Prepared By: Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education

1. Combating Human Trafficking in the State of Texas Prepared By: Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education

2. Unit Goal: • To increase law enforcement awareness of human trafficking by informational exposure to: • victim identification • Investigation • Rescue and prosecution considerations

3. Referral and service provider availability • Need for development of coordinated community response, and • Inter connectivity of state, federal, and global concerns.

4. Objectives

5. Section 1.0 Building a Knowledge Base • Describe the concept of Human Trafficking from a global perspective • Discuss definitions of the term human trafficking based on international and U.S. laws • List the different forms of human trafficking • Summarize the history of human trafficking

6. Discuss modern trafficking patterns • Discuss factors giving rise to human trafficking • Explain the stages of human trafficking • Describe characteristics predominant in the identification of offenders, victims, and consumers

7. Discuss the art of control over victims • Explain the invisibility of victims and the difficulty identifying the victim of human trafficking

8. Section 2.0 Investigation Considerations • Explain the observational and investigative cues to help identify trafficked victims • Discuss how to identify trafficking offenders based on specified indicators • Explain the differences in trafficker’s roles

9. Discuss case management and interagency cooperation which can aide investigations • Describe victim-centered approach in investigations • Discuss best practices in investigations

10. Section 3.0 Legal Issues • Discuss national and international perspectives concerning efforts to end human trafficking • Explain threshold requirements for eligibility of victim benefits and services • Describe victim protection under the law

11. List recent changes in human trafficking laws • Discuss the Texas statute on human trafficking

12. Section 4.0 Victim Service Providers • Discuss the importance of victim service providers • Summarize the types of victim service providers • List victim service requirements as defined by legal parameter

13. Section 5.0 The Collaborative Approach • Explain the importance of inter-agency collaboration • Discuss the importance of seeking help from the community • Discuss human trafficking case studies

14. Explain the importance of a proactive response to human trafficking • Discuss challenges and barriers to effective investigations of human trafficking

15. Section 6.0 Review and Evaluation

16. Building a Knowledge Base

17. 1.1.Describe human trafficking from a global perspective

18. What is Human Trafficking? • Modern-day slavery • Exploitation for sexual gratification or labor • Controlled by severe punishment • Prevents escapes • Inhibits victims from testifying

19. Statistics • 21 million people are victims of human trafficking • 800,000 people are trafficked into the country each year • Some believe this number is an underestimate

20. Men, women and children of all ages are victims • Economic and political instability • Economic prosperity and disposable incomes in countries of destination

21. Numbers escalating • Highly profitable • Third most profitable transnational crime • Profits between $7-10 billion a year

22. Low risk of being apprehended or punished • Drives traffickers to continue • False sense of security • Law enforcements preoccupation with sale of drugs and arms, and terrorism

23. 1.2. Discuss definitions of the term human trafficking based on International and U.S. laws

24. International Legislation • The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in persons defines: • The action of: recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving of persons • Bymeans of: threat or use of force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power, vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control of a victim,

25. For the purpose of: exploitation • to include: • forced labor, • slavery or similar practices, and • removal of organs for economic gain Palermo Protocol, 2000

26. Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 • Sex Trafficking • Recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act • Act is induced by force, fraud or coercion, or under the age of 18.

27. VTVA, 2000 • Labor Trafficking: • Recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor services • Act is induced through the use of force, fraud, or coercion • For the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery

28. International vs. Internal Trafficking • International: across borders of countries • Internal (domestic): recruited, sold and enslaved in native countries • Asia (Thailand, China and Africa)

29. Is the U.S. immune? According to report issued by University of Pennsylvania… • 300,000 children in U.S. are at risk of international traffickers • Runaway and homeless children highly susceptible to domestic trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation

30. 1.3. List the different forms of human trafficking

31. Essentially… • Human Trafficking is slavery or involuntary servitude that thrives on the exploitation of humans for economic gain • More profitable than other transnational crimes. Humans can be sold over and over to create higher profit margins

32. Most common forms… • Sex Industry • Prostitute, exotic dancer, exotic entertainer (most commonly women) • Sex Tourism/Child Tourism • Travel to foreign locations for sexual gratification • Mexico and Latin America • Camel Jockeys, domestic servants, sweatshops

33. Men as victims • Forced Labor • Agricultural fields for crop harvesting • Construction workers • Restaurant work • Day Laborers • Some forced to work in sex industry

34. Is there ever freedom? • Accumulated debt • Purchase of fraudulent travel documents • Travel expenses • Over inflated living expenses • Medical expenses • Trafficker’s commission Freedom is rarely a reality because the trafficker is constantly adding to the debt

35. 1.4. Summarize the history of human trafficking

36. Not a new phenomenon • Dates back to the earliest civilizations…ancient Greece • Fifteenth Century Portuguese Slave Trade • Eighteenth Century Trade: humans for weapons and molasses

37. Continued… • Nineteenth Century: 13th amendment passed but plight continued • Twentieth Century: Problem worsened despite concerted international efforts to end such practice

38. International Convention • First international treaty signed to suppress the trade of human beings BUT, only intended to suppress the trade of white women. • League of Nations (UN) 1921, initiatives to protect non-white women • Next few decades: definite plan still lacking

39. Today… • More people enslaved today than in human history Old SlaveryNew Slavery Legal ownership asserted Legal ownership avoided High purchase cost Very low purchase cost Low profits Very high profits Shortage of potential slaves Surplus of potential slaves Long-term relationship Short-term relationship Slaves maintained Slaves disposable Ethnic differences important Ethnic differences not important K. Bales (1999) ‘Disposable People

40. 1.5. Discuss modern trafficking patterns

41. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime • Global Trafficking Routes

42. 1.6. Discuss factors giving rise to human trafficking

43. The high profitability of trafficking persons is certainly a factor that contributes to the prevalence of this crime but other factors have also contributed to its pervasiveness.

44. Examples: • Deregulation of trading opportunities around the globe (free trade) • Economic Marginalization (feminization of poverty) • Advances in communications • Ease of travel

45. Political Instability • Rise of regional conflicts • Weapons obtained through transnational crime • Government attention diverted • Decline in border enforcement • NAFTA

46. Globalization • Some suffer • Extreme poverty • Resulting in: • Criminal activity as option • Women and children become targets • Sale of humans on underground market • Seek employment abroad brings potential for exploitation

47. Culture/Historical Practices • Ex. Nigeria and Togo • Common: • Parents send children to homes of persons who are able to educate/train • In extreme economic frustration parents agree to sell children for small amounts of money

48. Supply vs. Demand • So…most victims of human trafficking originate in countries who suffer from instability HOWEVER, as with any business venture, there must be a customer willing to purchase a commodity.

49. AND… • Countries to profit from free trade or the deregulation of trade have the financial ability to support this transnational crime. • Does it come as a surprise that the United States ranks very high as a destination country for victims of human trafficking?

50. Seemingly an unstoppable crime • Contemporary Crime Theory: • Traffickers rationalize the gains to be made from the sale and enslavement of humans against the risk of detection and apprehension by law enforcement. If gains outweigh the risk, human trafficking will continue to thrive.