, so I’m especially happy for this opportunity. So, welcome.

Mary [00:01:54] Thank you.

Sandie [00:01:55] So, we’re going to jump right in with what did you know about human trafficking before you went for jury duty?

Mary [00:02:05] Well, I’m embarrassed to say I knew almost nothing. I mean, when they said that it was going to be a human trafficking case, my mind went to a van with people being smuggled across the border. It went to a sweatshop where people were working for no money. I didn’t think of it as the sex trafficking part at all. I just had absolutely no idea. I was a little bit, you know, nervous because I knew whatever it was, it was not going to be something that I’ve ever been familiar with. So, that was my feeling on it. I just didn’t know anything, which the judge said was a good thing because we’re supposed to come in with a slate full of nothing and just learn as we go. So, I was in good shape.

Sandie [00:02:55] So, you start it out with a blank sheet of paper. That’s good. So, in the process of going through the jury selection, was there any part of that that was particularly interesting for you once you knew what kind of trial it was going to be?

Mary [00:03:13] Right. So, early on, the judge told us it was going to be a sex trafficking trial and the defendant was in the room, and the defendant was a 20-year-old woman. And I just, you know, as confused as I was going in, I was even more confused looking at this young 20-year-old slight tiny woman and thinking she’s the defendant in this case. The judge was a real lighthearted guy, he seemed to me. He knew this was going to be kind of a tough trial to sit through. He said it was probably going to be 10 days long, and that we’re going to hear things that we’ve never heard before. So, in order to make us make us comfortable, he said, “I want you to know that jury box is yours. And, you know, if you need to stand and stretch or you need to wear gym shoes one day. I bring my Halloween candy in, so you know, you’re all alert and awake because I need you fueled for the long term on this effort.” So, the jury probably took them about two days to seat us. We had 12 jurors and three alternates, mostly a funny nine women and three men, which were the jury selection. And you could tell he asked a lot of questions. A lot of people were not that interested in sitting in the human trafficking case. Of course, he didn’t let people off the hook very easily just because you didn’t want to do it, or you were afraid of something that’s no reason. So, took a couple of days and we finally got the jury seated with three alternates.

Sandie [00:04:53] Okay, so what was the mood among the other jurors, because a couple of days gives you time to kind of let it sink in what you’re about to do.

Mary [00:05:02] You know, he was so strict telling us we can’t talk about anything about human trafficking. We can’t Google anything. We can’t look at cases. We can’t talk to each other about human trafficking or anything about the case. We were very obedient jurors. We talked nervously with each other. We spent a lot of time together actually after we were seated, and to this day, we’re still in contact, just sharing human trafficking new. Because you sit together with that kind of situation, a bunch of strangers, you just sort of get camaraderie. But the mood was a little bit, we were all kind of hesitant. What is this going to be about? But we really couldn’t talk about it. It was kind of odd, but that’s how it goes.

Sandie [00:05:49] So, when the trial began, from your perspective, why don’t you start by just summarizing the trial fr...

224 – Crisis Impact on Human Trafficking May 13, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Nicole Strattman and Sgt. Juan Reveles. Nicole is a licensed clinical social worker, senior social services supervisor in Orange County Social Services, and she is the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Coordinator for Children and Family Services. Juan has a background working with gangs and narcotics with the Anaheim Police Department and is currently the Chair of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. They discuss how their work to end human trafficking has been impacted during the current public health crisis.

Key Points

Social service agencies in child welfare remain essential work, and while the work looks different right now in some respects due to COVID-19, they continue responding to children’s needs.
Law enforcement is operating under a new public health model perspective, which has allowed them to create new partnerships to better fight human trafficking despite the setbacks during the public health crisis.
Despite tactics and strategies changing, the goal to end human trafficking has remained the same.

Resources

KTLA Article
Child Abuse Registry: 800-207-4464
Orange County Social Services: 714-940-1000
National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888

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Transcript

Dave [00:00:00] You’re listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 224 – Crisis Impact on Human Trafficking.

Production Credits [00:00:08] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:29] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

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

Dave [00:00:37] 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 two people with us, two guests who’ve made a difference. And I’m really excited about our conversation ahead on crisis impact.

Sandie [00:00:54] Well, I’m very happy to welcome two wonderful friends and colleagues and experts. Nicole Strattman, licensed clinical social worker, senior social services supervisor here in Orange County Social Services, and she is the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) Coordinator for Children and Family Services. What that really means is that when we have a CSEC victim, Nicole keeps track of all of the services, she manages protocols, she keeps everybody in the loop- coordinator for sure. We also have Sergeant Juan Reveles from the Anaheim Police Department. Big shout out to Anaheim, they’ve been leading on this for several years now. He has a background in gangs and narcotics and is the Chair of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. So, I want to welcome both of you, Nicole and Juan to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast.

Nicole [00:01:58] Thank you.

Juan [00:01:59] Thank you, Sandie.

Sandie [00:02:00] So, kind of is a way to get a little bit better acquainted. I want Nicole to tell us about the award that you recently received.

Nicole [00:02:11] So, the award is the Above and Beyond award, which was granted to me by the California Department of Social Services. It was granted in January of 2020, which was the first time they have done this award, and it was in recognition of Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

Sandie [00:02:26] I was really impressed that you were the local girl made a statewide star. So, we’re really proud of you.

Nicole [00:02:33] Yes, I was the only one in Orange County, so it was an honor for sure.

Sandie [00:02:37] We’re proud of you and grateful for your long history of serving well. Sergeant, you were on KTLA recently, so we’re going to put a link to that news story because it looks pretty impressive in the investigation right along by the journalist. Do you have your SAG card yet?

Juan [00:02:57] I’ve actually had it for probably 20 years and then it expired. So, I just got it back up again. But no, I do not.

Sandie [00:03:04] Well, we really appreciate what a great advocate you are locally and statewide and beyond in advocating for law enforcement training in anti-human trafficking. And so, the first question I’m going to ask each of you is how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted Nicole’s services to CSEC victims. And Juan for you, law enforcement response.

Nicole [00:03:33] OK, so with regard to services, we do continue to provide services to exploited youth. We still respond to calls of allegations of exploitation of human trafficking. Our social workers are still responding in the field and are still doing what they can to assess the safety of children. One of the things that has been impacted, though, is their ability to attend what we have in Orange County called Grace Court, which stands for Generating Resources to Abolish Child Exploitation. The specialized collaborative court that is there to really support the youth in foster care that has been exploited. And that court allows the youth to be there more frequently, to have more of a personal relationship with a judge and those on their team to provide services. And currently, because of the closures, they cannot go in person to court, although they are still able to call in, court proceedings are still moving forward to some degree. And so, there’s been a bit of a negative impact because they can’t physically be there. But we still are providing services the best that we can, given the current orders that we have.

Sandie [00:04:42] So, Juan, how about for law enforcement?

Juan [00:04:46] I’ll pick up on the comment that Nicole made, given the current orders that we have or directives from the department and the city and the state as well too, a lot of it has been to minimize contact and proactive investigations. And at the same time, though, especially when it comes to juveniles, nothing has changed for us regarding that respect. In fact, over the last several weeks, we’ve got a couple of calls from social services where we have responded and investigated the leads or allegations of potential human trafficking. So, as it relates to juveniles, nothing has changed for us because they maintain our highest priority. Now with respect to adults, that is a change that has occurred. I can get into that later.

Sandie [00:05:27] Well, we’d like to understand how the intersection with the crisis looks when we’re thinking about human trafficking. And Nicole, maybe you can start with what that means.

Nicole [00:05:43] We are concerned about the isolation and that youth are, we’re expecting, online more looking for connections online since they can’t do that as much in person. In addition, youth are not in plac...

223 – Live2Free Models Just Choices with a Fashion Show May 11, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined again by the Live2Free coach, Ruthi Hanchett, along with Live2Free President, Kaleigh Lawrence. Live2Free is a student-led, campus club that stands against the injustice of human trafficking that started at Vanguard University but has expanded to other high schools and colleges throughout the world. On this podcast, they discuss how they focus on justice through their annual Fashion Show event, and how you can be a part of it!

Key Points

Live2Free exists to challenge our generation to make personal choices that recognize the dignity of the individual, the responsibility of consumers to slow the demand that drives modern-day slavery, and to network with others to rescue, rebuild and restore broken lives of victims worldwide.
Through this model and toolkit, you can replicate this opportunity to collaborate, to mentor, and to make a difference right where you are.

Resources

Are you enjoying the show?-fashion-show-toolkit/

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 223 – Live2Free Models Just Choices with a Fashion Show.

Production Credits [00:00:10] 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. And today we have a special episode featuring the wonderful work of Live2Free. You’ve heard about Live2Free many times on the podcast, but today we’re just thrilled to have a couple of our close friends and collaborators with us and to teach us more about what Live2Free is up to today. And for those who have not heard about Live2Free before. Two things I wanted to mention here upfront is the who we are a statement from Live2Free and also the mission. So, Live2Free is a student-led campus club that stands against the injustice of human trafficking that takes place here in the United States and around the world. Live2Free started at Vanguard University but has expanded to other high schools and colleges throughout the world, including places like Argentina. We feel the responsibility as college students to not only make sure we ourselves are educated about human trafficking but to take it one step further and educate our peers, youth, and our community. And the mission is Live2Free exists to challenge our generation to make personal choices that recognize the dignity of the individual, the responsibility of consumers to slow the demand that drives modern-day slavery and to network with others to rescue, rebuild, and restore broken lives of victims worldwide. And Sandie, two friends with us today, they’re going to help us to discover even more.

Sandie [00:02:14] I am so excited to welcome to this podcast, Ruthi Hanchett and Kaleigh Lawrence. Ruthi is an adjunct at Vanguard University in the Women and Justice Minor. She is also a former guest on this show, so you can go back and read her very extensive bio. But her focus on empowering children and youth has made her the perfect Live2Free coach. And then our president for this year is Kaleigh Lawrence, who is a senior at Vanguard University. She has completed everything for her Women and Justice minor. She’s been interning on the ground in front line services to at-risk and trafficked youth because she has a solid knowledge base and she has gained so much and done so much, made so much ground in leading Live2Free that I’m really happy to welcome her to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. Ruthi and Kaylie!

Ruthi [00:03:26] Thanks for having us.

Kaleigh [00:03:27] Thanks, Sandie and Dave.

Sandie [00:03:29] So let’s start with you, Ruthi. Tell us what is a Live2Free coach?

Ruthi [00:03:34] Well, my job is really to empower the students that are part of the Live2Free club to make a difference, to study the issues of human trafficking, and to act on those issues in their community right now. A big part of the way that we do that is through peer to peer education. So, the students learn about human trafficking and then go out and teach others and they teach fellow students at Vanguard University through events, through fun activities, through social media, all kinds of creative ways. But we also go out to the local high schools and even junior highs to teach them about human trafficking. So, I love being a coach because I get to pass on what I’m learning and what I’ve learned over the years, the experiences I have, to the next generation of abolitionists. And it’s really an exciting process to watch them grow and mature and see the power they have to make a difference in this fight.

Sandie [00:04:29] I loved that you said what I’m learning because this is an emerging issue. And every month I’m reading a new article, new research. I’m trying to find ways forward that work better. And I have learned a lot from you as well. The idea of coaching our peers, you do that really well to all of us at the center, Ruthi, so thank you so much. Kaleigh, what about being the president of Live2Free? How long have you been a Live2Free member?

Kaleigh [00:05:06] So I became a Live2Free member as soon as I came onto campus. I was at our first meeting and I’ve loved it ever since.

Sandie [00:05:14] So how long have you been president?

Kaleigh [00:05:17] I’ve been president since May 2019

Sandie [00:05:21] Can you tell me one of the most exciting things that you’ve done this year was the Fair-Trade Fair show. And when I think about the mission statement to challenge a generation, there are so many times when someone wants me to do something that is justice-oriented, and they start with guilt. They stand in front of my grocery store with signs and I found that you and your team found a way to model making just choices in a way that was really comfortable and natural for my peers in my generation, for people in our community, as well as for students. So, would you tell me about how you came up with the Fair-Trade Fashion Show? And what are some of the principles? And Ruthi, I’d like you to chime in here, too. Especially because I want people listening to this podcast to understand principles, not just a recipe to replicate it. Although we are going to give you all of the ingredients too.

Kaleigh [00:06:39] The fashion show be...

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